I.M. Beck
Freedom, tolerance and words
It is the mark of a civilised society that its components exercise tolerance with the differences between themselves. This is such a statement of the obvious in 2010 that it need hardly be made but, sadly, it does.
It's sometimes by their reactions that you can measure the extent to which people subscribe to the virtues of tolerance and compassion, even if these reactions are overtly understandable.
Let me illustrate with an example of recent vintage. A champion of the gay world who lives in a less illiberal country than this - or so they say, though some manifestations of attitudes towards other races give this the lie - wrote about a book about homosexuality and his Mediterranean roots, speculating about the sexuality of various prominent people, among them St Ġorġ Preca.
Now, as far as I'm concerned, provided that no one vulnerable is put in harm's way, the sexuality of anyone, alive or dead, prominent or non-entity, male or female, moves me not at all, so Dr Joseph Chetcuti's speculations are of supreme irrelevance to me. I haven't read his book and nor do I intend to, though I don't exclude picking it up and having a browse, much in the manner of a seeker after gossip, if I were to find it lying in my general vicinity.
My failure to peruse the oeuvre having been signified, I will risk ire and opprobrium by speculating aloud that it strikes me as one of those shrill, "only gay in the village" efforts that can safely be allowed to reside outside the "books that I've read" list.
Which leads to the question, put with all due respect: Why did the Bishop of Gozo feel the need to do a fire-and-brimstone all over it? I don't recall such irritation being shown, say, about racist or otherwise unacceptable manifestations of opinion, so why did this particular exercise of freedom of expression have a target painted all over it?
I won't insult your intelligence by taking these thoughts to their logical terminus: draw your own conclusions.
Last Saturday, I was having a pretty decent Indian meal in Gozo, no mean feat when you consider that there isn't an Indian restaurant on the island. The barkeep-cum-maitre d', being of the sedentary persuasion, was not quite able to measure up to the standards of service one has come to expect up north but his deficiencies were more than made up for, much in the way 'Er Indoors does that little thing in my respect when we're entertaining.
During our meal, the conversation wended its way towards the manner in which the gay community was treated. In my usual (that is, undiplomatic) manner, I expressed the thought that having LGBT movements was a bit OTT in this day and age, people of intelligence being blind to sexual orientation.
I was gently made aware of the fundamental error of my position. Being on the outside of the gay community looking in, as it were, I was oblivious to the fact that, in truth, tolerance and compassion remain lacking in Christian Malta, to the extent that the risk of ghettoising is overridden by the benefits of sensitising society to these deficiencies.
Language is a minefield, indeed, because even my use of the word "compassion", to a degree, betrays my somewhat patronising attitude that gays (I almost wrote "these people", which would have made things worse) need compassion, for all my tolerant liberalism.
I can't win, I suppose, which is not a feeling with which I am unfamiliar. If you want proof of this, take a look at a couple of comments beneath my blog. By the time you read this, inspiration might have struck me and allowed me to unleash a later helping of wit and genius, so you want to look at the one titled Mouthing Off.
Out of a blog some 1,000 words in length, two knights in shining armour picked out one single - and short - paragraph and charged to the defence of their heroine, Astrid Vella.
The blog wasn't concerned with Ms Vella, except for the little sting in the tail, which I thought would be both apposite and amusing, designed to keep the lady concerned interested in life and all that.
This did not stop the two gents from jumping on me from what I have no doubt they imagine is a great height, accusing me of having wasted so much of my precious time in designing a blog simply to get at La Vella and stick up for Lou Bondì.
Honestly, and then people say I have an agenda. Now I'm going to watch Chelsea play Pompey, so I'll bid you farewell.
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Joseph Carmel Chetcuti
Apr 12th 2010, 01:32
Incidentally the settler arrival figures for 2008-2009 were 158,021. Some may think that Australia should increase its intake but the reality is that there is shortage of water and much stress on the infrastructure. As a result of record relocations in Victoria and NSW, house prices have skyrocketed leaving many young couples unable to EVER afford a home. Many environmentalists are against a large migration program and have called for cuts. They are fearful of the impact of migration on the environment. One has to look at this matter from all perspectives. Social policy has to be sensitive as well as responsible. Even in the area of gay activism, I tend to adopt this approach. That some in Malta see me as an extremist is more a reflection of their conservative attitudes.
Joseph Carmel Chetcuti
Apr 12th 2010, 01:12
Aldo, I have lived here since 1965. I have worked as a migration lawyer since 1994. I have at times been critical of the Australian government. But there is no denying that Australia is one of the more embracing countries anywhere in the world. Many migrants including myself know that. Much of the criticism of our immigration policy stemmed from the former Labor Opposition now the Government, for political advantage. Now in government it is paying the price.
Most ethnic groups in Australia get pretty annoyed when they see their own kind trying to enter Australia by the back door. The fact of the matter is this: not all asylum seekers are refugees. Some of those seeking refugee status may well be those who conducted persecutions in their own countries. Australians are also concerned at the attitudes of some asylum seekers particularly towards women and homosexuals.
Regrettably some countries including many European countries think Australia is still a dumping group. Australia reserves the right to determine who enters Australia and who does not. Refugees are given protection as is our international duty but not every tom, dick and harry who claims to be a refugee IS a refugee.
Aldo Gatt
Mar 28th 2010, 17:31
@JCC
I think that, if you'd followed previous articles by Beck, you'll find he has been one of the most vocal about racism in our own backyard. There is no doubt that Australia's government has had a shady past as regards treatment of refugees and aborigines too. Denying that and writing that Australia is no "dumping ground" says more about you than Beck. About the rest, I have already made my opinion known.
Joseph Carmel Chetcuti
Mar 27th 2010, 22:48
Australia has opened its arms to every nationality under the sun including us Maltese. Australia is no dumping ground for any country. Has he not looked in his own backyard? With all due respect, I think it takes a lot more than sexuality to move this not so original IM Beck. Gay and lesbian activits care little about what people like IM Beck think. He is, I presume, one of those generations of Maltese who are a lost cause. I have to say I am most impressed by all these Maltese who have become an authority on a book they have not read. Enjoy the world you live in because it is fast crumbling before your eyes.
Aldo Gatt
Mar 27th 2010, 12:28
With all due respect (and I have plenty for you, as it happens), why do you attempt to evaluate Chetcuti's book when, by your own admission, you haven't even browsed through? Without going into the literary and technical qualities of said book, a gay history of Malta is a rather interesting proposal. The book deals with more, giving an account of gay jargon (not quite the Maltese version of the British Polari, but close) and of fascinating accounts of the colourful characters who lived life to the full despite the limitations imposed on them. It also gives an anthropological insight into the mentality of the Maltese, whatever their sexual orientation. I thank Joseph Carmel for documenting all this as it would otherwise be lost when the last of the aging queens die. I also appreciate the fact that it is not a sanitized version. He has had the decency of not trying to project too clean a version of homosexuals in the name of gay activism. I think that is why it got on the nerves of some of the less foresighted homosexuals who objected.
Gattaldo
Albert Buttigieg
Mar 27th 2010, 12:13
so if according to Beck, Dr. chetcuti had a right to excercise his opinion through the medium of print, while Bishop Grech has no right to excercise his right of opinion through the medium of his pulpit? How sad!
NB: And the sermon of Bishop Grech, quoted by Mr.Beck, was far from 'fire-and-brimstone". Was he present? No.
Franco Farrugia
Mar 27th 2010, 10:51
@ ABC: I am not 'a knight in shining armour' and Astrid Vella is not my 'heroine'. She is just a member of an NGO whose work is close to my heart - but then again, not as much as a particular political party is close to yours. And then, we have the audacity to use titles such as this one. Oh, well.