Link Highlights - December 2016
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
| Ethos editor
Link highlights – December 2016
Below is a selection of links to online news and opinion pieces from December 2016. 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.
Abortion
Let's speak, not shout, about abortion, writes Murray Campbell.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18702
The Arts
Tim Kroenert writes about the ten movies that really got to us this year.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50484#.WFn6lLaGOu4
Asylum seekers, refugees and immigration
People ask us why we protested in parliament for refugees. We ask, why didn’t you? How can we remain passive and silent while asylum seekers are held indefinitely, tortured and raped in detention? By Mara Bonacci, Sam Castro, Kat Moore and Kerry Woodward
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/03/people-ask-us-why-we-protested-in-parliament-for-refugees-we-ask-why-didnt-you
A response by Fr Chris Bedding to criticisms of the protest: https://www.facebook.com/frchrisbedding/posts/10154824724936388
What is remarkable about Wednesday’s Parliament House ‘glue-in’ protest against detention of asylum seekers is that there has not been a lot more of it, writes Clive Hamilton.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/02/as-this-weeks-glue-in-in-parliament-shows-the-story-of-protest-has-no-end
Last week’s parliament protest may have been a silly way to use freedom of speech but it actually got something real on the agenda http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/justin-smith-democracy-denial-and-a-boring-doroth-dixer/news-story/d12caa24c7607d8b8711f9229d5f7f33
Bioethics
3-Parent Babies: Unethical, Unproven, Dangerous And Unnecessary. It allows the design and manufacture of a human being with certain properties and to that extent constitutes a 'designer baby', writes Nola Leach.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/3.parent.babies.unethical.unproven.dangerous.and.unnecessary/103077.htm
Christmas
"Christmas is all about how God, in Jesus Christ, shows us how to become neighbour, and therefore fulfil the law. Our task is none other than to become neighbour not to engage or remain complicit (walking by on the other side) in merciless action that effectively crucifies Him again". A reflection on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, taxation and refugees, by Bruce Wearne.
https://nurturingjustice.wordpress.com/2016/12/04/finding-our-place-as-neighbours-taxation-and-mercy-this-christmas/
To stop boat deaths, abolish carrier sanctions and let asylum seekers travel by plane, writes Asher Hirsch.
Australia leads the world in the extraterritorialisation of migration control. But as a consequence, Australia’s policies have forced those who seek protection to use irregular, unauthorised and dangerous pathways to find safety. One way to prevent these dangerous journeys is to allow asylum seekers to get on planes. Unfortunately, Australia’s use of carrier sanctions works to prevent this safe route, generating demand for people smugglers and more dangerous journeys.
http://rightnow.org.au/opinion-3/carrier-sanctions-stop-asylum-seekers-getting-planes/
Christmas is blighted by child detention obscenity, writes Andrew Hamilton.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50458#.WFNA3aJ96u4
The Holy Family fled Herod’s Genocide. Today, whole communities in Iraq and Syria are being targetted, with mass murder, torture, systematic rape and sexual enslavement being widely reported. This is happening right now, while we put up coloured lights and plan our Christmas feasts. By Nick Jensen.
http://citynews.com.au/2016/jensen-dark-side-christmas-story/
A Christmas without nativity scenes: embracing my faith in a secular society, by Scott Higgins.
‘I follow Jesus in a society that is now almost completely secular in its public expressions. … I sense a need for Christians to find some new rituals for daily living or to reinvest in some old ones, lest we find faith swallowed up by secularism.’
http://scottjhiggins.com/faith-in-secular-world/
Five Errors to Drop from Your Christmas Sermon If you want to help people see Christmas with fresh eyes, start by dropping these familiar fallacies. Andreas Kӧstenberger and Alexander Stewart
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/december-web-only/five-errors-to-drop-from-your-christmas-sermons.html
“Christmas is certainly something to be celebrated, but I think our habits of excess in food and spending and so on don’t really reflect the best aspects of Christmas.
Christmas is about the lavishness of God’s generosity in sending his son for us and the excesses we indulge in are a very pale imitation of the bounty of his generosity.”
- Kanishka Raffel, Dean of Sydney’s St Andrew’s Anglican Cathedral
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/culture/with-any-luck-no-one-will-remember-what-it-was-all-about-in-the-first-place/
"I had a sneaking suspicion that I wasn’t the only one feeling a bit anxious about Christmas Day, so I asked around, and it turns out I’m not alone in the struggle. You’re not alone either".
Teagan Russell writes candidly about mental illness, a recent breakup, financial Hardship, divorced and broken families, singles, grief over the loss of a loved one, estranged family members and sick loved ones at Christmastime.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/bah-humbug-christmas-is-not-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/
Jesus probably wasn't born on December 25 ... and other Christmas myths. By Candida Moss
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/jesus-probably-wasnt-born-on-december-25--and-other-christmas-myths-20161217-gtd8bg.html
As we put Christmas behind us, and as we approach the New Year and the Orthodox Christmas in early January, let's remember those who celebrate Christmas at the risk of their lives - and all those who are suffering because of war, famine and other kinds of destruction.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/world/stories-from-aleppo-during-ceasefire/
The annual increase in Australians looking to volunteer at Christmas might be due to people not understanding the impact they can have, according to a volunteer co-ordinator in Queensland. By Ben Mceachen.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/good-news/why-we-only-volunteer-at-christmas/
What can the Christmas story teach us about living under a man like King Herod?
http://www.craiggreenfield.com/blog/2016/12/13/how-to-live-under-an-unjust-leader
The main thing our world is missing about Christmas is the sheer brutality of sin that made it necessary, writes Stephen McAlipine.
https://stephenmcalpine.com/2016/12/20/this-years-christmas-photo/
‘The biggest hurdle to overcome in exercising good will to Muslims (or anyone else) is … working out whether we really want to’, writes Richard Shumack.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/how-to-show-good-will-to-muslims-this-christmas/
John Dickson, writing for ABC Religion & Ethics, reflects on sadness at Christmastime - and how the promise of the original Christmas is that joy will finally pierce the sadness.
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/12/23/4596913.htm
Natasha Moore, writing for The Canberra Times, explains the Christmas story in terms of what psychologists call "non-complementary behaviour".
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/flip-the-script-a-message-for-christmas-20161222-gth0wk.html
Natasha Moore reflects on Christmas broadcasts past - from angels to the birth of radio and the Apollo 8 mission - on ABC Religion & Ethics.
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/12/22/4596525.htm
Writing about the new Scorsese film Silence for ABC News, Simon Smart reflects on darkness, faith, and suffering at a usually upbeat time of year.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-22/scorsese-silence-tests-faith-christmas/8136120
Bioethics
The War Against the Weak: The emergence of genetic counselling and its prejudices towards the weak and frail occurred in the wake of the Abortion Revolution, which drove a stake into the egalitarian heart of Western medicine, writes Philip Burcham.
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/11/28/4583274.htm
HBO’s ‘Westworld’: Robot sex and the nature of the soul, by Kimberly Winston.
http://religionnews.com/2016/12/02/hbos-westworld-robot-sex-and-the-nature-of-the-soul/
Christmas
"Christmas is all about how God, in Jesus Christ, shows us how to become neighbour, and therefore fulfil the law. Our task is none other than to become neighbour not to engage or remain complicit (walking by on the other side) in merciless action that effectively crucifies Him again". A reflection on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, taxation and refugees, by Bruce Wearne.
https://nurturingjustice.wordpress.com/2016/12/04/finding-our-place-as-neighbours-taxation-and-mercy-this-christmas/
Waka Waka woman and Common Grace's Aboriginal Spokesperson, Brooke Prentis, exchanges the bitterness of 2016 for God's hope and love this Advent, and invites us all to do likewise.
http://www.commongrace.org.au/advent_day_7
"Do I believe in the virgin birth? Does anyone? But I do believe a young man and his pregnant wife could be barred entry to a warm, safe place and be told to use the stable out the back", writes Martin Flanagan.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-christmas-story-isnt-actually-that-unlikely-20161208-gt7f9y.html
The Holy Family fled Herod’s Genocide. Today, whole communities in Iraq and Syria are being targetted, with mass murder, torture, systematic rape and sexual enslavement being widely reported. This is happening right now, while we put up coloured lights and plan our Christmas feasts. By Nick Jensen.
http://citynews.com.au/2016/jensen-dark-side-christmas-story/
It’s not elves, but underpaid Chinese workers working around the clock that will enable you to unwrap your presents, writes Amoge Ukaegbu.
https://newint.org/blog/2016/12/08/the-dark-side-of-christmas-the-impact-on-sweatshops/
Christmas is blighted by child detention obscenity, writes Andrew Hamilton.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50458#.WFNA3aJ96u4
‘Mary’s humility, willingness to serve and hope in the promises of God has much to teach us all.’
Ethos’ Mick Pope explores what a 1st Century Jewish teen girl can teach a 21st Century middle-aged white male.
http://www.commongrace.org.au/advent_day_15
At Christmas, let’s reflect on how Sanctuary might be a gift to the wider community, and how we might further participate in God’s reconciling action in the world, writes Ethos’ Alison Sampson.
http://theideaofhome.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/christian-family-values.html
Guilt edged smartphones make an unhappy Christmas gift, writes Francine Crimmins.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50490#.WFn6i7aGOu4
The Christmas story trumps the games that power plays, writes Andrew Hamilton.
‘For most people, Christmas concludes a gasping sprint to the end of the year. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on the events of the past year, and perhaps to set these against the generous values associated with the Australian celebration of Christmas.’
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50459#.WFd_fLaGOu4
Barney Zwartz asks in his monthly faith column for The Age: what would Jesus think of Christmas, modern Australia-style?
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/faith-20161213-gta0r9
At Christmas Australians buy more, travel more and eat more than at any other time of the year. To help reduce the environmental and financial impact of these festive activities, Planet Ark has come up with 12 simple, positive actions - the 12 Do's of Christmas.
http://12dos.planetark.org/
A Christmas Carol for the Australia We Want
In the midst of some serious reflections on 2016 and the recent release of the Community Council for Australia’s campaign for the “Australia We Want” comes a Christmas carol with a difference.
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2016/12/christmas-carol-australia-want/
War on Christmas? What war?
All I want for Christmas is for the hard right to quit acting like they’re under siege by some neo-Marxist conspiracy to undermine Western values, writes Seb Starcevic.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/war-on-christmas-what-war/news-story/3042ad4e4ddb9c33b3b30a54cc26935a
Church exemptions
'If a law is introduced to say that a priest should reveal a confession, I'm one of those priests who will disobey the law', writes Frank Brennan.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50443#.WEfVwKJ97_Q
Disability
Conserving disability affirms human embodied variation and distinctiveness, not because it is the given, but because it is the good, writes Rosemary Garland-Thomson.
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/12/01/4585195.htm
End of Life
A Dangerous Year to be a Celebrity? With the passing of George Michael and others, Stephen McAlpine reflects on the passing of celebrities, recognised & unrecognised.
https://stephenmcalpine.com/2016/12/28/a-dangerous-year-to-be-a-celebrity-or-is-it/
Environment
How to relieve poverty in India without endangering the planet, by Frank Brennan.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50428#.WEUq06J97_Q
God save the planet: ‘According to Pope Francis climate change perpetration is a “sin against God”’.
http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2016/12/09/adani-carmichael-coal-mine/
There is something deeply flawed in how we are engaging the planet, writes Scott Higgins. So what can we do about it?
http://scottjhiggins.com/going-going-gone/
Reading Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" through Anthropocene eyes, insight and appreciation of nature seem to emerge from, even require, rupture and profanation. Maybe the imperfect has always been our only paradise, writes Jedediah Purdy.
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/12/14/4592272.htm
Epistemology
"Communication" is the readiness to assert a private interest only to the extent that it can become a common interest. The private interest must first be located within the common interest, writes Oliver O’Donovan.
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/12/06/4587889.htm
An awareness of the tendency for bias promotes humility, openness to different opinions and empathy for political opponents; for they are as much trapped in their mind as I am in mine, writes Sam Morston.
http://theconversation.com/from-fascists-to-feminazis-how-both-sides-of-politics-are-biased-in-their-political-thinking-69493
Exile
No Place for Exile: How Christians Should (Not) Make Sense of their Place in the World. By Kate Harrison Brennan.
“Defensive faith, lacking in imagination, will get Christians nowhere. The wisdom of prophets like Jeremiah can help the Church to understand how it should embrace its new cultural position.”
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/12/16/4593491.htm
Foreign policy
Values-based foreign policy is flawed thinking, writes Alan Dupont.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/valuesbased-foreign-policy-is-flawed-thinking/news-story/8f3aac905b47f74bd2cb8f064401e097
Gambling
Australia’s per capita gambling losses are among the highest in the world, due to a symbiosis between a hugely profitable industry and pliant governments, writes Daniel Zender.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/opinion/australia-has-a-serious-gambling-problem.html
Giving & philanthropy
The Christian understanding of the 'image of God', redefined by the Incarnation, was a radical departure from the social ethics of classical paganism which actively discouraged private charity, writes Gary Ferngren.
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/12/16/4593446.htm
If it's better to give than to receive, University of Toronto Scarborough research shows that it's better to give an experience than a thing.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-12/uot-tas121516.php
Focusing on the social rather than material aspects of Christmas may mean a happier Christmas, writes Viren Swami.
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-science-of-gift-giving-and-receiving-dont-give-money-and-always-say-thank-you-20161218-gtdwgb.html
Indigenous affairs
Waka Waka woman and Common Grace's Aboriginal Spokesperson, Brooke Prentis, exchanges the bitterness of 2016 for God's hope and love this Advent, and invites us all to do likewise. http://www.commongrace.org.au/advent_day_7
https://dailyreview.com.au/sbss-first-contact-concerned-white-drama-indigenous-stories/53021/
Noel Pearson says the 'soft bigotry' of the left is the biggest challenge to Indigenous reform, arguing that the low expectations of ‘false progressives’ for Indigenous people have trapped reformers such as himself in a ‘zero-sum game’.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/08/noel-pearson-says-soft-bigotry-of-the-left-the-biggest-challenge-to-indigenous-reform
In his Quarterly Essay, Stan Grant tackles the definition of Aboriginal Australia, arguing that the economic migration model is a powerful lens through which to view what has happened to his people.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/stan-grants-quarterly-essay-tackles-the-definition-of-aboriginal-australia/news-story/4f4e14ec7293c3f5520c1e325720804c
'Working to solve social issues within Aboriginal Australian communities is a “band-aid” fix, not a long-term solution.' The 'big issue is sin', which 'results in a whole range of lifestyles and people sometimes make lifestyle choices which can be detrimental to their living', says Bush Church Aid's first Indigenous Ministry Officer, Neville Naden.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/the-big-issue-facing-indigenous-australia/
It is hard to pick the instant when the movement to recognise Aborigines in the Constitution died. There were signposts. But Australians have far too much in common to divide over a treaty. By Gary Johns.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18728
Treaties with Aboriginal tribes have existed since Mabo. In discussions about a treaty with Indigenous Australians, the pursuit of a quiet consensus would be more productive than the panic division and name-calling that marked 2016, writes Fred Chaney.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/indigenous-treaty-talks-have-a-long-rich-history/news-story/e1755e0f044e6a1ce3ba4207b8851d18
Information and privacy
Big Data, Human Rights and the Ethics of Scientific Research: We should not confront developments in science and technology with a dogmatic understanding of human rights that is fixed and unresponsive to changing circumstances, writes John Tasioulas.
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/11/30/4584324.htm
Law, human rights and free speech
The Victorian parliament has rejected 3 controversial bills regarding religious schools and ‘gender change’ on birth certificates, writes Neil Foster.
https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2016/12/06/three-controversial-victorian-bills-defeated/
As the year draws to a close, Neil Foster takes stock of the current status of some important Law and Religion issues discussed this year and flags some upcoming issues for 2017.
https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2016/12/30/update-on-2016-law-and-religion-issues-and-preview-for-2017/
Politicians are lining up to ensure that Craig Minogue, one of the Russell Street bombers, is denied parole. But expressions of outrage are not a good basis for law, writes Janna Thompson, Professor of Philosophy at La Trobe University.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/russell-street-bomber-should-not-be-denied-parole-on-the-basis-of-outrage-alone-20161209-gt7pdm.html
Media
Religious media cuts undermine harmony, writes Kasy Chambers.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50439#.WEfRr6J97_Q
Moral philosophy
If it's better to give than to receive, but it's also better to give an experience than a thing, according to University of Toronto Scarborough research findings.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-12/uot-tas121516.php
Trump and those like him not only lie: they imply that the truth doesn’t matter. … But we cannot live in such a world. Evidence, facts and reason are the building blocks of civilisation. Without them we plunge into darkness. By Jonathan Freedland.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/16/not-post-truth-simpler-words-lies-aleppo-trump-mainstream
A person's character, more so than their actions, determines whether we find immoral acts to be 'disgusting,' according to new research in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-12/afps-bpa121516.php
The project of a rationally derived ethical system has been shown to be a fantasy. Not only does it presume that such a universal system could be formulated, it also presumes that people could act according to such formulations, writes Peter Sellick.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18736&page=0
Politics, society & ideology
The liberal order could fall apart just as suddenly as the USSR. If we want it to survive, we have to learn from what happened in Russia, writes Paul Mason.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/05/soviet-union-collapsed-overnight-western-democracy-liberal-order-ussr-russia
Australia's political elites are fiddling while Rome burns. There has never been a time when the disconnect between political elites and the public interest was greater than it is today. Australia’s major parties seem uninterested or unable to respond to a drastically transformed world, writes Joseph Camilleri.
http://theconversation.com/australias-political-elites-are-fiddling-while-rome-burns-69102
It is hard to overstate the sort of things that become permissible when the dominant political culture appeals to our darker nature. This year we have seen what voters can live with, and it seems we have assumed too much of what they won't bear, writes Fatima Measham.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50456#.WEoDoqJ96u4
We often think religious identity and behavior are primarily about ideas. But ideas do not create religious identity: They follow from it, writes Arthur E. Farnsley.
http://religionnews.com/2016/12/07/its-time-we-think-of-politics-more-like-religion/
‘I think post modernism has something to answer for in eroding ideas of truth, but plain Machiavellian political cynicism, conservatism and fear of change seem to dominate politics in the West.’
http://ethos-environment.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/truth-tellers-in-post-fact-world.html
‘A woman President following a black President would have meant to many that things are getting better. It would have obscured the reality of continued neoliberal economics, imperial wars, and resource extraction behind a veil of faux-progressive feminism. Now that we have, in the words of my friend Kelly Brogan, rejected a wolf in sheep’s clothing in favor of a wolf in wolf’s clothing, that illusion will be impossible to maintain.’ By Charles Eisenstein.
http://charleseisenstein.net/hategriefandanewstory/
We are in a mess, and what is needed is vision for the politics of the common good, writes Andy Walton.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/the.world.is.in.a.mess.the.common.good.offers.a.way.out/102639.htm
The goat’s cheese curtain - the demarcation line separating the two sides of the culture wars - separates a nation growing more divided, writes Bernard Salt.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/bernard-salt-demographer/goats-cheese-curtain-separates-a-nation-growing-more-divided/news-story/267cca116fbc5e99a971f4576a00452d
Trump and those like him not only lie: they imply that the truth doesn’t matter. … But we cannot live in such a world. Evidence, facts and reason are the building blocks of civilisation. Without them we plunge into darkness. By Jonathan Freedland.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/16/not-post-truth-simpler-words-lies-aleppo-trump-mainstream
There is no going back, no comfort in old certainties. But reviving common ownership is one possible route to social transformation, writes George Monbiot.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/13/despair-mess-commons-transform-society
We hereby nominate 2016 as the year in which the “religiocification of hate” was more visible, patent, and dangerous than in any other year in decades’, writes Martin E. Marty.
http://religionnews.com/2016/12/13/the-religiocification-of-hate/
We need global solutions for global problems By Peter McMahon
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18709
Making America great again? By Babette Francis
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18705&page=0
Where to for migrants and minorities? By Saeed Khan
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18707
Populism is not such a mysterious thing, and is not to be confused with fascism, which it resembles in only a few respects, writes Niall Ferguson (article published in 2016).
“The world today is, as I observed at the outset, in much less turmoil than one might infer from television news. Nevertheless, the economic and social consequences of globalization and the most recent financial crisis sowed the seeds for the populist backlash that we now see.”
http://www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/horizons-autumn-2016--issue-no-8/populism-as-a-backlash-against-globalization
Australian politics is rarely about values but often about power. There is no vision. Australia, throughout its young life, has not managed to find a political identity of its own, writes Anica Niepraschk.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18739
Protest & civil disobedence
People ask us why we protested in parliament for refugees. We ask, why didn’t you? How can we remain passive and silent while asylum seekers are held indefinitely, tortured and raped in detention? By Mara Bonacci, Sam Castro, Kat Moore and Kerry Woodward
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/03/people-ask-us-why-we-protested-in-parliament-for-refugees-we-ask-why-didnt-you
A response by Fr Chris Bedding to criticisms of the protest: https://www.facebook.com/frchrisbedding/posts/10154824724936388
What is remarkable about Wednesday’s Parliament House ‘glue-in’ protest against detention of asylum seekers is that there has not been a lot more of it, writes Clive Hamilton.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/02/as-this-weeks-glue-in-in-parliament-shows-the-story-of-protest-has-no-end
https://www.crikey.com.au/2016/12/02/a-cross-party-statement-keep-question-time-sacred/
Last week’s parliament protest may have been a silly way to use freedom of speech but it actually got something real on the agenda http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/justin-smith-democracy-denial-and-a-boring-doroth-dixer/news-story/d12caa24c7607d8b8711f9229d5f7f33
Religion & spirituality
Wellness culture and its allure of health and happiness offer a substitute for the meaning and solace once found in traditional religion. We appear to have traded God for good living, and it's keeping Justine Toh awake.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/whatkeepsmeawake/justine-toh-on-wellness-culture-as-the-new-religion/8075302
"The problem with the person who drove a lorry into a crowded market of Christmas shoppers" in Berlin, writes Giles Fraser, "wasn’t that he was too religious, but that he wasn’t religious enough."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/22/terrorists-extremism-religious-terrorists-god
Religion in society
Religious media cuts undermine harmony, writes Kasy Chambers.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50439#.WEfRr6J97_Q
We often think religious identity and behavior are primarily about ideas. But ideas do not create religious identity: They follow from it, writes Arthur E. Farnsley.
http://religionnews.com/2016/12/07/its-time-we-think-of-politics-more-like-religion/
EU leader warns of World War III on religious grounds.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/world/eu-leader-warns-of-world-war-iii-on-religious-grounds/
On the second anniversary of the Martin Place siege in Sydney, we thought it appropriate to post an article by Zadok contributor Doug Hynd, written on 18 January 2015, and entitled: ‘“Religion” and “the sacred”: a note for historians following the Martin Place siege’.
http://honesthistory.net.au/religion-and-the-sacred-after-martin-place/
If Christian faith is to flourish in the new, pluralist environment, writes Scott Higgins, we need to call for justice, practise mercy and live faithfully (Micah 6:8). And we need to adopt a more nuanced approach - one of commonality, complementarity, cooperation and contrast, rather than conflict - to our relationships with other religions and secular bodies.
http://scottjhiggins.com/challenges-for-the-church-2-living-as-a-minority-in-a-pluralist-society/
See http://scottjhiggins.com/challenges-for-the-church-1-the-decline-of-god-in-australia/ for part of Scott's series of reflections on challenges facing the Christian church as we move into 2017.
‘The Church is better and worse than you think.’ A new documentary by the Centre for Public Christianity confronts the shocking impact of Christianity around the world. https://www.eternitynews.com.au/culture/the-church-is-better-and-worse-than-you-think/
Lyle Shelton polarises Aussie Christians …but can believers of all stripes get behind what he is doing? Tess Holgate writes.
‘You never know, working towards Christian unity with Lyle Shelton might actually give Christians greater credibility to speak intelligently into the very issues we disagree with Lyle Shelton about.’
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/lyle-shelton-polarises-aussie-christians/
An article entitled ‘Melbourne's new Bible belt where politics swings to the right’, was published last week by The Age journalist Chris Johnston.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbournes-new-bible-belt-where-politics-swings-to-the-right-20161223-gthed3.html
New Testament theologian and Ridley College lecturer, Michael Bird, responds to Chris Johnston’s article.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2016/12/christianophobia-eastern-melbourne/
Instead of trusting in God and looking to the future with hope, many people seem to have put their trust in false messiahs and have capitulated to the basest sinful instincts of fear and selfishness. However, amid the darkness a new movement of the Holy Spirit can be discerned, writes Joshua Searle.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/fascism.and.false.messiahs.why.the.world.needs.christ.more.than.ever/103073.htm
Secularism
What does ‘secularism’ mean? CPX’s Life & Faith explores the original meaning of secularism and tracks its development to the present day, with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson, philosopher Charles Taylor, Iain Benson and Craig Calhoun.
https://publicchristianity.org/library/life-faith-looking-over-the-fence
By framing secular society as a Christian creation, Hanson’s revival goes beyond simple racism, writes Nicholas Morieson.
Excerpts: “Secularism has often been understood as the overcoming of religious belief. However, One Nation describes Australian culture as both Christian and secular. The implication is that secularism itself has come out of Christian values, so the two are entirely compatible. For One Nation, Islam is the polar opposite of Christianity and secularism. Where Christianity allows a separation of church and state, Islam, according to One Nation, is inextricably political.”
“Secular culture, then, suddenly seems far less universal and natural, and more like a particular product of the religion that gave it shape: Christianity.”
https://theconversation.com/by-framing-secular-society-as-a-christian-creation-hansons-revival-goes-beyond-simple-racism-67707
Sex
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/why-millennials-are-less-hung-up-on-monogamy-20161202-gt2six.html
Sexuality and same-sex marriage
What is Safe Schools, what is changing and what are states doing? Find out what each state is planning to do with the program after federal funding expires.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/14/what-is-safe-schools-what-is-changing-and-what-are-states-doing
The emotive words often used about the Safe Schools program ignore what it is – voluntary professional development for teachers. But even some supporters question its underpinning philosophies, writes Gay Alcorn.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/14/safe-schools-roz-ward-life-saving-support-queer-theory-classroom
The 2015 Utah Compromise, endorsed by both Mormon leaders LGBT groups, suggests that both sides of the debate actually get more of their priorities put into law when they work together than when legislated on their own or litigated in the courts, writes Kate Shellnutt.
Could the 2015 Utah Compromise offer a way out of the tense back-and-forth between religious liberty and LGBT rights?
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/december-web-only/fairness-for-all-evangelicals-explore-truce-lgbt-cccu-nae.html
Leaders from nearly 90 evangelical seminaries, publications, ministries and churches – along with Catholic and Orthodox clergy – have rejected the idea of a potential nationwide Fairness for All law guaranteeing both LGBT and Religious rights, modeled after a well-regarded compromise enacted in Utah in 2015. Kate Shellnutt reports.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2017/january/evangelical-leaders-reject-compromise-lgbt-rights-sogi.html
Slavery
http://www.theage.com.au/business/workplace-relations/business-and-religious-groups-join-forces-to-end-modern-slavery-20161201-gt1q1p.html
Social justice
How to relieve poverty in India without endangering the planet, by Frank Brennan.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50428#.WEUq06J97_Q
The theologian Karl Barth is famously stated as saying you should preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Could songwriters do the same? Katherine Maxwell-Rose writes.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/why.ive.given.up.singing.worship.songs/102601.htm
Guilt edged smartphones make an unhappy Christmas gift, writes Francine Crimmins.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=50490#.WFn6i7aGOu4
Social media
Limiting our use of social media may be the best gift we can offer our children, parents, friends and neighbours this Christmas, writes Mal Fletcher.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=18747&page=0
Syria
Why we should all feel shame over Aleppo, by Mark Woods.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/why.we.should.all.feel.shame.over.aleppo/102997.htm
After Aleppo, vows that ‘this can never happen again’ must actually mean something, writes Toni Erskine.
http://theconversation.com/after-aleppo-vows-that-this-can-never-happen-again-must-actually-mean-something-70577
Terrorism
On the second anniversary of the Martin Place siege in Sydney, we thought it appropriate to post an article by Zadok contributor Doug Hynd, written on 18 January 2015, and entitled: ‘“Religion” and “the sacred”: a note for historians following the Martin Place siege’.
http://honesthistory.net.au/religion-and-the-sacred-after-martin-place/
‘The problem with the person who drove a lorry into a crowded market of Christmas shoppers" in Berlin, writes Giles Fraser, "wasn’t that he was too religious, but that he wasn’t religious enough.’
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/22/terrorists-extremism-religious-terrorists-god
US elections & Donald Trump
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/december-web-only/are-trumps-white-evangelical-supporters-racist.html
‘The Religious Right … is far from moribund. Having flexed its muscles to carry Trump to the presidency it now resumes its traditional role while there is a Republican in office – watching and waiting for him to deliver’, writes Andy Walton.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/what.is.the.future.of.the.religious.right.under.a.trump.presidency/102803.htm
‘A woman President following a black President would have meant to many that things are getting better. It would have obscured the reality of continued neoliberal economics, imperial wars, and resource extraction behind a veil of faux-progressive feminism. Now that we have, in the words of my friend Kelly Brogan, rejected a wolf in sheep’s clothing in favor of a wolf in wolf’s clothing, that illusion will be impossible to maintain.’ By Charles Eisenstein.
http://charleseisenstein.net/hategriefandanewstory/
Trump redeemed alienated conservatives and cast liberals into the political wilderness, writes Arlie Russell Hochschild.
https://newrepublic.com/article/138910/left-now-strangers-land
Volunteering
The annual increase in Australians looking to volunteer at Christmas might be due to people not understanding the impact they can have, according to a volunteer co-ordinator in Queensland. By Ben Mceachen.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/good-news/why-we-only-volunteer-at-christmas/
Youth
Today’s youngest generation with a label, born after 2000, are gender fluid, politically engaged, connected yet isolated, savvy but anxious, indulged yet stressed, writes Caelainn Barr.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/10/generation-z-latest-data-teens