As most of you are probably aware Sydney is hosting World Youth Day and is temporarily home for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. They are all over the city and are a terribly happy bunch. You see mobs of them, often dressed in similar costumes - Mexicans in ponchos, groups of Scandanavian Heidis and flag waving Africans.
Upon seeing them I was reminded of the camaraderie in the air when I was going to the stadium to watch the football on Saturday night. People decked out in the colours of the two opposing teams, all looking forward to an evening of entertainment and drama.
So maybe being a member of a religion is like being a fan of a football team, except that you support a team that doesn’t exist.
My patience for the WYD attendees will end the instant I hear them sing live. Film of these dweebs whipping out a guitar in the airport lounge and the crowd all joining in (each in their own key, of course) is bad enough, I doubt my restraint if I were to see it live.
I was stuck at the airport for an extra hour Monday night as the luggage came in, and yes, each in their own key, different songs, and none of them should give up their day-jobs.
I live in one of the affected areas, and yes it is very nice that they are happy, but why the holy flaming hell are we PAYING 10s of million$ for a for a particular church celebration? (And as it isn’t the Pit, I won’t even mention Pell). The only good part has been the court striking down the completely unacceptable “don’t annoy the pilgrims” law.
Because it’s apparently “the largest event Australia has ever hosted”, and of course the repercussions simply must be global.
Can I say that “Catholic Scandinavian Heidis” just has to be a porn flick?
Don’t know, but over here, the World Youth Day is always reported by the medias (because France is mostly catholic? Don’t know). So, I too would have assumed other posters would be aware of it.
