Link Highlights | April 2019

Tuesday, 7 May 2019 | Ethos editor

Link highlights – April 2019

Below is a selection of links to online news and opinion pieces from April 2019. To keep up-to-date with our posts, ‘like’ us on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter.

The articles below are selected by the editor, Armen Gakavian, at his discretion. Neither the editor nor Ethos necessarily endorse the views expressed in these articles.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Stories such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith helped me recognise the contradictions at the heart of our national identity, writes Stan Grant.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/25/calling-myself-an-australian-is-not-enough-to-make-me-feel-like-i-belong

Abortion

David Talcott writes: Financial factors play a major role in women’s decisions to have abortions. But, as we’ve learned from decades of misguided social programs, the actual consequences of a policy can be exactly the opposite of the authors’ intentions.

https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/04/50939/

Neil James Foster writes: In an important decision on free speech issues, the High Court of Australia has upheld the validity of laws in Victoria and Tasmania prohibiting communication about abortion within 150m of an abortion clinic. The decision may have serious implications for free speech about other issues.

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2019/04/10/high-court-upholds-abortion-buffer-zone-laws/

Kaley Payne writes: Abortion clinic exclusion zones have been ruled constitutional in a High Court decision.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/abortion-clinic-buffer-zones-ruled-valid/

Carol Portmann writes: I have a job to do as a doctor, regardless of my personal feelings about something. It's not my decision, because it's not my pregnancy or my body. Ultimately, the one thing God really granted us above anything else is free will.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-31/im-a-christian-and-i-perform-abortions-heres-how-i-reconcile/10940114

Aid & Development

Daniel Nour writes: We've witnessed the confluence of economic opportunity with aid and development in Indonesia, where our support of local eco-tourism has revived communities with self-sustaining employment opportunities while preserving local rainforests from being felled for wood.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/economy-v-environment-is-no-zero-sum-game

Animals and Animal Rights

Cristy Clark writes: The concerns around white veganism and its blindness (and worse) to other systems of domination and oppression are completely legitimate and deserve serious attention. But they do not fundamentally undermine the central ethical arguments of veganism.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/vegan-protesters-reject-righteous-domination

Anzac Day

James Robins writes: 'Gallipoli was the final trigger in the decision of the Ottoman government to carry out genocide against the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians. And further, Anzac Prisoners of War witnessed this genocide'.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/23/anzacs-witnessed-the-armenian-genocide-that-shouldnt-be-forgotten-in-our-mythologising

Daniel Kleinsman writes: This year, as I wait to be reunited with my fiancée from Afghanistan, my discomfort is heightened by New Zealand's involvement in her country, and by an awareness of her sense of persecution, as a Muslim, after the Christchurch massacres. As a result, I do not feel able to partake in any ANZAC celebration that resembles a traditional service, as if nothing has changed.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/anzac-discomfort-after-christchurch

Andrew Hamilton writes: The nationalist values purported to be Australian and to have flowed like blood from Anzac Cove will not do. Australians celebrating Anzac Day this year cannot assume that New Zealanders share all the values that are deemed Australian. Indeed, this Anzac Day New Zealanders might recall Australians to its more authentic meanings.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/this-anzac-day-embrace-new-zealand-values

Jim McKay writes: In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Anzac stories are often coloured by racism and ongoing injustices that negate the myth of Anzac 'mateship'.

https://theconversation.com/telling-the-forgotten-stories-of-indigenous-servicemen-in-the-first-world-war-114277

Robyn Mayes writes: Among all things Anzac, the contribution of women is becoming more complicated and controversial.

https://theconversation.com/women-have-been-neglected-by-the-anzac-tradition-and-its-time-that-changed-92580

Danielle Drozdzewski and Emma Waterton write: Anzac Day is a big part of our national story. But the politics of memory mean the parts of this story that don't fit neatly into the Anzac narrative are too often forgotten.

https://theconversation.com/in-remembering-anzac-day-what-do-we-forget-57629

Carolyn Holbrook writes: In 1960, historian Ken Inglis wondered if Anzac functioned as a secular religion in Australian society. In 2017, we can confidently answer: yes, it does.

https://theconversation.com/how-anzac-day-came-to-occupy-a-sacred-place-in-australians-hearts-76323

The Australian writes: Critics have come and gone across the decades, but the spirit of Anzac Day endures 101 years after the end of the Great War. The past five years in which we have commemorated the centenary of World War I have left Australians with two vital legacies. First, there is a heightened appreciation of our forebears’ sacrifices in that war.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/editorials/anzac-day-touches-hearts-of-the-younger-generation/news-story/f5107677c68516c553373c142d1d5c7a

Les Carlyon writes: there was a time when Gallipoli was not a happy word in many families then, because men had come home moody and morose, wives and children had suffered, and the memories were still fresh. Now Gallipoli, it seems, belongs to all of us, all of the nation. It is above politics. It has found a place of its own.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/gallipoli-stands-unique-in-our-history-above-politics/news-story/88d11049219739333978756a76088061

For Anzac Day, Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen discuss whether there is ever justification for Christians to not be pacifists? Might there be a case, thinking through the ‘Just War’ theory, where it is absolutely necessary to go to war?

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/podcasts/ep-15-the-god-of-the-anzacs/

Richard Quadrio, a chaplain in the Royal Australian Navy, writes that Anzac Day is a good thing and that it offers Christians a chance to re-engage at a moment when many Aussies are thinking about something deeper.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/veteran-says-anzac-day-is-a-time-for-christians-to-re-engage/

Architecture

Stephen McAlpine writes: 'Paris, and the world, lost something more than a wonderful piece of ecclesiastical history and architecture overnight. It lost yet another link with a transcendent past, that was once so usefully beautiful.'

https://stephenmcalpine.com/all-this-useless-beauty/

Matthew J. Milliner writes: The world’s grief over the flames at Notre-Dame de Paris revealed its power as far more than architectural style.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april-web-only/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-gothic-style-history-good-friday.html

Jose Antonio Gonzalez Zarandona and Cristina Garduño Freeman write: Images of Notre Dame on fire have elicited an outpouring of grief around the world and online. This response raises the question of why we feel more connected to some heritage places than others.

https://theconversation.com/why-are-we-so-moved-by-the-plight-of-the-notre-dame-115555

Art & Culture

Rod Pattenden writes: 'This is a mark that confronts my expectations about whether this figure is in my tribe or not, or more correctly whether I can widen the boundaries of what constitutes an Australian identity to include this person who is different.'

https://artandtheology.net/2019/03/17/imagining-difference-the-spectacle-of-terror/

David McCooey writes: Les Murray's signature style was a potent mix of ordinary language, specialist vocabulary, and eccentric syntax. His poetry made us see things anew.

http://theconversation.com/vale-les-murray-a-witty-anti-authoritarian-national-poet-who-spoke-to-the-world-116186

Greg Clarke writes: 'The greatest of Australian poets has “vanished into the future”. Les Murray’s unique poetry will endure in the same manner as Seamus Heaney and Walt Whitman. And each volume he dedicated “To the glory of God”.'

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/les-murray-not-absolutely-ordinary-at-all/

Cheryl McGrath writes: “Don’t read the comments” has become a modern proverb. Online channels are often hubs of bullies and trolls. But the internet can be tough for creative people on another level: apathy.

http://twentysixletters.org/creativity-vulnerability-internet-criticism/

Artificial Intelligence

Emma Schleiger and Stefan Hajkowicz write: The question of whether technology is good or bad depends on how it’s developed and used. Nowhere is that more topical than in technologies using artificial intelligence.

http://theconversation.com/artificial-intelligence-in-australia-needs-to-get-ethical-so-we-have-a-plan-114438

Bible, The

José de Segovia writes: Evangelicals judge our experiences in the light of the Bible, not the other way around. That is the difference between evangelical faith and mysticism.

http://evangelicalfocus.com/blogs/4342/What_does_it_mean_to_be_an_evangelical_jose_de_segovia

Bioethics

Xavier Symons writes: Donor conception is an ethical quagmire. The way society has extricated itself in the past has been to deny the importance of genealogy in the development of a child. Yet we should ensure that the rights and interests of donor children are given greatest importance.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/ethics-of-doner-conception/11054644

Body Image

Cheryl McGrath writes: Many of us are so steeped in diet culture that we don’t even realise when we’re saying unhelpful things.

http://twentysixletters.org/five-body-positive-sayings-that-arent-body-positive-at-all/

Budget 2019

Kylie Beach writes: Australian Aid has been slashed for the sixth time in consecutive budgets by the Coalition Government. Perhaps the Coalition Government is just not convinced this particular tenet of Christian faith will really count with Christian voters at the ballot box next month.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/budget-cuts-to-aus-aid-a-kick-in-the-teeth-for-christians/

Anne Lim writes: The federal budget may well make rich people greedier, with its move to create a flatter tax structure. As one person commented, “This budget squanders an opportunity to [give] a hand-up to our most disadvantaged citizens.”

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/tax-cuts-to-make-the-rich-greedier/

John Humphreys writes: While balancing the budget is good news, unfortunately this has been largely achieved through higher revenue.

https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/scrap-the-short-term-tax-cuts-bring-forward-the-long-term-ones/

Esther Anatolitis writes: Budget 2019-2020 makes a lot more sense when interpreted in the light of Scott Morrison's first speech. Like most first speeches, it's about how his personal values manifest in his political actions. And what those values expose about the current prime minister's understanding of Australian history is quite telling.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/budget-back-in-black---and-the-white-blindfold

Martyn Iles writes: Most of our neighbours will vote for the deepest tax cut, the biggest motorway, the best trains, the juiciest Centrelink cheque, the leader with the best personality… Or maybe simple revenge for a spate of leadership changes. But the Christian should be different.

https://www.acl.org.au/blog_md_budget

Robert Carling writes: 'The new low and medium income tax offset greatly complicates the tax system, dulling incentives and making reform more difficult.'

https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/tax-cuts-in-the-never-never-and-a-messier-system-now/

Child sexual abuse

Russell Moore writes: ‘There’s a tendency to seek to identify, simply, the doctrinal or church-structure “culprit” and then to assume that excising that, or going with its opposite, will correct the situation. That, I fear, is a mentality that will simply empower predators.’

https://www.russellmoore.com/2019/04/02/does-theology-cause-sexual-abuse/

Cathy Kezelman writes: 'Regardless of the outcome of the election, Australia must respond promptly and fairly to the needs of all survivors, not only of institutional child sexual abuse, but of all forms of childhood trauma. Every time we create a new class of survivor and more 'have nots' we replicate the inequities of abusive systems.'

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/redress-scheme-s-new-class-of-have-nots

Children

Chris Palusky writes: 'we faced a choice: Continue caring for hurting children in foster care or let our disappointment with government requirements supersede our compassion for kids who have suffered and need a loving family.'

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april-web-only/bethany-ceo-michigan-foster-care-system-lgbt-cant-back-out.html

‘Christians Like Us’ TV program

Kayley Payne and Ben McEachen write: 'Ten Christians will be on TV screens around Australia, as part of a new SBS two-part series Christians Like Us.' https://www.eternitynews.com.au/culture/church-divide-laid-bare-in-sbs-series-christians-like-us/

Luke Buckmaster writes: Ten Christians argue about homophobia, sexism and child abuse – with relevance for believers and perhaps atheists, too.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/apr/03/christians-like-us-tense-talks-in-this-big-brother-house-straining-for-heaven

What was it really like on SBS the show ‘Christians Like Us’? Clare Bruce talks to Pentecostal pastor and charity boss, Marty Beckett.

https://hope1032.com.au/stories/culture/tv-reviews/2019/behind-the-scenes-on-sbs-tvs-christians-like-us-a-chat-with-pastor-and-charity-boss-marty-beckett/

What was it really like on SBS the show ‘Christians Like Us’? Katrina Roe talks to Sydney-based evangelical Christian Assumpta Venkatachalam.

https://hope1032.com.au/stories/culture/tv-reviews/2019/christians-like-us-behind-the-scenes-with-assumpta-venkatachalam/

Christchurch Mosque Shooting

https://artandtheology.net/2019/03/17/imagining-difference-the-spectacle-of-terror/

Civil society and discourse

Jeremy Samut writes: 'Engaging in, not withdrawing from social and cultural debates is the only way to ‘take back control’ of public debates and the future of our country as a free, fair, and liberal society.'

https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/stand-and-fight/

Peter Kurti writes: 'Easter is a celebration that has brought hope to billions of people. But before the hope, there was anger, intolerance, and hatred that led to crucifixion. What has changed since then?'

https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/tolerance-silencing/

In this speech given at the Palm Sunday Rally for Refugees, Richard Flanagan says we are better than our politicians’ dark fears.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/14/have-we-australia-become-a-country-that-breeds-mass-murderers-with-our-words

Diversity

Will Jones writes: Taken to its logical conclusion civic nationalism would deny any special connection between the state and its major ethnic group. Any attempt to formulate a conception of nationalism that allows for such a link is liable to charges of nativism and racism and thus is rarely aired.'

https://faith-and-politics.com/2019/04/16/how-diversity-challenges-the-nation-state/

Larry W. Hurtado writes: 'Christians in particular have good historical and traditional reasons today to continue to support religious freedom and the pluralistic societies that enable people to make religious choices without coercion.'

https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/religion-and-national-loyalty/

Domestic violence

Mandy Truong, Bianca Calabria, Mienah Zulfacar Sharif and Naomi Priest. Women experiencing family and domestic violence within faith communities can face attitudes and practices that encourage them to stay in relationships with their abusers.

https://theconversation.com/new-study-finds-family-violence-is-often-poorly-understood-in-faith-communities-115562

Easter and Lent

Jonathan Merritt writes about how the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry — and his own chronic pain diagnosis — helped him trade in false hopes for a truer picture of God.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april-web-only/jonathan-merritt-palm-sunday-gift-disillusionment.html

Andrew Hamilton writes: This year both the public and the Christian Easter are overshadowed by the forthcoming election. In the public world election means that assured people choose their rulers. In the Christian story election means that desperate people are chosen. Each kind of election has its place.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/the-disruptiveness-of-an-election-year-easter

Rabbi Johnathan Sacks writes: Passover is more than just a festival. It is the journey each of us is invited to take from slavery to freedom. We are reminded that freedom is not born overnight; it needs an education. Without it, a society can all too quickly lapse into chaos or conflict, rivalry and war.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/rediscovering-the-meaning-of-passover/11029104

Rabbi Raymond Apple writes: Religion without ritual would be dry and disembodied, lacking personality, colour, excitement and symbolism. Indeed, if rituals did not exist, they would need to be invented.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/passover-festival-and-the-need-for-ritual/11029344

N.T. Wright writes: A gulf has opened up between the canon and the creeds. The canonical gospels show a Jesus whose public career radically mattered; the creeds give us a Jesus whose ascension is all we need to know.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/cross-and-kingdom-putting-the-christian-story-together-again/11021300

Sarah Coakley writes: Holy Week holds out an invitation to all who will hear it: perhaps not to a mere drama, but to a Passion to end all dramas; not to a story of justice and deserts, but to a story of divine love so exquisite as to exceed and upturn all justice as we know it; not to a theological conundrum to be solved, but to a dangerous and life-threatening journey ― a journey of pain, death, discovery and new Life.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/meditations-for-holy-week/11002378

Rebecca Abbott writes: The public “disrobing” of George Pell and the impact of white colonialism have very little to do with the Easter story. But these are just some of the surprising reinterpretations featured in the Stations of the Cross art exhibition that opened this week in Sydney.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/aussie-artists-crack-open-the-easter-story/

Rebecca Abbott asks: What can we learn from the most revolutionary dinner party in history?

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/in-depth/lessons-from-the-last-supper/

This Easter weekend, Christians from right across the globe unify in reflecting on the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/australian-christian-leaders-reflect-on-jesus-this-weekend/

Simon Smart writes: It is undoubtedly unnatural to try to love your enemies. Yet it’s the kind of inspiration needed today, as we navigate our differences and engage across lines of growing division, discord and hatred.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/easter-s-inspirational-message-building-bridges-in-time-of-division-20190418-p51ffz.html

The fact that Jesus climbed out of that tomb changes everything, write Ed Stetzer And Gabriella Siefert.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2019/april/o-death-where-is-your-victory-easter-morning.html

Brad Chilcott writes: We seem to be stuck in the kind of blind parochialism more readily associated with supporters of a football club.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/19/this-easter-and-this-election-lets-think-about-the-kind-of-australia-wed-like-to-create

Jack Veatch wriets: Kanye West’s Easter Sunday Service at the Coachella Music Festival highlights the intimate connection between hip-hop and the religious — particularly as an embodied experience and a cultural phenomenon — and stands within the genre’s long tradition of recreation. But we should also place it within a longer tradition of American Christian spirituality.

https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/kanye’s-easter-sunday-service-coachella

Craig Greenfeld writes: 'This Easter let's look at the cross from another angle. One with huge ramifications for how we walk in the world. This perspective goes all the way back to the earliest Christians. But it speaks directly to our world today.'

https://www.craiggreenfield.com/blog/eastergospel

You can buy a zombie Jesus t-shirt on Amazon — but was Jesus undead? Join guest host Justine Toh and the God Forbid panel as they explore what Easter means for our bodies, our economics and even the end of the world.

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/godforbid/why-zombie-jesus-might-not-be-blasphemous-after-all/11020130

Is there life after death? In his monthly faith column for The Age, Barney Zwartz ponders the age-old question in the light of Easter Sunday.

https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/faith-20190418-p51fcm.html

Lauren Moffatt writes: For Christians, Easter marks the triumph of life over death. But, as we have seen this Easter Day, the reality is that death is all around us still. How do we live in this paradox?

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-bloody-irony-of-sri-lankas-easter-day-massacre/11038736

Richard Shumack makes the case in the Daily Telegraph that sport fits comfortably within the true meaning of Easter.

https://www.publicchristianity.org/blessed-be-good-friday-footy/

Economics, finance & inequality

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/economy-v-environment-is-no-zero-sum-game

Mike Salvaris, Fiona Stanley and Kate Lycett write: Countries around the world are taking society's happiness and well-being into account when formulating policy. So, why is Australia so focused on economics as the sole marker of progress?

https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-vote-for-happiness-and-well-being-not-mere-economic-growth-heres-why-116061

Simon Cowan writes: One contentious issue that has many motivated activists, but received relatively little attention from politicians in the election campaign, is the adequacy of Newstart as a welfare payment. It has been presented as a moral challenge: that a wealthy society should do more for those in poverty.

https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/campaigns-fail-on-newstart/

Education

Murray Norman writes: 'There is much misinformation about special religious education, or SRE, in NSW public schools, propagated primarily by those who are anti-religion and have an ideological agenda to force their views onto the majority of Australians.'

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-critics-are-wrong-religion-has-a-place-in-the-classroom-20190428-p51hwp.html

John Sandeman writes: 'When given the choice, 71 per cent of parents opt in to voluntary scripture lessons in NSW primary schools, but there’s a real need for a survey to find out what happens for the other children.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/lets-see-if-the-kids-who-dont-do-scripture-in-school-need-help

Rebecca Urban writes: 'A Christian school lobby group has warned that Labor’s plan to overhaul anti-discrimination legislation by removing the religious exemption for schools could hamper their ability to teach according to their values.'

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/christian-schools-warn-over-labors-antidiscrimination-bill/news-story/d7eea89f62fa1d20cbafc30365e1d057?fbclid=IwAR2ojNw86Eoo-0LND0h5V8IyRSvjNp7ZB38yZWFl9VovlJyOT3-ZhzL40Y8

Election 2019

https://www.acl.org.au/blog_md_budget

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/economy-v-environment-is-no-zero-sum-game

Hosts Tim Costello and Mel Wade have an honest conversation with prominent Australians about the biggest issues facing voters this election. On the guest list are: John Anderson, Natasha Stott-Despoja, Tim Flannery; Susan Carland, Ian Harper and Aboriginal leader Mark Paulson.

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-good-vote/id1461426092

https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-vote-for-happiness-and-well-being-not-mere-economic-growth-heres-why-116061

Scott Higgins writes: As we think about how to vote, we need to bring together two things: a Christ-shaped vision for what our communities can be and a clear understanding of the role of government.

https://scottjhiggins.com/why-i-wont-vote-my-values/

Environment and Nature

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/economy-v-environment-is-no-zero-sum-game

We are to act as if we ourselves had the same relationship of love with creation that God does.

https://www.theologyofwork.org/resources/handle-with-care-what-the-bible-says-about-sustainability

For entrepreneur Dave Munson, creating a quality product is a spiritual imperative. Saddleback Leather Company’s durability bags reflect the founder’s understanding of God and God’s intentions for the natural environment.

https://www.theologyofwork.org/resources/the-environmental-benefits-of-quality-work-video

Paul Karp writes: The Australian Conservation Foundation has given the Coalition a miserable 4% on its climate change policy scorecard, with Labor scoring a better 56% and the Greens a near perfect 99%.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/29/coalition-gets-a-miserable-4-on-climate-change-policy-scorecard

Melody Zhang writes: Christian Climate Action is a rapidly growing network of dedicated Christians around the world who are banding together to teach and practice nonviolent direct action to push for urgent action on climate change.

https://sojo.net/articles/faith-leaders-involved-extinction-rebellion

Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen write: Ecologically speaking, things are bad and getting worse, leaving humanity with increasingly limited options. We must not expect any truly sustainable fixes to emerge from the industrial mind. That's why it's crucial to discuss the need for a new worldview, one that can expand our imaginations.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/a-creaturely-worldview-can-help-us-face-ecological-crises/11040686

Everyday living

Spencer Gear writes: The idea that God loves the world so much as to make a supreme sacrifice has been replaced by the idea everything will turn out fine.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20240

Cheryl McGrath writes: For Christians, “living in the moment” is a bit more suspicious. We can tend to see it as a way of shirking responsibilities or not caring about outcomes. But “living in the moment” is a Christian spiritual discipline.

http://twentysixletters.org/live-in-the-moment-present-christian-life/

Justine Toh examines the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. This parable contrasts two types of spiritual wisdom: one that is actually wise, and one that just thinks it is.

https://www.commongrace.org.au/parables_pharisee_and_tax_collector

Evil

Chigbo Arthur Anyaduba writes: The imagining of genocide as hell conveys the impression that the horrors are not fully imaginable. They can only be witnessed in symbolic forms. In addition, such imaginings encourage a moral – or theological – response to an otherwise violent phenomenon spurred by political events.

http://theconversation.com/portraying-rwandas-genocide-as-an-encounter-with-hell-114305

Susan Neiman writes: Western philosophy begins with the Book of Job, because the problem of evil is the central point where philosophy begins, and where it threatens to stop. So, if the task of philosophy is to show how the world is, or can be made, rational, then it must address the presence of evil in the world.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/philosophical-reading-of-the-book-of-job/11054038

Family

https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/04/50939/

Food

Philosopher Chris Mayes and butcher Tom Kaiser dig into the raft of factors involved in the ethics of food, and what Christian faith has to offer in a discussion about ethical eating.

https://www.publicchristianity.org/the-ethics-of-what-we-eat/

Catherine Marshall writes: 'Most recently, my younger daughter declared herself a vegan. She wanted to reduce her impact on the environment, to withdraw her implicit support for a brutal farming industry that had long disturbed her, and for a society that fritters fossil fuels and fills our oceans with plastic. And so our kitchen has undergone yet another revolution.'

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/evolution-of-the-modern-family-meal

Genocide

Interview by Bethany Hoang: Tutsi widows and orphans felt betrayed by the church during the genocide. Survivor Denise Uwimana made it her mission to help them heal.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april/denise-uwimana-from-red-earth-rwanda-genocide.html

http://theconversation.com/portraying-rwandas-genocide-as-an-encounter-with-hell-114305

Melbourne-based John Steward worked in Rwanda in 1997-98 and then visited every six months for nine years as a peace and reconciliation consultant for World Vision. On the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, he published a moving reflection on Rwanda’s past, present and future. Read here.

https://www.sightmagazine.com.au/11911-essay-oh-my-rwanda

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/23/anzacs-witnessed-the-armenian-genocide-that-shouldnt-be-forgotten-in-our-mythologising

George Pell, Cardinal

Andrew Hamilton writes: The sentencing of Cardinal George Pell highlighted the dismay and soul-searching among Catholics at sex abuse and its devastation of the lives of victims and their families. It also brought home the depth of the crisis caused by clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/no-shortcuts-to-reform-after-church-abuse-crisis

Happiness

https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-vote-for-happiness-and-well-being-not-mere-economic-growth-heres-why-116061

Health

‘Catherine was always gracious with these admirers. … She excelled at switching the attention away from herself and the hero-worship that she never felt very comfortable with.’ Lucy Bloom writes about Catherine Hamlin, a Christian, founder of the Fistula Foundation and author of The Hospital by the River.

https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/i-am-not-a-saint-i-am-just-an-ordinary-woman-20190425-p51h2j.html

Hell

Robyn J. Whitaker writes: In the Bible, heaven is where God resides, rather than a place of eternal life. But over time it has become conflated with ideas of paradise and eternal salvation.

https://theconversation.com/what-and-where-is-heaven-the-answers-are-at-the-heart-of-the-easter-story-115451

Robyn J. Whitaker writes: "Hell" in the Bible is a highly symbolic idea designed to persuade people to stay faithful to their God, not to set out a precise agenda for the afterlife.

https://theconversation.com/what-is-hell-exactly-we-might-joke-its-other-people-but-the-bible-has-a-more-complicated-answer-113732

In responding to Robyn Whitaker, Murray Campbell writes: Whitaker provides an interesting and at times informative account of the biblical notions of heaven and hell, but readers are left wondering whether we are meant to believe that these destinations are believable today.

https://murraycampbell.net/2019/04/29/do-christians-still-believe-in-hell-today-a-response-to-robyn-whitaker/

Peter Grice looks at the implications of an Evangelical Conditionalist view on our understanding of justice, God’s character, engagement with the world and evangelism.

http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/Engage-Mail/practical-and-ethical-implications-of-hell-part-ii

Islam

https://artandtheology.net/2019/03/17/imagining-difference-the-spectacle-of-terror/

Ryan Williams writes: On the topic of Islamophobia, Scott Morrison said, "I don't know if Australians understand Islam very well …which can lead to a fear of things you don't understand." This reflects two myths: that Islamophobia is about a lack of understanding and that it is primarily about fear.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/commonsense-islamophobia/10940108

Philip Almond writes: For centuries, Westerners viewed Islam as an inherently violent religion. But the struggle today, for all religions, including Christianity, is between liberals and conservatives, fundamentalists and moderates, reason and revelation.

https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-how-western-attitudes-towards-islam-have-changed-111989

John Smith

Tim Costello reflects on an ‘extraordinary, unconventional’ leader.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/the-john-smith-i-knew/

Jordan Peterson

Ben McEachen writes: ‘Takes a lot to rattle Jordan Peterson but the ’12 Rules for Life’ international speaker was visibly shaken after a young man stormed the stage at a Christian conference last week.’

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/world/jordan-peterson-struggles-to-answer-cry-for-help/

Irene Lancaster writes: 'Cambridge prides itself on being the best educational institution in the world but this unusual episode with Peterson gives rise to some questions about double standards.'

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/what-the-jordan-peterson-scandal-says-about-cambridge-university/132133.htm

'He’s the reason I’m at Cambridge', writes Rob Henderson, 'which is why the university’s decision to revoke his invitation to do research there is so disconcerting.'

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/opinion/jordan-peterson-cambridge.html

Law, human rights and free speech

Stephen McAlpine writes: ‘For so long the progressive side of politics accused the historical nations of the West of colonising ethnic minorities, but suddenly they've signed up to the agenda.’

https://stephenmcalpine.com/sexular-colonialism/

Akos Balogh writes: No doubt there is much about freedom that is good. But as with so many good things that God gives us, humanity can warp and twist it beyond recognition.

http://akosbalogh.com/2019/04/13/the-delusion-at-the-heart-of-secular-freedom/

Law, human rights and free speech – Israel Folau

Tracey Holmes writes: 'Sport is to be commended for striving to uphold the best values of a modern society, but what happens when those values clash — the human right of sexual orientation versus the human right to freedom of religion?'

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-12/israel-folau-conflicting-human-rights-tracey-holmes/10996228

Nathan Campbell writes: ‘For Israel to feel like a full participant in the life of the church — as a good ‘religious’ person participating in a ‘sacred calling’ — we’ve set up the game in such a way that he must necessarily use his platform to evangelise (or to give generously to evangelism), because pursuing excellence of character and performance, and loving the people around him is not enough.’

http://st-eutychus.com/2019/how-the-church-failed-israel-and-modern-australia-is-too/

Eternity asked a panel of Christian leaders to comment on Folau’s most recent and controversial Instagram post which warned “Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves and Idolaters” – as well as gay people – that “Hell awaits you”.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/what-would-you-say-to-israel-folau

Michael Frost writes: Two high profile Christians fell foul of their critics this week. For one it meant the loss of his career as an international rugby player. For the other, it means up to seven years in a Chinese prison. But that's not their only difference.

https://mikefrost.net/two-tales-of-persecution/

Neil James Foster writes: 'There is no evidence that Mr Folau was in any way seeking to “impose” his views on others, whether members of the public or other team members. It cannot seriously be argued that someone is harmed merely by knowing that there are others in the community who regard their sexual activity as inappropriate.'

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2019/04/14/reflections-on-the-israel-folau-affair/#more-7446

Graham Young writes: My hope is that what we are experiencing is the teething pangs of what is still a very new technology, and that with more instances like this, common-sense and tolerance will reassert themselves.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20260

Bill Muehlenberg writes: For daring to share some scripture passages on his own social media page, Australian rugby star Israel Folau has been given the boot – all in the name of tolerance and inclusion of course.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20254

Brian Houston writes: 'The problem with harsh comments in the media and disparaging statements on social media is that they create a further wedge between God and people.'

https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-message-to-folau-the-world-doesn-t-need-more-judgmental-christians-20190414-p51e0o.html

Martyn Iles writes: In a hardened, self-loving, neo-pagan age, maybe Folau’s paraphrase of a scripture which assaults it all head-on will be just the medicine someone needed to turn to God in repentance and faith, and know Him forever through Jesus Christ.

https://www.acl.org.au/blog_md_israelfolau

Peter Nicholas writes: Whilst not denying the provocative character of Folau's post, we should not miss the way that these events have exposed the concerning nature of a 'New Colonialism' that holds sway in our society and increasingly in sport.

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/folau-vunipola-and-the-intolerance-of-the-culture-of-tolerance/132230.htm

In what could turn into a long legal fight, Folau is arguing that by threatening to sack him, Rugby Australia is violating his freedom of religion. Law professor and religious freedom expert Ian Benson speaks with Radio National.

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/religionandethicsreport/israel-folau/11024926

Elizabeth Farrelly asks: Should we punish truth-tellers? Are we sure this is reasonable, fair and wise? Or is there some other dynamic here, more about us than them?

https://www.smh.com.au/national/wretched-are-the-offence-takers-in-defence-of-folau-and-assange-20190418-p51fh3.html

Scott Higgins writes: The day we penalise people for their beliefs by stripping away their employment or seek to force their silence through contractual agreements is the day we abandon the principles that allowed members of the gay community to speak up at the time their speech was deemed hurtful and offensive.

https://scottjhiggins.com/israel-folau-religious-freedom-standing-for-the-truth-some-thoughts/

Akos Balogh writes: 'Folau’s post was controversial, yes. The tone of his message is subject to fair debate. … But the more I’ve seen the reaction – or over-reaction – by many of our secular elite, the more I’ve become convinced that what he did was a good thing. If for no other reason than to expose a disturbing part of our culture.'

http://akosbalogh.com/2019/04/23/the-izzy-apocalypse-what-the-media-storm-reveals-about-our-society/

Jack Anderson writes: In seeking to terminate Folau’s contract, Rugby Australia won’t rely on any specific term in the player’s contract. Rather, its arguments will be premised on the general contractual clause that players employed by Rugby Australia must abide by its code of conduct.

https://theconversation.com/explainer-does-rugby-australia-have-legal-grounds-to-sack-israel-folau-for-anti-gay-social-media-posts-116170

Rugby Australia is facing a potential player mutiny after one of the Wallabies’ most exciting prospects claimed all Pacific Islanders “might as well just be sacked” because of their religious beliefs.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/may/01/might-as-well-sack-us-all-wallabies-facing-player-mutiny-over-israel-folau

Mark Powell writes: With a third of Australia’s Test line-up being Polynesian, Rugby Australia can ill afford to discriminate on the grounds of race, but that’s precisely what they will be guilty of doing if they sack Israel Folau

https://www.spectator.com.au/2019/05/are-rugby-australia-racist-cultural-imperialists/

Patrick Thomsen writes: 'With a Pacific itulagi, we emphasise harmony, for if someone else’s mana is diminished by my actions, so too is my own. … Had Folau been true to this, he would have chosen to respect differences and his own immense mana with his silence.'

https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-analysis/israel-folaus-demise-is-also-partially-ours/

John Sandeman writes: In the light of the Israel Folau affair, Christian leaders from conservative evangelical to Catholic are calling for Australians to learn to live with difference.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/life-after-folau/

Israel Folau writes: ‘I would like to explain to you what I believe in, how I arrived at these beliefs and why I will not compromise my faith in Jesus Christ, which is the cornerstone of every single thing in my life.’

https://www.playersvoice.com.au/israel-folau-im-a-sinner-too/#dsjhqWsZ3PQ4EPmk.99

Nationalism

https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/religion-and-national-loyalty/

Notre Dame fire

https://stephenmcalpine.com/all-this-useless-beauty/

Matthew J. Milliner writes: The world’s grief over the flames at Notre-Dame de Paris revealed its power as far more than architectural style.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april-web-only/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-gothic-style-history-good-friday.html

https://theconversation.com/why-are-we-so-moved-by-the-plight-of-the-notre-dame-115555

Carl Kinsella writes: ‘There is a value that transcends simple economics in restoring testaments to civilisation. … But the immediacy and magnitude of their response tells us something very important about the society we live in.'

https://www.joe.ie/life-style/notre-dame-feature-665670

Jenny Tan writes: If Notre Dame is important to us because it is more than a church, more than a building, then we have to allow that Notre Dame may bear different, less pleasant kinds of symbolic meaning for those who don’t share our experiences and have never been truly welcomed to share in our cultural heritage.

https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/mourning-and-not-mourning-notre-dame

Persecution

Giles Fraser writes: It is ignored in the west, but Christianity is the most persecuted religion. Why is there such silence on the issue?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/21/sri-lanka-attacks-christians-worldwide-persecution-silence

Ross Douthat writes: Western liberalism’s peculiar relationship to its Christian heritage leaves non-Western Christians exposed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/opinion/sri-lanka-bombing-christians.html

https://mikefrost.net/two-tales-of-persecution/

Arthur Davis writes: Our growing awareness of our global Christian family is a great thing, but our love cannot stop there. It is time to take a stand for the freedom of communities other than our own.

https://meetjesusatuni.com/2019/04/24/the-sri-lanka-bombings-make-me-wonder-how-far-our-love-goes/

Religion in Politics

Graham Hill writes: 'I’m thrilled that our Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition go to church at Easter, and that they speak openly about their faith. But what should really matter to Christians this election is the stance our politicians take on key issues.'

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/is-it-enough-that-the-pm-is-a-christian/

Religion in Politics - Scott Morrison

Jacqueline Maley writes: As Australia’s first Pentecostal PM, Scott Morrison will worship this Easter in the fold of a fast-growing Christian movement that’s starkly different to many of its counterparts.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/inside-our-pentecostal-pm-s-church-20190416-p51ekx.html

Kayley Payne writes: Scott Morrison’s decision to allow cameras to follow him into church on Easter Sunday has raised eyebrows, attracted intense criticism from some Christian quarters and mockery by many outside the church.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/inviting-the-cameras-into-church/

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/is-it-enough-that-the-pm-is-a-christian/

Religion in Society

Clare Bruce writes: If you were asked to live for a week with 9 other Christians with radically diverse beliefs - and with cameras following your every move - would you do it?

https://hope1032.com.au/stories/culture/2019/christians-like-us-an-unlikely-and-extreme-tv-experiment-in-communal-christian-living/

https://stephenmcalpine.com/all-this-useless-beauty/

Matthew J. Milliner writes: The world’s grief over the flames at Notre-Dame de Paris revealed its power as far more than architectural style.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april-web-only/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-gothic-style-history-good-friday.html

https://theconversation.com/why-are-we-so-moved-by-the-plight-of-the-notre-dame-115555

Douglas Murray writes: In his futuristic novel, Lord of the World, Robert Hugh Benson identified deep undercurrents in religion and secularism that we feel tugging at us now: the want of meaning, the vulnerability to almost any new idea or leader.

https://unherd.com/2019/04/what-hope-for-a-world-without-religion/

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-critics-are-wrong-religion-has-a-place-in-the-classroom-20190428-p51hwp.html

Natasha Moore writes: 'In our secular age, we tend to think of disbelief in the supernatural as default. Yet the stats mirror back to us a mosaic of belief and doubt far more intriguing than the black-and-white battlelines of materialism and religion.'

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20266

Pablo Jiménez Lobeira writes: A stunning phenomenon has overturned the way in which we in the West regard the public sphere in particular, and democracy in general, in the twenty-first century: the re-emergence of religion.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20280

Religious Freedom

Michael F. Bird writes: ‘Religious freedom is an intrinsic human right, a key index for gauging freedom in any state, but it is not absolute and can be limited in instances of public safety.’

https://www.spectator.com.au/2019/04/its-time-to-end-the-seal-of-the-confessional-the-religious-case/

Patrick Parkinson writes: Both major political parties have uneven records on religious freedom and will need to work hard in this election campaign to win the votes of people of faith.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/courting-religious-voters-in-the-2019-federal-election/10966804

Ben McEachen writes: The Federal Government has announced a 12-month inquiry into religious exemptions for anti-discrimination legislation – and has also confirmed a religious freedom bill will not surface before the election.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/government-delays-religious-freedom-bill-until-after-election/

https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/religion-and-national-loyalty/

Sexuality

Will Jones writes: ‘From the one-sided coverage you would never guess that prior to the 1980s therapy for people with same-sex attraction … was very common and the literature from this period, including numerous records of successful change, is vast.’

https://faith-and-politics.com/2019/04/05/sexuality-can-change-heres-the-proof/

Katherine Cave writes: 'Over the past few years, media stories about “transgender” kids have become increasingly common, but critical questions are seldom asked. These children’s identities are portrayed as immutable, while the ideologically-driven medical practices solidifying them are not investigated.'

https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/04/50959/

Paul Wehner writes: Pete Buttigieg’s tone separates him from many evangelical leaders—but in one crucial way, he might be replicating a mistake of the religious right.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/buttigieg-wrong-about-christianity-and-progressivism/586810

Lisa McClain writes: 'While the church’s official stance prohibiting sexual relations between people of the same sex has remained constant, the importance the church ascribes to the “sin” has varied.'

https://theconversation.com/a-thousand-years-ago-the-catholic-church-paid-little-attention-to-homosexuality-112830

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april-web-only/bethany-ceo-michigan-foster-care-system-lgbt-cant-back-out.html

Social media

http://twentysixletters.org/creativity-vulnerability-internet-criticism/

Sport

Richard Shumack makes the case in the Daily Telegraph that sport fits comfortably within the true meaning of Easter.

https://www.publicchristianity.org/blessed-be-good-friday-footy/

Technology

Andy Crouch writes: Why the church should resist technologies that aim to liberate us from ordinary, embodied life.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april/transhumanism-image-god-modern-technology-human-future.html

Justine Toh speaks to Catholic theologian Matthew Tan. They explore chronic distraction in a world full of hand-held devices — our contemporary equivalent of what the Christian tradition has long labelled ‘sloth’ — and how giving up Netflix could be the answer.

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/soul-search/spiritual-lifehack-with-matthew-tan/10974114

Terrorism

https://artandtheology.net/2019/03/17/imagining-difference-the-spectacle-of-terror/

Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of the Egyptian Al-Azhar mosque, Ahmad Al-Tayyib, have signed an historic document, Human Fraternity for World Peace & Living Together in response to terrorism.

www.socialpolicyconnections.com.au/

US politics

Paul Wehner writes: Pete Buttigieg’s tone separates him from many evangelical leaders—but in one crucial way, he might be replicating a mistake of the religious right.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/buttigieg-wrong-about-christianity-and-progressivism/586810

L. Benjamin Rolsky writes: While the emergence of “Mayor Pete” has energized religious liberals hoping to finally see “the religious left” coalesce into a viable political option, it is still largely unknown how he’ll speak to or from his Protestant faith as a public servant.

https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/mayor-pete-and-resurrection-religious-left

Vaccines

Rebecca Randall writes: For certain Christians, the decision of whether to vaccinate comes down to the origins of the vaccines themselves.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april-web-only/why-christians-refuse-measles-vaccinations-moral-grounds.html

Veganism

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/vegan-protesters-reject-righteous-domination

War, peace & nonviolence

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/podcasts/ep-15-the-god-of-the-anzacs/

Welfare

Joe Zabar writes: A proposal to take decisions around welfare payments out of politicians' hands is the best way forward. If the major parties are going to put supporting the most vulnerable in the 'too hard' basket or kick the can down the road, let an independent commission determine the rates at which various welfare payments can allow people to live a dignified life.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/budget-2019-20-and-the-way-forward-for-welfare

Western civilisation

Tom Holland writes: 'The debt of the contemporary West to Christianity is more deeply rooted than many — believers and non-believers alike — might presume'.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2019/04/thank-god-for-western-values/

https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-how-western-attitudes-towards-islam-have-changed-111989

Women

Cheryl McGrath writes: Many of us are so steeped in diet culture that we don’t even realise when we’re saying unhelpful things.

http://twentysixletters.org/five-body-positive-sayings-that-arent-body-positive-at-all/

Work

Andrew Hamilton writes: It is in the interests of companies and the people who compose them to see the relationships that constitute work more broadly than the image of transaction allows. In a good enterprise work is a form of self-transcendence through relationships with other workers, with the people whom they serve directly and with the broader society.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/work-as-gift-rather-than-transaction

Jeff Sparrow writes: Casualisation has weakened worker solidarity but by sticking together we can change the rules.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/12/instead-of-freedom-workplace-flexibility-has-brought-us-debilitating-insecurity

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/work-as-gift-rather-than-transaction

https://www.theologyofwork.org/resources/the-environmental-benefits-of-quality-work-video

Haggai connects the economic and social well-being of the people with the state of the environment.

https://www.theologyofwork.org/old-testament/the-twelve-prophets/faithful-work-after-the-exilehaggai-zechariah-malachi/work-worship-and-the-environment-haggai-11-219-zechariah-78-14