Link highlights | July 2017

Tuesday, 1 August 2017 | Ethos editor

Link highlights – July 2017

Below is a selection of links to online news and opinion pieces from July 2017. 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.

Bigotry

Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro evangelcal and Marcelo Figueroa argue that there are growing similarities in the rhetoric and world views adopted by evangelical fundamentalists and some ‘militant’ Catholic hardliners. Carol Glatz writes.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/07/13/italian-jesuit-journal-calls-out-ecumenism-hate-between-some-evangelicals-and

Civil society

A strong civil society and voluntary associations are key to protecting diversity in a pluralistic society, and are an antidote to the monopolisation of community by the state, write Peter Mulherin and Simon P. Kennedy.

http://www.i4cs.com.au/archipelago-or-landmass/

Memes are helping to redraw the boundaries of what constitutes acceptable political discourse, particularly since the 2016 US presidential election, when meme wars raged between left and right, writes Michelle Mielly.

https://theconversation.com/now-is-the-summer-of-our-discontent-memes-national-identity-and-the-globalisation-of-rage-80480

The Peterson story reveals something about a deficiency in our spirituality, especially in the context of public discourse on polarising issues. We would do well to prayerfully take inventory of our lives, writes Rich Villodas.

http://www.missioalliance.org/what-should-really-concern-us-about-the-eugene-peterson-debacle/

Disability and mental illness

There are a lot of words you could use to describe Shane Clifton: husband, father, professor, theologian. When you meet him you’ll notice that he’s in a wheelchair, because Shane is also a quadriplegic. But one word we’re not using to describe him is ‘inspiration’. With Simon Smart, Natasha Moore and Shane Clifton.

https://publicchristianity.org/library/not-an-inspiration

Domestic violence

We are shocked by the statistics around domestic violence, and yet, when a woman comes forward with an allegation, we don’t believe her. Victim blaming is normalised, and there is stunning ignorance surrounding the insidious nature of abuse, writes Selene Nelson.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/selene-nelson/johnny-depp-amber-heard_b_17319700.html

We all want to see domestic abuse of women eradicated as soon as possible, but it may be that the way forward here is some kind of awkward partnership of Christians who disagree on the way to get there, but are allies in seeking the safety of women within our churches, writes Tamie Davis.

http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/engage-mail/complementarians-egalitarians-and-domestic-violence

Church leaders in Australia say they abhor abuse of any kind. But advocates say the church is not just failing to sufficiently address domestic violence, it is both enabling and concealing it. Julia Baird and Hayley Gleeson write.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/domestic-violence-church-submit-to-husbands/8652028

Baird and Gleeson argue that male-headed churches make domestic violence worse, but in fact men who attend church less often are most likely to abuse their wives, and domestic violence rates are much higher among other groups, writes Andrew Bolt.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/abc-attacks-christians-as-wife-beaters/news-story/64a5ea32cee7c08ac433036fcb7109d8

(See also: But anyone remotely familiar with Christianity and Australia should have instantly realised there’s no way ‘the men most likely to abuse their wives are evangelical Christians’, writes Andrew Bolt.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/andrew-bolt/losing-faith-in-the-abc-over-attacks-on-christianity/news-story/99d48aa4961063465be75f77e31ad27a)

And a response to Andrew Bolt:

Our response must be to avoid pointing to others whose problem is apparently greater, in order to take the heat from the Christian community. This blame-shifting is contrary to the gospel, which frees us to to face our sin, writes Tamie Davis.

https://meetjesusatuni.com/2017/07/18/a-properly-christian-response-to-julia-bairds-article-on-domestic-violence/

A husband’s love for his family must be like the pure, protecting and self-giving love of Christ for his church. Domestic violence is a sinful betrayal of what Scripture teaches us about family relationships in a Christian home, writes Michael Bird.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2017/07/scourge-domestic-violence-church/

In the Bible, wisdom is personified as a woman; perhaps we should take our lead from that and listen to some wise women sometimes? All the time? Perhaps Julia Baird is a voice worth listening to?’ And as heirs of the Reformation, we of all people should welcome this sort of criticism as an opportunity for self assessment and reform, writes Nathan Campbell.

http://st-eutychus.com/2017/domestic-violence-the-abc-and-the-spirit-of-the-reformation/

Reporter Julia Baird and Anglican priest Michael Jensen discuss an ABC finding that evangelical Christians who attend church irregularly are the most likely group in Australia to commit domestic violence.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/evangelical-christians-the-most-and-least-likely/8720716

The Anglican Primate of Australia, Archbishop Philip Freier, said he supported an unequivocal apology expressed this week by an Anglican priest to victims of domestic abuse in the Church. Margie Smithurst writes.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-22/church-leaders-demand-urgent-response-domestic-violence/8732100

My being raped was not God’s will, but the rapist’s. How did the preacher not know this? I slipped out of my childhood church the way a snake sheds its skin, writes Ruth Everhart.

https://sojo.net/magazine/august-2017/even-cases-rape

Churches must unequivocally condemn domestic violence and provide a safe space for victims. But how are we to understand the fact that men at so-called ‘Patriarchal’ churches are the least likely to commit domestic violence – even less likely than secular men? Akos Balogh writes.

http://akosbalogh.com/2017/07/20/does-christianity-cause-domestic-violence/

‘I hope that Julia Baird’s research helps us ask these questions, and more, and take action on them. Yes, the church will cop criticism, some of it fair and some unfair. But surely now is not a time to get defensive … but to come with an open heart and open mind, to stop talking and start listening, and to be prepared to repent where it is needed.’ Scott Higgins writes.

http://scottjhiggins.com/julia-baird-complementarian-theology-domestic-violence-church/

The problem is not with the Bible, but with the church, which is largely complacent and arrogant, but most of all ignorant about the mentality of evil and the tactics abusers use, such as the grooming of church leaders, to hide out in the church, writes Barbara Roberts.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/what-victims-of-domestic-abuse-really-need-to-hear/

In the fallout from Julia Baird’s exposé, I’ve seen silencing of those who disagree, denying and downplaying of the severity of the situation, finger-pointing, defensiveness, self-justification, crying foul, name-calling. These responses unwittingly replicate the very same dynamics that make up abuse. And this is not the only way in which we might be partnering in the abuse, writes Erica Hamence.

http://www.commongrace.org.au/we_all_unwittingly_partner_in_the_violence

The ABC responds to questions raised by The Australian’s journalist Ean Higgins regarding the report on domestic violence in the church.

http://about.abc.net.au/statements/abc-statement-on-7-30-reports-on-religion-and-domestic-violence/

‘The danger is that if men and women are taught, or somehow assimilate, the idea that women cannot be elders or pastors, it does not take much of a step to see men as superior in all relationships with women’, writes Amanda Jackson. So what are some helpful resources to work through the issues?

https://amandaadvocates.blog/2017/07/22/miss-reading-the-bible/

‘Dear Abuser… I want to make it clear that if you want to invoke Bible verses to control and manipulate your wife, the Bible is against you.’ By Murray Campbell.

https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/article/a-letter-to-husbands-who-abuse-their-wives

From the archives:

There are those who claim domestic violence doesn't happen in our church, or if it does, it's not very often. They also claim that ministers of the church do not teach or behave in a way that encourages such things. They are wrong, writes Isabella Young.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/abuse-inside-christian-marriages--a-personal-story-20150301-13rrvr.html

Domestic and family violence in the church: ‘It’s time for us to look at the issues squarely, to see clearly what is wrong, so that it might be put right.’ By Erica Hamence.

http://www.commongrace.org.au/what_can_we_do_about_family_violence

Some of the best things about Christian communities, like inter-dependence and mutual respect, can be used as weapons by abusers. Where clergy and laypeople are ignorant of this dynamic, enormous harm can be done, writes Joanna Cruickshank.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/26/4707934.htm

From the archives: Conservative evangelical institutions should urgently consider commissioning a study into both the prevalence of domestic violence in our churches and clergy responses to it, write Natasha Moore and John Dickson.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-12/moore-dickson-the-church-must-confront-domestic-abuse/6300342

Diversity

Because we are a multicultural and multi-religious society, we do not impose a singular moral or religious code on everyone. Believers can follow their faith’s code of living voluntarily. But if they choose to enter public debate about legislation on questions that affect everybody, they must construct their arguments based on reasoning acceptable to non-believers, writes Rachel Woodlock.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52742

Economics & inequality

‘When those with less privilege in our society ‘vanish’, we begin to vanish also. We become a worse representation of ourselves.’ God help us to have the sensitivity to discern in our society the difference between the things that ultimately don’t matter, and the truly necessary things that must never vanish, lest we become inferior and uglier versions of ourselves, writes Karina Kreminski.

http://www.karinakreminski.com.au/2017/07/04/just-another-homeless-person/#more-1094

Can the Market Heal the Wound It Inflicted? Growth and profits achieved by repairing of the damage done in the very act of making profits in the first place - this is the great social innovation of the capitalism of our time. By Luigino Bruni.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/06/22/4689809.htm

In some places, the dismal labour conditions of young academics have spurred them to unionise. Not so in the Czech Republic, where students and intellectuals lead lives of ‘state-ordered poverty’. Jaroslav Fiala writes.

https://theconversation.com/this-life-isnt-worth-a-damn-the-precarious-existence-of-czech-intellectuals-76184

The superrich have degraded American intellectual and political discourse. Today’s thought leaders all share a core worldview: that extreme wealth and the channels by which it was obtained are not only legitimate, but heroic, writes David Sessions.

https://newrepublic.com/article/143004/rise-thought-leader-how-superrich-funded-new-class-intellectual

Economics has much to teach us about the pursuit of ‘utility’ or happiness. With Jessica Irvine, Matt Wade, Caitlin Fitzsimmons and Ross Gittins.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/it-all-adds-up-episode-3-the-seven-secrets-to-happiness-from-the-dismal-science-20170705-gx5kol.html

End of life

Should euthanasia be available for who have no medical illness but wish to end their life purely because they no longer wish to live? Xavier Symons and Udo Schüklenk write.

http://theconversation.com/viewpoints-should-euthanasia-be-available-for-people-with-existential-suffering-79564

The right to die will ease needless pain, and public support is overwhelming for voluntary assisted dying, writes Lara Giddings.

http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point-right-to-die-will-ease-needless-pain/news-story/654f43e83355c9912054f9fd69dd67a6

Lyle Shelton speaks with Stewart Migdon, Executive Producer of the film Voiceless about the pro-life message of the film.

http://www.acl.org.au/pro_life_film_voiceless

‘How life ends: Death is inevitable. A bad death is not’ was on the cover of The Economist last month, yet the story said nothing about how religion shapes our view of death, writes Martin E. Marty.

https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/how-life-should-end

The Christian political lobby, which represents a small minority of the community, will use the processes of representative democracy to get a result that is wholly unrepresentative of the community view, argues Andrew Denton.

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2017/06/17/the-religious-lobby-against-assisted-dying/14976216004799

It is feasible that euthanasia could form part of government planning for service provision for people nearing end-of-life – a chilling thought, writes Rochelle Galloway.

http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4681006/assisted-dying-bill-needs-to-be-analysed/?cs=97

Martin E. Marty reviews Gilbert Meilaender’s critique of Catherine Porter’s recent article in the NY Times on euthanasia, in which he challenges the belief that to experience decline and loss of capacities is to lose dignity.

https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/euthanasia-dignity-and-%E2%80%9Cspirituality-lite%E2%80%9D

The Charlie Gard case prompts the questions: How should decisions be made about life-prolonging treatment? Who should make these decisions? Bernadette Tobin writes.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/14/4702035.htm

The high-profile Charlie Gard case could change the way end-of-life decisions play out around the world. ‘Doctor knows best’ is shifting to ‘parent knows best’, writes Neera Bhatia.

https://theconversation.com/three-ways-the-charlie-gard-case-could-affect-future-end-of-life-cases-globally-81168

Jason Goroncy looks at six arguments for and six arguments against legalising voluntary euthanasia. It concludes with an appeal to the economy of the divine life as the most responsible lens through which the Christian community engages with this issue.

https://conversation.divinity.edu.au/2017/07/31/euthanasia-some-theological-considerations-for-living-responsibly/

Perhaps the doctors of the Great Ormond Street Hospital were correct, but the goods that Charlie's parents hoped for - like loving their child despite the prospect of death and disability - are intangible, immeasurable, writes Jeffrey P. Bishop.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/26/4708096.htm

Environment

Sacrificing the Sioux: Oil Pipelines, Girard, and The New Colonialism: In the face of environmental racism, Mick Pope proposes that events at Standing Rock offer an example of how the politics of fossil fuels can be defeated by nonviolence.

https://theotherjournal.com/2017/07/05/sacrificing-sioux-oil-pipelines-girard-new-colonialism/

Rather than a mandate to control and consume, in the traditions of Judaism our mastery is one of enhanced responsibility. We are called to serve and protect the earth, and failure to do is negligence. The Adani coal mine is a dereliction of our spiritual and moral duty, writes Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/05/4696546.htm

Jane Goodall has spent the past three decades warning us that we are destroying the planet. The message seems to have been lost on those in a position to halt the change, for research scientists have reported that a mass extinction is underway. Catherine Marshall writes.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52708

The undermining of environmental science, and the creation of lies and bribes to distort public policymaking, is as old as industries that know their products do harm, but lie to keep them in use, writes David Schlosberg.

https://theconversation.com/on-the-origins-of-environmental-bullshit-80955

The rapid spread of sustainability discourse in recent decades is not only a practical response to social and environmental problems like climate change, but also as a cultural phenomenon with moral-existential significance. Underlying this discourse and the question of our obligation to future generations is anxiety about whether the biophysical conditions of life can be maintained into the indefinite future. Maria Antonaccio writes.

http://enhancinglife.uchicago.edu/blog/making-finitude-visible-the-ethics-of-sustainability

Homelessness

http://www.karinakreminski.com.au/2017/07/04/just-another-homeless-person/#more-1094

Indigenous affairs

This year, the NAIDOC Week theme is 'Our Languages matter'. This lies at the heart of the Uluru statement. It also poses questions about the way in which we conceive our identity as a nation, writes Andrew Hamilton.

http://eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52642#.WVmdUtOGP_Q

You can also find excellent resources for NAIDOC Week at Common Grace: http://www.commongrace.org.au/naidoc_week or https://www.facebook.com/commongraceaus/.

‘How can white and indigenous Australians be reconciled, when they’ve never had a good relationship to start with?’, asks Neville Naden, Indigenous Ministry Officer for the Bush Church Aid Society.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/the-church-is-built-on-stolen-land/

The NT 'Intervention' led to some changes in Indigenous health, but the social cost may not have been worth it. By Graeme Maguire.

http://theconversation.com/the-nt-intervention-led-to-some-changes-in-indigenous-health-but-the-social-cost-may-not-have-been-worth-it-78833

Now is the time for the report of the Referendum Council to be scrutinised by our national politicians. Our elected leaders should pay special heed to the observations of those Indigenous members of the federal parliament who have offered considered reflections on the way forward, writes Frank Brennan.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52651#.WV28ZtOGOu4

‘I am the CEO of a multi-million-dollar organisation but the Government has decided I am not responsible enough to be allowed to have a drink in my own home.’ The NT alcohol regime imposed on Aboriginal people is doing nothing to deal with the real problems, writes Walter Shaw.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/opinion/walter-shaw-aboriginal-people-know-how-to-tackle-their-social-issues-just-give-them-the-chance/news-story/e7fddd72d1c1693b8df6d0e39f6b27cf

Intellectual property

When can you use someone else's copyright work without their permission? We explain 'fair dealing' and 'fair use' law in a handy guide. Nicolas Suzor explains.

http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-fair-dealing-and-when-can-you-copy-without-permission-80745

Islam

A Sharia-based type of Islam is not compatible with Western civilisation because it is not compatible with democracy and Western definitions of human rights and civil liberties. Christine Schirrmacher writes.

http://www.worldea.org/news/4787/is-islam-compatible-with-western-civilization-christine-schirrmacher

Law, human rights and free speech

Melton Christian College’s decision not to enrol a student unless he agrees not to wear his patka, a Sikh head covering, highlights the need for schools to accommodate articles of religious and cultural practice in their uniform policies. The case is now before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Renae Barker writes.

https://theconversation.com/school-uniform-policies-need-to-accommodate-students-cultural-practices-81548

Media/social media

The relationship between stress and social media use is indirect. Social media causes more stress when it increases awareness of distressing events in others’ lives, writes Shane Smith.

https://intentionalrelationship.wordpress.com/2017/05/24/stress-and-social-media-increases-our-awareness-of-distressing-events-in-others-lives/

Moral philosophy

Ayn Rand’s celebration of the individual self as the absolute measure of life contradict and undercut the Christian view(s) of the redeemed self. Yet such contradictions have been interpreted away or glossed over by those Christians who have devoted themselves to Rand’s selfish principles, writes Martin E. Marty.

https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/ayn-rand-mugged

According to modern accounts of the human self, you have no inherited identity - it is something you either discover or simply create from scratch. The debate about identities reveals a deep desire for acceptance and validation from one’s peers, writes Michael Bird.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2017/07/smurfs-hamilton-caitlyn-jenner-christian-response-identity-politics/

Nationalism, patriotism and extremism

As embodied creatures, we can't pour our hearts into lofty abstractions like ‘humanity’ or ‘the world’. For all the hazards of praying ‘God bless America’, and for all the other prayers we ought to pray, it remains a prayer for something real and tangible, writes Matt Reynolds.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/july-august/you-have-gods-blessing-to-say-god-bless-america.html

Is it Christian to love your country?

‘Far from promoting patriotism, both Paul and Jeremiah appear to be liberating the people of God from it, telling them they can make our home anywhere’, writes Michael Frost.

‘Whenever I allow myself to give into those tribal inclinations to defend my country as better than any other I can’t sense the Holy Spirit behind that at all’, writes Michael Frost.

http://mikefrost.net/christian-love-country/

Trump's statement in Warsaw that ‘the world has never known anything like our community of nations’ ought to be unexceptional. It's certainly more robust than Theresa May's and David Cameron's vague appeals to ‘our values’ or ‘our way of life’, writes Mark Steyn.

https://www.steynonline.com/7964/the-will-of-the-west

Trump’s Warsaw speech was met with loud applause, though it may not have been quite as positive for Poland as it seemed. And it stood in stark contrast to his subsequent performance at the G20 summit, where he alienated those very nations on which Poland relies. Sławomir Sierakowski writes.

https://www.socialeurope.eu/2017/07/poland-after-trump/

The religious urge can re-emerge as nationalism, greed, or narcissism, which have no inherent counter force to question their authenticity. But the truths at the base of great religions reorient us toward love, peace and justice, and we dismiss religion at our peril, writes Christine Burke.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52664#.WVmdUdOGP_Q

Politics, society & ideology

http://www.i4cs.com.au/archipelago-or-landmass/

Rod Lamberts reviews Tom Nichols’ new book The Death of Expertise – a forensic examination of why the once-strong relationship between experts and the people is collapsing in democracies worldwide.

https://theconversation.com/book-review-the-death-of-expertise-76462

Intersectionality is a quasi-religious gnostic movement that gives an account of our brokenness, an explanation of the reasons for pain, a saving story accompanied by strong ethical imperatives and hope for the future. But its excesses and partial understandings cannot stand unchallenged, writes Elizabeth C. Corey.

https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/08/first-church-of-intersectionality

Pornography

Pornography is a taboo subject, especially among Christians. But research tells us that churchgoers are watching as much porn as the rest of society. Eternity spoke to a range of experts to understand: Why Christians are struggling with it? Who is impacted by it and what can be done to fix it? Teagan Russell and Sebastian James write.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/pornography-documentary/

Racism

Why are we shocked and outraged about the senseless killing of a white woman, but not similarly disturbed by the equally senseless death of a black kid? Michael Frost writes.

http://mikefrost.net/two-dead-australians-care-one/

Religion in politics

Wise Christian politics has a difficult three-fold task: to determine what is ultimately right, to determine what is penultimately best, and to work for what is politically possible, writes John G. Stackhouse, Jr.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/17/4703168.htm

Are the Evangelicals really able to reach out to those who, though they might share common commitments to justice, mercy and peace, don’t share their faith in Jesus – including those on the left? Michael Frost writes.

http://mikefrost.net/evangelicals-left-bad/

Religion in Society

Peter Berger’s sympathetic treatment of faith made him a rock star among Christ-following academics, writes D. Michael Lindsay.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/june-web-only/why-christian-scholars-loved-peter-berger.html

From 2016: Academic panel organised by Gordon College, featuring Paul Brink, Tal Howard, Ruth Melkonian-Hoover and Jim Skillen, with response by Peter Berger - based on Berger's book, 'Faith in a Pluralist Age'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKwx0yirM5U

Berger’s work 'made all the theologians just want to be sociologists when they grew up'. Jeremy Weber writes.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/june/died-peter-berger-sociologist-religion-secularization-theor.html

The dream Jesus had and prayed for has materialised over and over throughout history. In God's new order, these dreams become reality as together we tear down the walls of division that divide this broken world, writes Nils von Kalm.

http://christiantoday.com.au/news/the-power-of-one.html

It is about time that the Church realises that the end of the Church as we knew it has arrived and that we cannot go on as before, writes Peter Sellick.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19136

The defining principles of the patriarchy we call The Church directly contradict its founding beliefs. This cannot, surely, be sustained, writes Elizabeth Farrelly.

‘Indeed, demolishing the skyscraper should liberate the well – a resonant, deep-spring belief system – to save the world. God knows we need it. Project: rescue Christ from the Christian Church.’

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/child-sex-abuse-is-no-reason-to-reject-religion-but-to-raze-church-hierarchies-20170706-gx6aw8.html

People at large are not anti-God; they are anti hypocrisy, irrelevance, and ‘tired’ old religion that has compromised on issues of morality and Christian distinctives, writes Brian Houston.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/we-need-god-but-churches-need-to-change-hillsong/news-story/677e9eb384138635ed98f0d13620d9f8

What does this unity/diversity paradox look like in a Christian Church? What does it mean to be united? How diverse should we be and diverse in what? Murray Campbell writes.

https://murraycampbell.net/2017/07/05/how-can-christian-denominations-practice-healthy-unity-and-diversity/

Are we ‘losing our religion’? Natasha Moore weighs the importance of momentum in interpreting the 2016 Australian census results.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/census-results-are-we-really-losing-our-religion/news-story/1c7e4684388f369ff98ff5653a4bae50

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila and president of Caritas International, tackles some of the uneasy questions of our time. What does leadership look like in polarised and violent places? How do we hold together diversity within the Catholic Church? How can religious wisdom be brought to bear on public life without crossing the line between church and state? By Fatima Measham.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52693#.WV-MPdOGOu6

There is an ever-pervasive sense of futility that threatens to swamp us that needs to be resisted, challenged with a new way of talking and of understanding our task in this world. We need to recapture a sense of public conversation, writes Bruce Wearne.

https://nurturingjustice.wordpress.com/2017/07/11/public-discussion-and-christianitys-decline/

TMA editor Roland Ashby talks with national living treasure Barry Jones about faith, art, morality and modern politics.

http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/news/barry-jones-epiphanies-morals-trump-150617

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/07/13/italian-jesuit-journal-calls-out-ecumenism-hate-between-some-evangelicals-and

There are still a very large number of religious people who are working in the public and private sectors who need to be accommodated well at work. Religious discrimination in the workplace isn't just politically incorrect, it's bad for business, writes Andrew West.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-15/religion-is-the-new-frontier-in-workplace-discrimination/8708716

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52664#.WVmdUdOGP_Q

As those who self-identify as having no religion rightly claim protection in the form of freedom from religion, we must be conscious not to trample on freedom of religion at the same time, writes Renae Barker.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/05/4696888.htm

Perhaps now that our community is distancing itself from Christianity we can finally be rid of the notion that the consumerist bastard child of British imperialism ever represented the Christ of the Gospels and rediscover what it means to say we are followers of Jesus, writes Scott Higgins.

http://scottjhiggins.com/decline-religion/

The census points to an almost certain link between the generational decline in the Christian faith as guide to the common good and the collapsing relationship between the people and the political system. Its replacement is a dismal pretender: an obsession with individual autonomy, a narcissism presented as self-realisation and human rights, writes Paul Kelly.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/blessed-be-the-egoistic-individuals/news-story/49de39a232f038a03100cb967a4f4967

Paul Kelly argues that the decline in Christian faith made evident in the recent Census is in large measure responsible for the widespread loss of trust in the political system throughout the West. But Kelly neglects more immediate and notable reasons for the present loss of trust in political institutions throughout the West: the discrediting of economic liberalism. Andrew Hamilton writes.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52724

Andrew Hamilton goes further than Paul Kelly by identifying the noxious root of neo-liberalism. However, he ignores the same issues that Kelly’s critique sidestepped, namely, the lack of political will to do what is in the long-term public interest and for the common good, writes Bruce C. Wearne.

https://nurturingjustice.wordpress.com/2017/07/20/christianitys-decline-amid-the-crisis-of-the-west/

Paul Kelly and the decay of public trust: The irony of America is that it is one of the most Christian of nations but it is often the case that that Christianity is only skin deep, writes Peter Sellick.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19155

Two of the biggest television shows of 2017 confront religious control, belief systems and how we are impacted. Mark Hadley reveals how American Gods calls us out on what we worship, while Ben McEachen is rightly disturbed by The Handmaid’s Tale. But what did Ben find most shocking in this dystopian TV event about religious exploitation and female abuse?

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/culture/we-worship-american-gods/

The modern idea that religion is a ‘private matter’ is factually wrong. The force of religious laws – such as Jesus’ new ‘Law of Love’ - formulated long ago to shape societies today. So, do religions have anything positive to contribute to contemporary social order and personal life? William Schweiker writes.

http://enhancinglife.uchicago.edu/blog/spiritual-laws-and-the-spirit-of-laws

Science

Whether you're talking about climate change, vaccination or agriculture, the term ‘anti-science’ means different things in different political contexts. Darrin Durant writes.

https://theconversation.com/who-are-you-calling-anti-science-how-science-serves-social-and-political-agendas-74755

Sex

Jane Austen and Dorothy Sayers were neither prudes nor puritans who want to repress sexuality. But, for them, marriage is not just about sex, children or property. Marriage is about compatibility and mutuality, writes Christine Fletcher.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/18/4703972.htm

Sexism

Were the forced AFL resignations a holier-than-thou and sexist over-reaction? Alternatively, are we just seeing a return to some form of old-fashioned (Victorian?) morality that severely censures sexual indiscretions. Brendan O'Reilly writes.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19165

Sexual abuse

Australian ISPs and telcos are commercially mediating the abuse of children. The government needs to take action urgently to compel them to act ethically, writes Melinda Tankard Reist.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/06/4697504.htm

As distasteful as it may be, having now been dragged through the public square of the royal commission, unless the Synod faces up to another plank in the Church's own eye, that of clergy sexual activity and misconduct involving adults, its hopes may well be dashed before they are even discussed.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52339#.WXYDFtOGOu6

Sexual harassment

In general, Aussies are better than Americans when it comes to violence against women. But the cliches are still around. And they need to stop, writes Sara Vukojevic.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=52739

Social justice

‘The East Africa hunger crisis is our latest chance to prove that Christians can have a long attention span for compassion. To the Turkana tribesman, the starving South Sudanese child, and the wider world, we can be the people who always care, always give, and always follow through.’

It’s not surprising that Westerners have a reputation here for capricious compassion. But it pains me that Christians would, writes Richard Stearns.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/july-web-only/christians-caring-many-causes-east-africa-hunger-crisis.html

Failing to learn lessons from dogmatic institutions of the past, progressives and activists risk pushing away the very people they need to reach the critical mass required for change, writes Frances Lee.

https://www.autostraddle.com/kin-aesthetics-excommunicate-me-from-the-church-of-social-justice-386640/

Spirituality

Life is short. When you see the deterioration of people in old age and you realise that, while you're not old, you're not young anymore either, it makes you think about how you want to leave this world, writes Nils von Kalm.

http://soulthoughts.com/nothing-else-matters/

‘If, as so much evidence suggests, religious attendance is correlated with positive health outcomes, does that mean doctors should prescribe a weekly service to their patients?’ Yonat Shimron writes.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/07/07/attending-church-good-your-health-now-what

http://enhancinglife.uchicago.edu/blog/spiritual-laws-and-the-spirit-of-laws

Technology

The Methodists were at the forefront of violent resistance against rapid technological change in 18th- and 19th-century England.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2017/june/luddites-and-first-contest-of-man-versus-machine.html

The church need not repudiate, or crusade against, digital communications technologies. But it cannot allow its - our - habits and practices to be determined by the massive multinational corporations that control these technologies, and have their own agendas for how we use them, writes Alan Jacobs.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/12/4700689.htm

The relationship between stress and social media use is indirect. Social media causes more stress when it increases awareness of distressing events in others’ lives, writes Shane Smith.

https://intentionalrelationship.wordpress.com/2017/05/24/stress-and-social-media-increases-our-awareness-of-distressing-events-in-others-lives/

US politics

ABC’s Uhlmann said Trump had shown ‘no desire and no capacity to lead the world’ and was himself ‘the biggest threat to the values of the west’, and that his disastrous foreign policy had ‘pressed fast-forward on the decline of the United States’. Naaman Zhou writes.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/09/biggest-threat-to-the-west-australian-journalist-demolishes-trump-after-g20

War, peace & nonviolence

In the face of environmental racism, Mick Pope proposes that events at Standing Rock offer an example of how the politics of fossil fuels can be defeated by nonviolence.

https://theotherjournal.com/2017/07/05/sacrificing-sioux-oil-pipelines-girard-new-colonialism/

Is it absurd or genius for an oppressor to save the life of the oppressed? Audrey D. Thompson reflects on Niebuhr and a black lesbian saving the life of conservative representative Steve Scalise who had voted against LGBTQ rights.

https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/love-your-enemies-moral-absurdity-or-genius

Father J. Bryan Hehir argues that even the expanding reach of North Korean missiles cannot morally justify a preventive strike by the United States at this time. Kevin Clarke agrees: there is still plenty of time and negotiating room.

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/07/07/preventive-strikes-north-korea-fail-just-war-criteria

Wellbeing

Economics has much to teach us about the pursuit of ‘utility’ or happiness. With Jessica Irvine, Matt Wade, Caitlin Fitzsimmons and Ross Gittins.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/it-all-adds-up-episode-3-the-seven-secrets-to-happiness-from-the-dismal-science-20170705-gx5kol.html

Women

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/07/18/4703972.htm

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/culture/we-worship-american-gods/

In a patriarchal culture, Jesus showed his followers a radically different way to relate and lead. Indeed, because of their faith, understanding and fidelity, women were often paradigms of discipleship for the men who lacked these qualities, writes Alice Mathews.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2017/july/how-jesus-discipled-women.html

Work

‘A doctrine of calling or vocation, seeing work as ministry, should not be a middle-class western luxury. We in the faith and work movement should never forget the majority world, the world of slavery, child labor, and back-breaking domestic, agricultural and mobile migratory labour.’

The Green Room talks to Ethos director Gordon Preece about faith and work ministry.

https://greenroomblog.org/2017/07/05/vocation-should-not-be-a-middle-class-luxury-an-interview-with-gordon-preece/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-15/religion-is-the-new-frontier-in-workplace-discrimination/8708716

‘What happens if governments remove one of the moral foundations of the welfare state – retirement – without there being a realistic alternative?’

Pressuring all Australians to delay retirement by working longer has a dark side that is being widely ignored, a think tank has warned. Jackson Stiles writes.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/work/2017/07/18/dark-side-pressure-work-longer/

Young people

We need to decide collectively whether we want a world where family support continues to become far more important for surviving and thriving in your 20s and beyond, and the obvious implications this has for inequality, writes Dan Woodman.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/04/there-is-no-boomers-v-milennials-generational-war-but-there-is-a-class-struggle

The world we have bequeathed to our children feels darker than the one I knew. The age-old intergenerational promise that children will have a better life than their parents has been broken. As a mother of millennials, I feel this personally, writes Julianne Schultz.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/14/the-world-we-have-bequeathed-to-our-children-feels-darker-than-the-one-i-knew

They may be known for their money-wasting ways, but millennials may be more charitable and socially driven than any other age group, according to new research, writes Laura Sullivan.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/research-shows-the-younger-generation-has-an-appetite-for-social-change/news-story/ee2c12b6ee8bde5a27baaa6463bc5c7a

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Link highlights | July 2017

Tuesday, 1 August 2017 | Ethos editor

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