Link Highlights | June 2019

Tuesday, 2 July 2019 | Ethos editor

Link highlights – June 2019

Below is a selection of links to online news and opinion pieces from June 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

Aileen Moreton-Robinson writes: The premise of colonisation ― Terra Nullius, that Australia belonged to no one ― informed the relationship between Indigenous people and the nation-state from its very inception. And it continues to do so.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/our-story-is-in-the-land-indigenous-sense-of-belonging/11159992

For three years running, during Easter, the Artists of the Barkly region presents their Christian works to the public. This year’s 'Station of the Crosses' exhibition involved a collaboration with the Tennant Creek's 'The Mob' and the launch of local gospel singer Jameson Casson's debut album.

https://vimeo.com/341463854

Abortion

Tish Harrison Warren writes: The concerted effort to end abortion is much more diverse and holistic than it gets credit for.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2019/june/abortion-politics-pro-lifers-arent-hypocrites.html

Rebecca Randall writes: Experts and pro-life advocates agree that ending fetal tissue research will impact the future of medical study.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/june/government-fetal-tissue-research-abortion-science-christian.html

Animals and Animal Rights

David Clough writes: A Christian doctrine of creation gives good reasons to see humans alongside our fellow animal creatures, as one of God's many species of animal creatures.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/should-christians-eat-animals/11175238

David Schlosberg writes: The liberal idea of justice has been based on human exceptionalism and separation from the natural world. But this idea ignores our integration with nonhuman nature. We’ve reached a point where this wilful ignorance is untenable.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/an-ethic-of-ecological-justice-for-the-anthropocene/11246010

Art and Culture

Simon Smart talks with ABC film critic C.J. Johnson about the magic and meaning of film.

https://www.publicchristianity.org/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-movies/

Asylum seekers, refugees and migration

Karen González asks: Why do we forgive Abraham so much more easily than migrants today?

https://www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/abraham-broke-law-crossing-borders-and-trafficking-his-wife

Gerhard Hoffstaedter and Sara Riva write: Current responses to the world's refugee crisis are inhumane and ineffective. We propose five ways forward to help the world's most vulnerable people.

https://theconversation.com/there-are-70-million-refugees-in-the-world-here-are-5-solutions-to-the-problem-118920

Bioethics

Rebecca Randall writes: Experts and pro-life advocates agree that ending fetal tissue research will impact the future of medical study.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/june/government-fetal-tissue-research-abortion-science-christian.html

Charity and giving

Cait Kelly writes: Tim Costello has used his last day with World Vision Australia to call out middle-class Australians and their ‘huge sense of victimhood’.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/finance-news/2019/06/07/tim-costello-world-vision/

Child sexual abuse

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/more-than-rules--church-needs-a-change-of-heart

Kate Shellnutt writes: The voices of survivors of sexual abuse and advocates have spurred “holy rumblings” in the US's largest Protestant denomination.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/june/sbc-abuse-survivors-advocates-profiles.html

Adam DeVille writes: The decision of the Australian Catholic Church to hold a plenary council, comprised of clergy and laypeople alike, is a sign of great courage and imagination ― both of which are in short supply in most responses to the sex abuse crisis.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/child-sexual-abuse-and-church-reform-plenary-council/11139562

Children

The education secretary wants to ‘toughen up’ pupils, but that means less structure, not more, writes The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/31/schoolchildren-resilience-education-secretary-pupils

China – Tiananmen Square Massacre anniversary

Anna Fifield and Gerry Shih write: After the blood had been washed from the streets, the Communist Party began the great reshaping of the country. It created an implicit compact with the people: You can have economic growth, but you can’t have political freedom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/how-todays-china-was-shaped-by-the-events-in-tiananmen-square-30-years-ago/2019/06/01/21119780-7708-11e9-a7bf-c8a43b84ee31_story.html

Civil society and discourse

Alan Jacobs writes: Even if the secular left has no intention of playing fair in the culture wars, that doesn’t erase the Christian imperatives of civility and decency.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/conservative-christians-need-stay-civil/590866/

Crime and violence

Catherine Marshall writes: When Melburnian Courtney Herron was murdered, the topic of male violence started trending. In one of the most incisive comments on what is an all-too-frequent occurrence, Victoria's Police Commissioner Luke Cornelius said it was time for men to start taking responsibility for the violence. Men — not all men, but many — took umbrage.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/all-men-have-a-stake-in-the-ills-of-the-patriarchy

Death and Dying

Ben White, Eliana Close and Lindy Willmott write: As we sit on the cusp of voluntary assisted dying becoming legal in Victoria, we expect it won't always be simple for people who want it to access it – at least in the legislation's early days.

https://theconversation.com/we-dont-know-all-the-details-of-how-voluntary-assisted-dying-will-work-yet-but-the-system-is-ready-117827

The Catholic Church has restated its opposition to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act in a pastoral letter signed by the bishops of Victoria, describing the legislation as “a new, and deeply troubling chapter of health care in Victoria”.

http://cathnews.com/cathnews/35232-euthanasia-laws-mark-a-deeply-troubling-chapter-in-health-care

Mark Yates writes: No longer is "living" a given in Victoria if you have a terminal illness. You have a choice and if you perceive yourself to be a burden on others this will now have to be included in how you weigh up your options.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/this-week-the-role-of-doctors-will-fundamentally-change-20190617-p51ygr.html

Michael Toy writes: In the digital age the landscape of discussion is changing. No topic is too taboo or too shameful to post about on social media. But where is the church?

https://secondnaturejournal.com/more-than-a-like-social-media-presence-as-pastoral-care/

John Keown writes: Any legislators, like those in Victoria, who think they can avoid the slippery slope have learned little from other jurisdictions.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/keown-victoria-voluntary-assisted-dying-law-and-the-slippery-sl/11234374

The Australian Medical Association has warned that Australia is on a “slippery slope” towards wrongful deaths, with a Western Australian panel recommending a voluntary assisted dying that goes further than that of Victoria.

www.cathnews.com/cathnews/35344-ama-warns-australia-on-a-slippery-slope

Ben White and Lindy Willmott write: International trends, growing political support ― coupled with strong community expectation ― and the weakening of opposing arguments all point to other states following Victoria’s lead by legalising voluntary assisted dying.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-future-of-assisted-dying-reform-in-australia/11242116

Eating disorders

Cheryl McGrath writes: Eating disorders are extremely complex, and they can’t be reduced to one single factor. But it’s clear that our culture puts enormous pressure on us to live up to standards of beauty.

http://twentysixletters.org/i-thought-my-eating-disorder-would-make-me-thin-instead-it-made-me-small/

Economics, finance and inequality

Samantha Maiden writes: The Morrison government will enjoy a pay rise on the same day that 700,000 low-paid workers will once again have their penalty rates cut.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/06/06/scott-morrison-pay-rise/

Education

The education secretary wants to ‘toughen up’ pupils, but that means less structure, not more, writes The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/31/schoolchildren-resilience-education-secretary-pupils

Election 2019

Nick Dyrenfurth writes: Progressives have to stop treating religious voters as backwards — and remember not all progress is forward. It’s time the federal Labor Party got serious about re-engaging with people of faith.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/nick-dyrenfurth-why-alp-must-reengage-with-religious-people/news-story/7292e6a7e1ca66bfcea2709f63c93e74

John Warhurst writes: The church has something in common with both sides of politics because the Catholic community has a split political personality. Its range of concerns is so broad that they are addressed in various ways by different political parties. It wants to make an impact on government, but it is always highly unlikely that it can have it all.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/pm-morrison-and--split-personality--church

Kurt Mahlburg writes: One candidate for PM wore his faith out in public, unconcerned about the public reaction. The other told the country that faith is out of place in public. For religious Australians, the choice between them was easy.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20332

Peter Kurti writes: One of the first things new Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, needs to emphasise to his demoralised party is that they will not return to government without showing they take religion seriously.

https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/albo-take-faith-seriously/

Environment and Nature

Freya Mathews writes: Despite the ever-deepening climate catastrophe and the ever-more-visible extinction crisis, anthropocentrism persists as the moral axis of the West.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/why-has-environmental-ethics-failed-to-achieve-a-moral-reorient/11216540

John Wiseman writes: Amid the growing strength of movements like Extinction Rebellion and climate activist Greta Thunberg’s advice to “act as you would in a crisis”, Australian film-maker Damon Gameau’s new climate change solutions film 2040 focuses on highlighting the huge range of climate action opportunities being explored and accelerated, not just in Australia but around the world.

https://theconversation.com/2040-hope-and-action-in-the-climate-crisis-117422

Greg Foyster writes: People are lacking inspiration and courage. So right now, what we need is a solution as big as the problem we're trying to solve, and the best idea on the table is a 'Green New Deal' that combines action on climate change with tackling inequality.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/big-solutions-to-climate-despair

Faith leaders from across the religious divide have gathered in Sydney to call on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to show moral leadership on climate change.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/for-the-sake-of-generations-to-come-faith-leaders-unite-on-climate-change

Fair Trade

Siobhan Hegarty writes: From dangerous sweatshops to 'blackface' sweaters, the fashion industry impacts people, animals and the planet, and it’s never far from an ethical quagmire. So, is there a way to pull the wool from our eyes and buy clothes with a clear conscience?

https://www.abc.net.au/life/can-fashion-labels-ever-be-ethical/11146532

Fashion

https://www.abc.net.au/life/can-fashion-labels-ever-be-ethical/11146532

Gambling

Tim Costello writes: The AFL is Australia’s richest sporting code. It can afford (and usually does) to do the right thing – whether it’s supporting women’s football, growing the grass roots or promoting the development of Indigenous footballers.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/afl/2019/06/20/tim-costello-afl-gamble/

Gender

Bryan R. Cross argues that many people have difficulty with the Catholic Church’s teaching on sex and gender because they fail to recognize its philosophical dimension.

https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/06/53437/

Homelessness and housing

Carlos d’Abrera writes: As the details emerge about the background of Courtney Herron’s alleged killer, we need to take a serious look at the problem of homelessness and mental illness. Our approach to these problems has not been working.

https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/herron-murder-highlights-real-homeless-problem/

Jean Varnier

Ian Brown writes: I once asked Jean Vanier, the world’s most radical philosopher of disability for the past 60 years, how he came to create L’Arche, the network of communities for the intellectually disabled that today exists in 37 countries around the world.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-larche-founder-jean-vanier-established-the-unique-value-of-an/

Jordan Peterson

Jonathan Cole writes: The political narrative regarding Jordan Peterson now appears set in stone – he is an ideological warrior of the right.

http://thenewpolis.com/2019/05/31/the-political-enigma-of-jordan-peterson-jonathan-cole/

Michael Collett writes: Peterson's message about individual responsibility has been remarkably successful with young men, a demographic the church has had a harder time at reaching recently. But his message isn't without controversy and Christians have very different views on that.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-05/how-christians-are-responding-to-the-jordan-peterson-phenomenon/11094976

Ben McEachen writes: Jordan Peterson continues to be in conversation with religious leaders around the world – with his beliefs about belief being heard, but not discussed.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/why-im-not-a-christian-jordan-peterson/

Justice

Cait Kelly writes: Tim Costello has used his last day with World Vision Australia to call out middle-class Australians and their ‘huge sense of victimhood’.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/finance-news/2019/06/07/tim-costello-world-vision/

Law, human rights and free speech

By Raimond Gaita writes: If we rely too heavily on the concept of rights to do much of the ethical work, we will find ourselves ethically illiterate in the characterisation of the terrible wrongs people suffer.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/raimond-gaita-common-humanity-as-the-basis-of-a-community-of-na/11157626

Michelle Grattan writes: While Scott Morrison and other Liberals have been very concerned about protecting religious freedom, this week's raids have also brought unwelcome questions about media freedom.

https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-media-freedom-joins-the-current-freedoms-agenda-118413

Osman Faruqi writes: Our free-speech debate has been about a rugby union player’s right to vilify the LGBTI community without consequence. And it perfectly encapsulates the hypocrisy, shallowness and intellectual paucity that has come to define public discourse in this country.

https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2019/june/1559397600/osman-faruqi/hate-speech-isn-t-freedom-speech

The Age writes: Freedom is not fostered by creation of religious exemptions to secular law. The debate has been needlessly foisted on the nation because of politics, not principle.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/a-religious-freedom-debate-we-don-t-need-to-have-20190608-p51vtm.html

Robert Forsyth writes: No one likes to harm others. But today the call to ‘avoid harm’ is getting out of hand. And more often than not, begs the question.

https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/harm-getting-out-of-hand/

Law, human rights and free speech – Israel Folau

Anna Patty writes: The national construction union would defend workers sacked for expressing their religious beliefs and one of its leaders believes Wallabies star Israel Folau has been unfairly "hung out to dry" for posting his religious views on social media.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/union-bosses-defend-right-of-workers-to-express-religious-beliefs-20190521-p51plb.html

Anthony Forsyth writes: Employers have increasingly been able to control their workers’ private activities, including on social media. But what makes Folau’s case different is that it sets up a clash between employment contract law and legal protections against discrimination on the basis of religion.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/06/11/israel-folau-religious-employment-law/

This piece is part of a series where we asked several commentators to respond to the controversy over footballer Israel Folau’s meme condemning sinners – including homosexuals – to hell. By Nathan Campbell.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/working-with-the-rainbow/

Former Wallabies star Israel Folau has condemned homosexuality in a church reading broadcast on social media on Sunday.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-17/israel-folau-speaks-homosexuality-church-facebook-page/11215782

Simon Longstaff writes: If the conscience of an employee should be respected, then so should that of the employer. No individual or organisation is required to be complicit in conduct that it sincerely believes to be wrong.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-25/israel-folau-crowdfunding-free-speech-simon-longstaff-analysis/11245082

Neil James Foster writes: Israel Folau’s battle has possible wider ramifications for the freedom of gospel preaching around Australia, and we should pray for him to have the courage and wise counsel as he navigates the process, and support him in his fight.

https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/might-folaus-court-case-impact-religious-freedom/

Geoff Thompson writes: For many people of faith, the very identity of Christianity is at stake in the battle over religious freedom. But not all Christians see it that way.

https://theconversation.com/why-christians-disagree-over-the-israel-folau-saga-118773

Peter Catt writes: There is a narrative developing that interprets resistance to the furthering of the destructive practices as religious persecution. But this trivialises the plight of those who are genuinely threatened for holding to their faith.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/how-the-church-is-marginalising-itself-and-blames-everybody-else-20190627-p521v6.html

Patrick Parkinson writes: The implications of Rugby Australia’s decision to terminate Folau’s contract are profound and far-reaching. Those of us who agree neither with all of his theology nor with the wisdom of all of his communications need nonetheless to defend his right to speak.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-israel-folau-case-has-been-mishandled-from-the-start/11253210

John Sandeman writes: It’s entirely possible for someone to support Folau’s right to speak his faith AND think that homeless gay youth deserve support. You can choose both, or one or the other. Or neither.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/online-fundraisers-theres-still-plenty-out-there/

Michelle Grattan writes: Scott Morrison won his ‘miracle’ election but what he does from now on will determine whether the Coalition can secure a fourth term.

https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-folau-affair-shows-morrison-heading-into-religious-freedom-morass-119468

David Marr writes: As the archbishop of Sydney decries the rugby player’s sacking for his words, his church insists on sacking teachers for their sexuality.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jun/27/with-israel-folau-the-church-demands-a-kind-of-free-speech-that-keeps-gays-in-the-firing-line

Augusto Zimmermann writes: The agnostic Latham defends freedom of religion and freedom of speech for Christians, but the Christian PM cowardly refuses to make a comment.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20379

Peter Bowden writes: Homosexuality, although rare, is a natural occurrence in the human race. It is not a wrong. In condemning it, Israel Folau was being discriminatory. That is a wrong.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20383

Gillian Triggs writes: What a pity that Folau’s dismissal by Rugby Australia should be reduced to an ideological and binary debate. Of course, we love a simple answer.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/commentisfree/2019/jul/01/are-you-for-israel-folau-or-against-we-love-a-simple-answer-but-this-is-not-a-binary-case

Tamana Daqiq writes: Israel Folau’s celebrity affords him a position of privilege and influence. His comments have done very little to promote his religious convictions, but they do a great deal to undermine social cohesion and mutual respect in an already divided and divisive climate.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/speak-well-or-remain-silent-unsolicited-advice-to-israel-folau/11262010

Literature

Natasha Moore joins the God Forbid panel for a discussion about books, language, reality, and faith in the wake of the death of Aussie poet Les Murray.

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/godforbid/finding-faith-in-fiction/11141250

Natasha Moore and Katrina Roe chat about a few of literature's misfits on the latest episode of the Hope 103.2 Book Club podcast.

https://hope1032.com.au/stories/culture/2019/hope-book-club-ep-11-the-rosie-result-carrie-and-our-favourite-roald-dahl-works/

Moral philosophy

Ann Hartle writes: In his Essays, Montaigne fundamentally re-orders the classical-Christian catalogue of the virtues and vices. The transformation this entails might be described as a shift from a hierarchical to a social notion of virtue.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/montaigne-and-the-transformation-of-virtue/11240746

Nationalism

Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Anton Jäger write: From Salvini to Orbán, ethno-nationalists are hijacking religious themes to fuel their agenda. Progressives need to fight back.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/11/populists-right-unholy-alliance-religion

Politics, society and ideology

Alan Jacobs writes: Even if the secular left has no intention of playing fair in the culture wars, that doesn’t erase the Christian imperatives of civility and decency.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/conservative-christians-need-stay-civil/590866/

Luke Bretherton's latest book looks at how living in the midst of our pluralist, conflict-ridden, and often frustrating democratic polities can help inform — and be informed by — the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Reviewed by Bryan McGraw.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/june-web-only/luke-bretherton-christ-common-life-democracy.html

Freddie Sayers interviews David Brooks, New York Times columnist and author of The Second Mountain. Brooks uses the term ‘relationist’ to describe the focus on relationships and belonging that define the new centrist politics.

https://unherd.com/2019/06/when-politics-meets-the-meaning-of-life/

Race and racism

Kent Dunnington and Ben Wayman write: In a country that has systematised the oppression of black lives from the institution of slavery to peonage, lynching, Jim Crow, segregation, mass incarceration and police brutality, #BLM provides the church an opportunity to proclaim the gospel that announces the end of oppression.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/how-should-christians-respond-to-black-lives-matter/11173976

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/raimond-gaita-common-humanity-as-the-basis-of-a-community-of-na/11157626

Religion in Politics

Emma Green writes: Donald Trump’s controversial stop at a Virginia mega-church after a mass shooting showed how even normal Christian behavior has been scrutinized during this administration.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/06/trump-prayer-mass-shooting/590920/

Michael Gerson writes: In their day of prayer, Graham and other Trump evangelicals have used a sacred spiritual practice for profane purposes. They have subordinated religion to politics. They have elevated Trump as a symbol of divine purposes. And they are using Christian theology as a cover for their partisanship.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/franklin-graham-has-played-his-ultimate-trump-card/2019/06/03/22a50b18-862b-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html

Tim Farron writes: The politicisation of evangelicals is dangerous – especially when they’re supporting a loveless, graceless amoralism.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/05/us-evangelical-christians-trump-bad-name

Kevin Rudd writes: For me, Christianity, apart from my personal spiritual beliefs, has been a source of inspiration for the fundamental principles of social justice - principles which in my case later found their secular expression in the Australian Labor Party.

https://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/church-going-folk-aren-t-political-property-of-the-tories-20190604-p51uaa

https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/albo-take-faith-seriously/

Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Anton Jäger write: From Salvini to Orbán, ethno-nationalists are hijacking religious themes to fuel their agenda. Progressives need to fight back.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/11/populists-right-unholy-alliance-religion

Mary Ann Glendon writes: The idea of politics as a vocation might strike some people these days as strange, if not preposterous. Yet Aristotle went so far as to claim that politics is a choice-worthy calling for people of virtue.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/mary-ann-glendon-should-the-virtuous-avoid-a-vocation-in-politi/11206260

Religion in Politics - Scott Morrison

Tara Conradt writes: Philip Almond’s “explainer” of Morrison’s religious family falls desperately short and feels simplistic if not inaccurate to me. Here’s my own take on Professor Almond’s five Pentecostal characteristics that will impact Scott Morrison’s politics.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/what-all-christians-need-to-know-about-pentecostalism-and-scott-morrison/

Whether we like it or not, Pentecostalism is going to become increasingly influential in Australia in the coming decades, writes Mark Durie. How will the Anglican Church respond?

http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/opinion/the-pentecostals-are-coming-070519

Michelle Grattan writes: Scott Morrison won his ‘miracle’ election but what he does from now on will determine whether the Coalition can secure a fourth term.

https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-folau-affair-shows-morrison-heading-into-religious-freedom-morass-119468

Augusto Zimmermann writes: The agnostic Latham defends freedom of religion and freedom of speech for Christians, but the Christian PM cowardly refuses to make a comment.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20379

Religion in Society

Andrew Hamilton writes: The limitation of the Australian separation of religious language and symbols from those of the secular culture is that it leaves one poorly resourced for translation. The encounter of cultures is avoided in the interests of tolerance. Tolerance avoids bullying but can also discourage personal engagement in others' worlds.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/new-zealand-s-model-for-public-religion

Barney Zwartz writes: As our nation forgets its cultural history and moves away from Christianity, more of us have little idea of what we are really rejecting – it’s much richer than a bearded old man enthroned on the clouds.

https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/faith-three-myths-and-the-christian-ideal-20190608-p51vt3.html

H.A. Hellyer writes: Modernity may be disenchanting, argues philosopher of religion Jason Josephson-Storm, but it is not wholly disenchanted. The modern world remains full of religion, even among its most modern expressions.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/jason-josephson-storm-and-the-myth-of-disenchantment/11168130

The New York Times columnist hasn’t become a Christian of the “Protestant evangelical variety”, but his latest book offers a fine example of spiritual autobiography, writes Gordon T. Smith.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/may-web-only/david-brooks-second-mountain-quest-moral-life.html

Siobhan Hegarty writes: What do Cadbury, Clarks Shoes and Greenpeace have in common? They were all founded by Quakers.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-05/from-eco-activists-to-anarchist-allies-meet-the-quakers/11078036

Peter Sellick writes: The worship of the Church remakes an enchanted word in which strangers from another time and place become our forefathers and in which God comes to dwell with His people.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20370

Christians continue to try to fight their own battles from their own corners, says Archbishop Angaelos, the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London. It’s time to “put ourselves in the other corner … to put ourselves in ‘the other’s’ shoes”.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/in-depth/we-should-no-longer-just-be-fighting-our-own-causes-says-coptic-archbishop/

Debates about religion freedom are dominating headlines at the moment, but how do teenagers feel about religion and the religious practices of their classmates? And how does what they're taught at school affect those views? Radio National speaks with Andrew Singleton Greg Whitby AM.

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/religion/11206986

Religious Freedom

https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-media-freedom-joins-the-current-freedoms-agenda-118413

Akos Balogh writes: Religious freedom is a hot topic right now, even in the mainstream media. But could the modern understanding of 'religious freedom' undermine true religious freedom?

http://akosbalogh.com/2019/06/17/when-religious-freedom-destroys-religious-freedom/

James Boyce writes: Proportionally fewer Australians now attend worship than at any other time in history, and yet never have so many used Christian services.

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2019/06/22/government-services-and-religious-freedom/15611256008338

Michelle Grattan writes: Scott Morrison won his ‘miracle’ election but what he does from now on will determine whether the Coalition can secure a fourth term.

https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-folau-affair-shows-morrison-heading-into-religious-freedom-morass-119468

David Marr writes: As the archbishop of Sydney decries the rugby player’s sacking for his words, his church insists on sacking teachers for their sexuality.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jun/27/with-israel-folau-the-church-demands-a-kind-of-free-speech-that-keeps-gays-in-the-firing-line

Augusto Zimmermann writes: The agnostic Latham defends freedom of religion and freedom of speech for Christians, but the Christian PM cowardly refuses to make a comment.

www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20379

Science

Astronomers are finding exoplanets by the thousands, raising prospects of life on other worlds. Would such a discovery threaten established religions here on earth? James Garth explores.

http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/faith-science-interface/article

Sexism

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/all-men-have-a-stake-in-the-ills-of-the-patriarchy

Sexuality

Francisco Perales and Alice Campbell write: To better understand Australians' lives and their needs, we need a clearer understanding of sexual orientation - but the research presents a complicated picture.

https://theconversation.com/how-many-australians-are-not-heterosexual-it-depends-on-who-what-and-when-you-ask-118256

Michael Furtado writes: Reviewing gay journalist Frederic Martel's book provides an opportunity to critically examine the narratives of accusation and defence that surround such accounts, so that onlookers can make sense of them.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/flaws--fancy-in-vatican-homosexuality-book

Bryan R. Cross argues that many people have difficulty with the Catholic Church’s teaching on sex and gender because they fail to recognize its philosophical dimension.

https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/06/53437/

Christopher Brittain writes: In the rhetoric employed by evangelical opponents of same-sex marriage in the Anglican Communion, there are conspicuous signs of lost confidence.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/evangelical-anglican-disarray-on-same-sex-marriage/11247900

Slavery

Scott Higgins writes: The abolitionist argument won the day. It did not do so because it could demonstrate superior exegetical argument, but because the growing recognition of individual civil and human rights was becoming a fundamental assumption of western civilisation.

https://scottjhiggins.com/quoting-the-bible-in-public-what-our-engagement-with-slavery-should-have-taught-us

Social media

Tim Arndt writes: While many Christians carry themselves with kindness and grace at church, once they tap that social media app they transform into some kind of snarling beast.

https://relevantmagazine.com/culture/christians-lets-all-stop-doing-these-15-things-on-social-media/

Michael Toy writes: In the digital age the landscape of discussion is changing. No topic is too taboo or too shameful to post about on social media. But where is the church?

https://secondnaturejournal.com/more-than-a-like-social-media-presence-as-pastoral-care/

US politics

Emma Green writes: Donald Trump’s controversial stop at a Virginia mega-church after a mass shooting showed how even normal Christian behavior has been scrutinized during this administration.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/06/trump-prayer-mass-shooting/590920/

Pastor Maurice Watson joined CT’s Morgan Lee and Andy Olsen discuss what it’s like to have the executive branch show up in your congregation, the challenges of pastoring in DC, and what happens after you push back against the Trump administration while the Vice President is in the house.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/june-web-only/platt-trump-pence-watson-prayer.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/franklin-graham-has-played-his-ultimate-trump-card/2019/06/03/22a50b18-862b-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html

Tim Farron writes: The politicisation of evangelicals is dangerous – especially when they’re supporting a loveless, graceless amoralism.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/05/us-evangelical-christians-trump-bad-name

Women

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/all-men-have-a-stake-in-the-ills-of-the-patriarchy

Dorothy Ann Lee writes: A recent Vatican commission report on women's ordination as deacons was inconclusive. But allowing women priests would help the Catholic Church achieve much-needed reform.

https://theconversation.com/women-priests-could-help-the-catholic-church-restore-its-integrity-its-time-to-embrace-them-118115

Amanda Jackson, Executive Director, Women's Commission, World Evangelical Alliance, writes: Sixty women with something thoughtful and inspiring to say about the role and leadership of women in churches, business and community. This historic event saw women leaders to speak up about issues facing them and how God can make a difference.

http://amandaadvocates.blog/2019/06/17/rise-in-strength

Work

Is workplace ministry primarily about evangelism? Experts weigh in at the Lausanne Movement’s Global Workplace Forum. Answers arranged from “yes” to “no”. Compiled by Jeremy Weber.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/june-web-only/evangelism-workplace-ministry-gwf-christian-faith-at-work.html

Youth

The education secretary wants to ‘toughen up’ pupils, but that means less structure, not more, writes The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/31/schoolchildren-resilience-education-secretary-pupils

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/religion/11206986