Link Highlights | October 2017

Monday, 6 November 2017 | Ethos editor

Link highlights – October 2017

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

Reviews

Audrey D. Thompson writes: Viewers will ultimately have to decide whether this is simply science fiction, or anti-Christian, or an implicit critique of the government’s appropriation of Christianity to serve political ends - and, in the end, render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.

https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/%E2%80%9Ccross%E2%80%9D-examining-biblical-witness-war-planet-apes

Art

Amanda Jackson, Executive Director of the WEA Women's Commission, draws our attention to the works of this year's women artists at Sydney's Archibald Portrait exhibition. She expresses hope that women are no longer just the muse, or the assistant to genius, but the creators, the recognised experts and the prize winners.

https://amandaadvocates.blog/2017/09/27/archibald-musings/

Asylum seekers, refugees and migration

Binoy Kampmark writes: With the closure of the Manus centre, the cruelty is merely being displaced. There is no plan for the asylum seekers to be able to rebuild their lives. Settling such individuals in the Manus community is no less a sentence by other means, an open invitation to brutality.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54235

Bioethics

Alison Caddick on Marriage and Our Techno-Future: ‘... will gay marriage sanctify gay procreation? Will it lead to agitation for ‘the right’ to use whatever techno-scientific means available to produce children because normalised gay marriage ‘suggests’ it? ... The problem is that the choosing individual sits at the centre of identity politics, where the choice of sexual and procreative identity is seen to be divorced from the body, and from any complex notion of the body as bio-social ground - as grounding us in relations that are by human necessity bounded.’

http://arena.org.au/marriage-and-our-techno-future-by-alison-caddick/

Child sexual abuse

An abuse survivor who testified to the royal commission about her treatment at a Catholic school recounts the experience of submitting to the church’s Towards Healing protocol, and the unfeeling homily offered to her by the bishop now responsible. By Penelope X.

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/law-crime/2017/10/07/failures-towards-healing/15072948005317

Tess Holgate writes: Churches and institutions are being called upon to join the Federal Government’s national scheme to financially compensate victims of child sexual abuse. Eternity looks at the responses across various denominations.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/fact-check-the-churches-joining-child-abuse-redress-scheme/

Civil liberties

Justin Glyn writes: In this time of austerity I am pleased and proud that Our Glorious Leader has decided to curtail the luxuries which we had formerly enjoyed ... for our own good, of course. I refer, of course, to our rapidly diminishing pool of civil liberties.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54140

Fatima Measham writes: Malcolm Turnbull has pushed state premiers to hand over their drivers' licence database in order to enhance facial recognition systems, particularly at airports. COAG has agreed, with the ACT insisting that only perfect matches be used for non-counterterrorism purposes. It is hard to find this reassuring.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54138

Peter Chudd writes, satirically: ‘If it saves one life, it is entirely worth the cost. That might seem like a low bar and one that cannot truly be verified but that’s the beauty of a national security overreach. Every moment that there isn’t a terrorist attack is proof that our program is working. Any moment that there is an incident simply proves that we need to give the program more powers.’

https://www.crikey.com.au/2017/10/09/facial-recognition-technology-is-something-australia-can-be-proud-of/

Guy Rundle writes: What’s most remarkable about the suite of proposed new laws on facial recognition, extended detention, and other measures, is the absence of a concerted pushback. Announced a few days ago, with little proposed consultation, the laws have already disappeared from the front pages of the larger media. Surveillance and authoritarian policing is crossing a tech/state threshold, yet we’re already moving on.

https://www.crikey.com.au/2017/10/06/rundle-on-turnbulls-surveillance-offensive-latelines-demise/

Civil society

Bret Stephens writes: What makes our disagreements so toxic is that we refuse to make eye contact with our opponents, or try to see things as they might, or find some middle ground

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-26/art-of-disagreeing-has-disappeared/8986470

Barry Gittins writes: In 2017, we have had one of the most uncivil years in memory, with assaults against politicians, institutions, entire demographics. What can we learn from antiquity? The obvious lesson from Rome's post-Caesarian civil wars is that internecine conflict is inevitably punctuated by further conflict and wrestling for power.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54145

Jennifer Butler writes: As a Christian, I am dismayed to see some Christian leaders advocating for religious freedom exemption from Jesus’ highest command to love our neighbor. The religious communities my organization, Faith in Public Life, works with have found ways to honor religious belief while not discriminating. This balanced approach is more consistent with our Constitution and our values.

https://sojo.net/articles/people-faith-aren-t-exempt-loving-their-neighbor

Evelyn Heard writes: There are many divisive debates raging at the moment. Every headline and conversation seems to divide rather than unite. Everyone has an opinion and a barrow to push. And push it they do – hard. But our perspectives might be different if we took the time to personally enter the space of people whose destinies we debate.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/faith-20171013-gz0ik1.html

Consumerism

Luigino Bruni writes: The new marketing of the post-scarcity era no longer presents products with their technical specifications and commercial properties. Instead, it enchants us by telling us stories. The ‘blessed by God’ are those who consume. The sacred figure of the entrepreneur-manufacturer has thus also given way to the new priest and messiah of the manager-consumer. ... As a result, work is out of the picture, relegated to a half-forgotten existence among the somewhat nostalgic memories of the past and its utopias. It has been reduced to little more than a means of increasing consumption.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/10/4747385.htm

Criminal justice

Should life in jail be worse than outside, on principle? Chris Barker writes: On the surface, the principle of treating offenders to a life that is worse than life on the outside makes sense. After all, why should offenders have air conditioning if the farmer ‘living in innocence and liberty’ does not? But it is too easy to forget the other constraints on the dignity, privacy and autonomy of those incarcerated in jails and prisons.

https://aeon.co/ideas/should-life-in-jail-be-worse-than-outside-on-principle

Disasters

Ed Stetzer writes: Prayer is often depicted as ‘not enough’ or, even worse, as political posturing. But Scripture both models and teaches that prayer is central to the Christian life. Regrettably, #ThoughtsAndPrayers was already trending this morning on Twitter, but not in a good way.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2017/september/shooting-in-las-vegas.html

Domestic violence

The Anglican Church has apologised to domestic violence victims. Julia Baird explains why this apology matters, and asks why no one is reporting it.

https://www.facebook.com/abcthedrum/videos/1670499129690753/

Jeff Crippen writes: Do you see how a do-nothing god promotes evil in the church? How abusers are able to be protected and excused by such wicked theology? After all, even the abuser need not fear disaster or judgement from such a god. When the prophets become wind and God’s Word is not in them, you can be sure that just such a false god will soon become the object of worship in such a place.

https://cryingoutforjustice.com/2017/10/05/the-do-nothing-god-of-our-day-promotes-evil-in-the-church/

Drugs

Who is responsible for drug addiction: your brain or you? Michael Cook writes: ‘The medical profession is divided ... [some] believe that addiction is a chronic illness caused by a number of environmental, behavioural and biological factors. Other doctors argue that addicts respond to incentives – like the threat of being jailed or losing a job.’

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/are-drug-addicts-responsible-or-helpless-victims-of-an-illness/12455

Ross Fitzgerald writes: Clearly, the punitive approach has not been effective as a policy, although as a purely political strategy it has worked a treat! Australia should be emphasising an approach to illicit drugs based on effective health policies and social interventions. This should include rejecting the draconian Welfare Reform Bill in its entirety.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2017/10/15/abandon-punitive-approach-drugs/

Economics & inequality

Gareth Hutchens writes: The IMF’s Fiscal Monitor shows that Australia ’s 30-year inequality growth is similar to the US, India, China and the UK, with rising asset prices being a key factor.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/12/imf-says-australia-has-one-of-the-fastest-rising-income-inequality-rates

Rob Burgess writes: The Catholic Church has proposed a powerful idea that would stop politicians using vulnerable Australians as political footballs, calling for an independent commission to ‘develop evidence-based benchmarks to ensure that income support payments are adequate for people to live a frugal yet dignified life, and have realistic opportunity of securing a job’.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/welfare/2017/10/19/depoliticise-welfare

Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson write: ‘The first research papers showing that health was worse and violence more common in societies with large income differences were published in the 1970s. Since then a large body of evidence has accumulated on the damaging effects of inequality. … Countries with bigger income differences between rich and poor tend to suffer from a heavier burden of a wide range of health and social problems.’

https://www.socialeurope.eu/the-costs-of-inequality

For the last 30 years most of us have been working harder and longer, believing it to be the route to wealth and happiness. But since the GFC, it’s become increasingly clear that, for many, it doesn’t work this way. Instead, neoliberal economics is creating problems and leading to greater inequalities. The Money speaks to Professor Peter Fleming who argues the desire to compete and accumulate must be resisted if we are to create a better way of life.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/themoney/the-death-of-homo-economicus/8968082

Leo D'Angelo Fisher writes: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has once again misread the public mood on this issue, and likely underestimated the union movement’s resolve. Penalty rates could turn out to be Turnbull’s WorkChoices.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/work/2017/10/22/new-class-working-poor/

Usman W. Chohan writes: The Reserve Bank of Australia should have a board member whose job it is to 'represent the poor', says Catholic Social Services Australia in a report released this week. This hasn’t been tried before but it’s an interesting proposal and worth considering.

http://theconversation.com/should-central-banks-have-a-representative-of-the-poor-85992

A human economy gathers up surplus and uses it for gain. Even Joseph sold out. God’s economy, on the other hand, redistributes surplus to those in need. As we learn to rely on God and others, and to share what we have, we will begin to experience true wealth: and our growth in faith and love will know no bounds.

https://alisonsampsontalks.podbean.com/e/imperial-economics-and-the-economy-of-god/

(You can also read the transcript here: https://sanctuarybaptist.wordpress.com/2017/08/13/imperial-economics-and-the-economy-of-god/)

Elderly

Andrew Hamilton writes: The International Day of Older Persons is topical. Legislation to legalise euthanasia is soon to be introduced into the NSW and Victorian parliaments. The conditions in many nursing homes where huge profits are said to be made out of the neglect of the elderly have also aroused public disquiet. Discussion of ageing is often confined to practical matters. Deeper questions of why older people matter and of what value a good society should put on them are either answered in slogans or not at all.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54107

End of life

Hoa Dinh writes: Euthanasia legislation would lead to further coercion against vulnerable persons in society: the elderly and people with disability. Once voluntary suicide is legalised, to continue living becomes a choice that people will have to justify to themselves, their family, and society.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54097

Nick Carr writes: No one opposed to Voluntary Assisted Dying has to make the choice that those suffering terminal illness is considering. Supporting Voluntary Assisted Dying takes nothing away from anyone, makes no one worse off, but provides enormous comfort to a very small group of people.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/05/helping-someone-die-well-is-the-final-act-of-caring-i-can-give-as-a-doctor

Michael Cook writes: A resolution condemning assisted suicide has been introduced into the US House of Representatives. Both sides of the debate treated it as a milestone, but it does not have the force of law and merely expresses the ‘sense of Congress’.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/us-congress-ponders-assisted-suicide/12453

Sharon Rodrick and Mark Sneddon write: By focusing mainly on the decision-making capacity of the person, Victoria's Voluntary Assisted Dying ignores the effects of significant depression and mood disorders on a person's ability to make sound judgments in their best interest. The safeguards in the bill are not adequate and require re-thinking.

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/flawed-assisted-dying-bill-puts-vulnerable-people-at-risk-20171011-gyym8q.html

‘The sincerity of advocates for the draft legislation is patent. ... I have told this history for no reason other than to show that disquiet and doubt may arise from sources having nothing to do with religious doctrine. I know that the proposals contain as good safeguards as may reasonably be implemented. But human life is complicated and messy; there are no bright lines. We should be careful what we wish for.’

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/assisted-dying-we-should-be-careful-what-we-wish-for-20171013-gz0fl5.html

Marion Harris writes: Regardless of any change in the law, I won't intentionally help my patients to end their lives, nor do I personally know of any doctor who will. It is not the solution to the complex problems people face at the end of life, and it creates more problems and injustices than it solves.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/i-wont-intentionally-help-my-patients-to-end-their-lives-20171009-gywz7j.html

Miki Perkins writes: Some fear assisted dying may be the ‘slippery slope’ to involuntary euthanasia. But others see it as hard-won autonomy over their own lives. ‘Public policy should ensure many people with disabilities are supported to live as they want, and assist them to die as they want,’ he says.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/for-people-with-disabilities-victorias-euthanasia-debate-can-be-particularly-sensitive-20171011-gyyxwq.html

Karl Quinn writes: Right to die, euthanasia, dying with dignity, assisted suicide: the language around this debate is enormously loaded, and shapes the way we feel about it.

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/language-as-a-battlefield-how-we-got-from-euthanasia-to-voluntary-assisted-dying-20171010-gyxwxb.html

Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 was passed on Friday, following the rejection of over 150 amendments suggested by opponents, and despite opposition from key voices including the head of the Australian Medical Association, Michael Gannon, and former Prime Minister Paul Keating. Xavier Symons reports.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/voluntary-assisted-dying-bill-passes-victorias-lower-house/12485

Julian Savulescu writes: The assisted dying bill in Victoria – complex and significant – is engendering less heated debate than marriage equality although both tap into some of our most fundamental fears and motivations.

https://theconversation.com/sex-versus-death-why-marriage-equality-provokes-more-heated-debate-than-assisted-dying-85744

Peter Hudson writes: Why are we not putting all our efforts into ensuring Victorians with a terminal illness and their family carers can access the standard of care they deserve, rather than investing scarce resources into a highly questionable and untested model of euthanasia? Sadly, many seem determined to shrug their shoulders and usher in the latter, whatever the consequences.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-hidden-implications-of-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-20171006-gyvrou.html

Paul Keating has argued that Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill ‘means is that the civic guidance provided by the state … is voided when it comes to the protection of our most valuable asset; the essential human rights of the citizenry, especially and particularly those in either a fragile state or state of mind or fragile period’. Mark Kenny reports.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/victoria-has-just-voted-to-remove-its-most-basic-human-right-paul-keating-20171020-gz4y1h.html

Melbourne Anglicans have pleaded with the Victorian Government not to legalise medically assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia just before the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill was passed in the lower house of the State Parliament.

http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/news/please-reject-euthanasia-synod-urges-201017

In the light of the Bill currently being discussed in the Victorian Upper House:

The catchphrase ‘dying with dignity’ may be largely about avoiding vulnerability, but there is no shame in being vulnerable at death, argues Dorothy Lee, who accompanied her parents when they died and learned something profound about the mystery of death.

http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/opinion/why-the-vulnerability-of-dying-need-not-be-feared-271017

In the light of the Bill currently being discussed in the Victorian Upper House (and soon in NSW):

If the terminally ill are to have a genuine choice about whether to die or receive palliative care, then adequate palliative care must be available. Yet sometimes this is not the case, argues Professor Stephen Duckett, Health Program Director at the Grattan Institute.

http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/opinion/assisted-dying-vs-palliative-care-271017

You can also read Archbishop Philip Freier’s open letter to the Legislative Council of the Victorian Parliament opposing the assisted dying legislation.

http://www.anglicanprimate.org.au/news/primate-lobbies-senators/

Stephen Duckett, writes: One would think governments would do all they could to ensure palliative care is available to all who need it. This is not the case in Australia today.

https://theconversation.com/assisted-dying-is-one-thing-but-governments-must-ensure-palliative-care-is-available-to-all-who-need-it-86131

Anne Lim writes: Margaret Somerville, Professor of Bioethics, and Megan Best, palliative care specialist and bioethicist, discuss the difference between palliative care and euthanasia.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/should-you-have-a-say-in-when-you-die/

Epistemology

Tribalism and culture-warring have ravaged our ability to think.

Stephen Backhouse writes: Alan Jacobs, the prominent essayist and cultural commentator, has just written a book called How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds. The book emphasises the link between good thinking and good character. For Jacobs, thinking rightly involves loving rightly. People with different ideas are not repugnant monsters. They are also your neighbours; if you are a Christian, you are commanded to love them as yourself.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/october/alan-jacobs-hating-your-neighbor-will-make-you-dumb.html

Gender

The celebrated Australian trait of mateship is very much on display in the third season of Channel 10’s The Bachelorette. But this is not always to the benefit of the protoganist, Bachelorette Sophie Monk. Suzie Gibson explores the dark side of mateship, arguing that women in particular experience it as a negative social force.

https://theconversation.com/hanging-out-with-the-boys-how-bromance-often-steals-the-spotlight-in-the-bachelorette-85464

Jenny Graves writes: Like it or not, evidence now shows that men and women differ genetically far more profoundly that we previously recognised. A recent paper claims that beyond just genes on X and Y, a full third of our genome is behaving very differently in men and women. So what do these new insights mean for our progress toward gender equity?

https://theconversation.com/not-just-about-sex-throughout-our-bodies-thousands-of-genes-act-differently-in-men-and-women-86613

Grief

In memory of Jan Croucher, Nils von Kalm writes: ‘We have a God who weeps when we weep, who suffers with us, who has been through it all and come out the other side. He was resurrected but with nail-scarred hands; he had a new body but still had the wound in his side. This is the hope for all who suffer.’

http://soulthoughts.com/when-the-only-words-are-tears/

Guns & gun control

Thomas Wells writes: Guns were supposed to protect society from threats, including from its own government. But instead they undermine its health from within, weakening civil society and rendering us incapable of trust.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/06/4745814.htm

Martin E. Marty responds to David Brooks’ New York Times article, ‘Guns and the Soul of America’. Brooks argues that the gun is ‘an identity marker’, and that change will only come by a ‘grand synthesis that can move us beyond the current divide… that is neither redneck nor hipster but draws from both worlds to create a new social vision’. Religious institutions, many of which have assumed a leading role in the ‘culture wars’, must lead the way.

https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/souls-and-guns-america

Suzanna Fay-Ramirez and Emma Belgrove write: Gun control in Australia is not a black-and-white issue, and it's time we had a public debate that reflected that fact.

https://theconversation.com/oversimplifying-gun-control-issues-can-pose-a-real-threat-to-community-safety-85244

Andrew Hamilton writes. Gun laws and nuclear disarmament are inherently rational, and it is heartening that the Nobel Peace Prize went to an Australian initiated group pressing for nuclear disarmament. It is disheartening, though unsurprising, that the Australian government did not celebrate its achievement. Down under, deterrence is dogma.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54143

Homelessness & housing

Rachel Kurzyp writes: On the face of it, increased government spending makes sense. Yet history tells us that we won't end homelessness in Australia by building more crisis accommodation, and it's clear we can't rely on the private market to fill the growing housing gap.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54105

Indigenous affairs

Constitutional reform was 'gazumped' by the same-sex marriage postal survey, says Noel Pearson. A lack of political leadership and the postal survey had gotten in the way of the Federal government acting on recommendations by the referendum council, he said. Helen Davidson writes.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/24/constitutional-reform-gazumped-by-same-sex-marriage-postal-survey-says-noel-pearson

Paul Daley writes: To many Indigenous Australians Turnbull will now be remembered as the Tin Prime Minister. He is the leader who purportedly asked Indigenous Australians what they wanted ... only to blithely dismiss their answer as soon as they gave it at Uluru in May. Indeed, the government’s stultifying response betrays an attitude reminiscent of the old mission vicar: only we know what’s really good for them.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2017/oct/27/the-whole-recognition-process-has-a-deep-colonial-resonance

Paul Kelly writes: Much of indigenous leadership sentiment is geared to a treaty rather than constitutional recognition. That is a tragedy. Indigenous leaders asked for too much and are left with very little. What is needed now is genuine, not phony, goodwill, an end to gesture politics and serious efforts to find a proposal the entire nation will accept.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/paul-kelly/turnbull-had-no-choice-on-indigenous-recognition/news-story/2a916ef889317873f24546ce007ec758

The government has set out the three reasons why cabinet rejected the Referendum Council’s recommendation for the establishment of an Indigenous ‘Voice to Parliament’. Harry Hobbs asks whether these reasons were fair, arguing that the Voice to Parliament remains the best way forward.

https://theconversation.com/why-the-government-was-wrong-to-reject-an-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-86408

Justice

Samuel Moyn writes: The demands of the global South first elevated distributive justice to a worldwide scale. But the individualism by which political philosophers sought to ground this concern have left it bereft of effective agency.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/27/4741140.htm

Nils von Kalm writes: ‘It is a sad indictment on our claim to be Christian, and on our warped theology, that so many tours to and in the Holy Land focus only on life from an Israeli perspective. It’s not even like they are overtly anti-Palestinian. The Palestinian perspective is simply ignored. I’m not sure what is more hurtful for oppressed people; being actively persecuted or just not being heard by the outside world.’

http://soulthoughts.com/the-forgotten-christians/

Law, human rights and free speech

It’s getting harder to be a Christian in today’s political and cultural environment. What should our response be? The Australian Christian Lobby speaks with Mike Bird, who believes that ‘the greatest violence in the world is not done by men who believe what they do is wicked but done by people who believe what they do is righteous’.

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

Luther 500

Barney Zwartz writes: ‘From Martin Luther’s one simple idea – what historian Alister McGrath has called ‘Christianity's dangerous idea’ – flowed far-reaching changes that influence us today in education, communication, work, science, capitalism, democracy, philosophy and secularism’. And ‘Luther's legacy is still unfolding. Ed Simon says he is ‘either to thank for liberal modernity or to blame for the doctrinaire, literalist form much of Christianity now takes’. What can't be denied is that he and his fellow-thinkers are still shaping the world.’

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/how-martin-luther-and-christianitys-dangerous-idea-made-the-world-we-live-in-20171025-gz7qni.html

Stanley Hauerwas writes: I remain a Protestant because I have the conviction that the ongoing change that the church needs means some of us must be Protestant to keep Catholics honest about their claim to the title of the one true Catholic Church.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/the-reformation-is-over-protestants-won-so-why-are-we-still-here/2017/10/26/71a2ad02-b831-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html

It’s time for a revolt against the hypocrisy of the religion of technology, writes John Naughton, who proposes 95 theses about the tech world and the ecosystem it has spawned.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/29/why-we-need-a-21st-century-martin-luther-to-challenge-church-of-technology-95-theses

Every joint statement made by Roman Catholics with Protestants or the Orthodox reveals that it is the latter that have moved, writes Mark Thompson. The teaching behind the abuses that fired the Reformation flame have not changed.

https://sydneyanglicans.net/blogs/theology/is-the-reformation-still-necessary

Christianity Today’s Top 10 Articles about the Reformation from 2017.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/october-web-only/top-10-articles-reformation-500-anniversary.html

Jin S. Kim writes: Ministering to a mostly millennial congregation has given us some insights about the future of the church in a postmodern context. Young people today are desperate for what only the church can offer. A radical reformation in our time demands that the church live into its vocation as ecclesia, meaning the ‘called-out ones’.

https://www.plough.com/en/topics/community/intentional-community/time-for-a-new-reformation

Peter Harrison writes: There was nothing inevitable about the emergence and consolidation of Western science. At least part of the explanation for science turning out the way it did, my suggestion has been, is to do with the religious reformations of the sixteenth century.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/27/4756425.htm

Mateship

https://theconversation.com/hanging-out-with-the-boys-how-bromance-often-steals-the-spotlight-in-the-bachelorette-85464

Persecution

Ben McEachen writes: Open Doors predicts end of religious freedom in the West, warning that countries such as Australia might soon be included on it for the first time.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/world/rich-countries-could-join-christian-persecution-list/

Politics, society & ideology

Charles Taylor writes: Despite its universalist creed, modern democracy can generate its own forms of exclusion. Our democracies thus need to be vigilant, and ready to combat this thrust towards exclusion whenever it arises.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/27/4741109.htm

Miriam Renaud writes: Progressives - perhaps unaware that white evangelical Christians helped them elect President Obama - can improve their chances of recapturing the White House in 2020 by pushing past their distaste for those voters and wooing them back.

http://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/progressives-take-back-white-house-love-your-white-evangelical-neighbors

Elliott Richardson writes: It’s been said that a lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting its shoes on. Social media, politics and 'fake news' are currently demonstrating the reality of that idea, and its consequences.

https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2017/10/04/living-in-a-post-truth-world.html?cid=em_sp-oct-2017

Trevor Burnard writes: Australian universities are teaching 'identity politics' at the expense of Western history, according to an Institute of Public Affairs report. But unis make decisions based on student demand, not politics.

https://theconversation.com/memo-to-the-ipa-history-teaching-is-driven-by-student-demand-not-identity-politics-85889

Janet Albrechtsen of The Australian responds to Trevor Burnard’s article in The Conversation about identity politics in universities, arguing that, ‘rather than rigorous learning about important historical events that underpin our democracy, history teaching in this country is drenched in identity politics. Worse, this distortion of history into political ideology is a bellwether of a more profound political disorder that threatens the future of our Australian liberal project’.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/we-risk-being-remembered-as-the-generation-that-forgot-history/news-story/4daf2c2be80c6385f947e8f9531f1a7c

Jim Wallis writes: The ‘religious right’ has rallied around the billionaire playboy, political bully, ethno-nationalist and purveyor of racial bigotry. As a result, he has become the moral definition of their movement. Trump is the natural conclusion to how the religious right movement began, and what it has become. The operative word is clearly not ‘religious’ (or even ‘Christian’), but ‘right’. The religious right will now rise and fall with Donald Trump.

https://sojo.net/articles/religious-right-will-rise-and-fall-donald-trump

Religion in Society

David Mitchell writes: ‘To change so quickly from a society where most people took comfort from the establishment telling them, loudly and clearly, that death is not the end, to one where many proclaim that it is, and few are totally convinced otherwise, will have had an incalculable impact on our state of mind. It’s not a development I regret, but it’s a more persuasive explanation than smartphones or commuting of why we feel so stressed.’

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/15/living-without-shared-religion-neil-macgregor-living-with-gods-radio-4

https://sojo.net/articles/people-faith-aren-t-exempt-loving-their-neighbor

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/faith-20171013-gz0ik1.html

Science

ISCAST Executive Director Chris Mulherin interviews Prof. Peter Harrison, who recently visited Australia, on the history of the complex and interdependent relationship between science and religion in the West.

http://iscast.org/interview/Harrison_interview_2017

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/27/4756425.htm

Tom McLeish talks to CPX about what he loves about science, how the history of science goes much further back than we usually think, and why a ‘theology of science’ can be a very useful thing.

https://www.publicchristianity.org/life-and-faith-wise-science/

Sex

Does sexual liberalisation decrease religious vitality? Recent findings show that sex, not science, is secularising Americans. And while conservative churches may still hold to traditional views on a range of issues around sex, younger evangelicals (below 30) are more permissive than older ones on a range of issues including pornography and are postponing marriage (and thereby postponing its conservatizing effect).

http://www.religionwatch.com/researchers-putting-the-sex-in-secularization/

Ed Stetzer writes: If we are honest, we’d be hard pressed to find something affirming to say about Hugh Hefner from a Christian-values standpoint. And yet what trumps all of that in moments like this is this: he was made in the image of God, just like me and you. And as followers of Christ, we mourn his death as well as his legacy.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2017/september/hugh-hefner-mourning-and-legacies.html

Melinda Tankard Reist writes: Hugh Hefner has left behind a putrid, retrograde, destructive legacy that no amount of post-mortem deification can sanitize.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/05/4745046.htm

Michelle Smith writes: While some community groups contend that sexualised images of girls might support the behaviours and actions of paedophiles, there is a more pervasive issue at stake here for all women. One of the legacies of Hefner’s Playboy empire and the sex culture it helped to propagate is that only very young women are sexually attractive.

https://theconversation.com/playboy-brooke-shields-and-the-fetishisation-of-young-girls-85255?

Clare Bruce writes: Watching the TV news media celebrating Hugh Hefner recently, as though he was one of the great luminaries of our time, I was baffled and saddened to see scores of intelligent journalists packaging up glowing tributes to the father of modern pornography, while blatantly ignoring the bleeding obvious: the impact of his life’s work.

http://sheridanvoysey.com/hugh-hefners-legacy-is-nothing-to-celebrate-an-important-guest-post/

Sexual abuse & #MeToo campaign

Megan Powell du Toit writes: ‘Why do I feel like prey? Because – and this is where sexual harassment comes in – everything around me tells me that this is what I am. It is my sexuality that makes me both prized and vulnerable. There are constant messages that I am a sexual object to be possessed, not a person with full dignity. A person made in the image of God (Gen 1:27).’

http://www.fixinghereyes.org/single-post/2017/10/18/metoo-when-women-are-prey

Kate Moriarty writes: I'm not one to decorate my profile picture with coloured filters. I don't 'copy and share' status updates. I don't care if you are showing your teenager how fast an image travels around the internet, I'm not going to 'like' it for you. So when #metoo started peppering my news feed, I could cite my history of not buying into things as an excuse to remain silent. Couldn't I?

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54214

Alissa Wilkinson writes: '... people in positions of influence - and particularly men - have a responsibility to throw their weight around to make their communities safer ... ‘Speaking truth to power’ is all well and good. But if there’s no action accompanying that truth, then it’s merely a smokescreen, big talk to cover up a rotting, self-perpetuating core.'

https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/10/24/16490858/weinstein-toback-faraci-knowles-assault-shelter-film-community

Sexuality and same-sex marriage – mainstream / non-Christian perspective

Jessie Stephens writes: The case of 18-year-old Madeline suggests that we are only fierce defenders of freedom of speech under one condition: If that speech happens to perfectly reflect what we think. Then – and only then – is it worth fighting for. We do not have to agree with Madeline, but if we care about democracy, if we care about justice, and we care about progress, we must defend her right to an opinion.

http://www.mamamia.com.au/same-sex-marriage-woman-fired-vote-no/

Bill Louden, Murray Print and Philip Roberts write: ‘Vote No’ campaign material distributed by the Australian Conservatives, a political party founded by Senator Cory Bernardi, claims that ‘if same-sex marriage is legalised, Safe Schools and others like it will be mandatory in schools’. This is misleading.

https://theconversation.com/factcheck-will-safe-schools-be-mandatory-if-same-sex-marriage-is-legalised-84437

David Tuffley and Bela Stantic write: Opinions expressed on Twitter shows the result could be a narrow defeat of the Yes campaign, with 49.17% support. That figure is at odds with early opinion polls, some of which predicted up to 60% support and more for the Yes campaign. So why the difference?

http://theconversation.com/social-media-study-points-to-a-close-result-in-the-same-sex-marriage-vote-84436

Sexuality and same-sex marriage – Christian perspective

Is Christian ethics a matter of ‘orthodoxy’? Matthew Anderson, Alistair Roberts and Andrew Wilson explore the current debate on sexuality, particularly same-sex marriage, including a discussion about the Nashville Statement.

https://mereorthodoxy.com/mere-fidelity-orthodoxy-sexual-ethics/

Julie Perrin writes: ‘In the postal vote about marriage equality my fundamentalist friend will vote no and I will vote yes. Our differences have not been erased. But I'm telling this story because there was a time when two people deeply divided by their beliefs had the grace to trust one another and to live side-by-side in their difference.’

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54106#.Wc_FXBOCx0v

Robyn J. Whitaker, University of Divinity Even if secular law changes to allow same-sex couples to marry, churches are protected by religious freedom to choose who they will - or will not - marry.

https://theconversation.com/if-australia-says-yes-churches-are-still-free-to-say-no-to-marrying-same-sex-couples-84271

Neil James Foster writes: Robyn Whitaker’s article provides a fair summary of the current law under the Marriage Act. However, there are no legal guarantees currently in place to protect the freedom of conscience of clergy who do not wish to marry same-sex couples, and no guarantee of such freedom in the future. He also responds to an article by Bill Louden, arguing that the introduction of same-sex marriage will not automatically mean the introduction of mandatory ‘Safe Schools’ programs.

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/10/02/the-conversation-misleads-on-impacts-of-same-sex-marriage/

Sally Cloke writes: If Abraham is really our ancestor, uncertainly, fear and a desire to cling to the familiar cannot be legitimate reasons to vote No. Instead, the radical departure from cultural certainties it calls for may actually be a compelling sign of God’s call - a call to vote Yes and say to same-sex couples ‘Good on you’. God’s blessing to Abraham can provide support for a Christian endorsement of same-sex marriage, despite – or even because – it may seem like a step into an uncharted future.

https://adamsnavel.wordpress.com/2017/09/28/why-christians-can-say-good-on-you-to-same-sex-marriage/

With the announcement of a postal vote to be held on the issue of same-sex marriage in Australia, John Dickson spoke with Stephen O'Doherty on Open House about the historical and Biblical reasons to uphold heterosexual marriage, but also about the need to conduct the present debate with sensitivity and grace.

https://hope1032.com.au/stories/life/news/2017/history-society-religion-regard-marriage-as-heterosexual-john-dickson/

Rachel Gilson writes: ‘Why I embraced the Bible's sexual ethic before I understood it.’ This is not the story of my becoming straight, which has never truly happened and is beside the point. It is the story of my becoming whole, which is happening every day.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/october/i-never-became-straight-perhaps-that-was-never-gods-goal.html

Anna McGahan writes: Sexuality has been reduced to a dualistic, contemptuous, hysterical grapple between two words: yes and no. But ‘I want to speak to you, briefly, from a place that cannot be bulldozed by dualism, or dismissed for its ignorance, which is grey, no matter how black and white the conversation seems through the carnage of this week. From the place of story-telling’.

http://www.aforbiddenroom.com/spirit/the-ache-of-co-existence/

Mark Humphery-Jenner writes: ‘There could be a case for religious institutions being exempt from participating in same-sex marriages. But ... exempting businesses from anti-discrimination laws ... would harm the commercial reputations of Australia and its companies, and are not necessary for religious freedom.’

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-03/same-sex-marriage-exemptions-would-be-bad-for-buisness/9007896?sf118362627

Stephen McAlpine writes: All watersheds have slippery slopes: any major ethical decision we make in the public square will lead to other decisions. But it’s not just the ‘No’ campaign that is using slippery slope arguments. Mark Humphery-Jenner suggests, with no hint of irony, that we should bow and scrape to large multi-nationals and their coercive ways, and not allow religious conviction to override financial profit.

https://stephenmcalpine.com/2017/10/04/all-watersheds-have-two-slippery-slopes/

Phoebe Wearne writes: The conservative Anglican bishop of north-west WA, Gary Nelson, is threatening to abandon registering marriages if the Yes vote prevails in the same-sex marriage survey and religious protections are weak. Nelson said details of the legislation should have been released before the vote began.

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/anglican-bishop-of-north-west-australia-threatens-to-ditch-registering-marriages-if-yes-prevails-in-ssm-survey-ng-b88626223z

Sarah Judd-Lam writes: After years of prayerful consideration, I decided to ‘go public’ with my support for same sex marriage. Here, I attempt to address my reasons for this decision, by exploring: the power of stories; identity wars; who owns marriage?; cultural and historical factors; ‘think of the children’; religious freedom; and the separation of church and state.

https://sarelisabeth.com/2017/09/22/today-i-voted-yes-heres-why/

Tyler Streckert writes: ‘It is challenging to be caught involuntarily in the fallout of such a historically polarizing conflict, yet this is where Greg Coles has also been. From this place of tension, where a person can feel wrenched in two directions, Coles decided to stand firm and tell his narrative of self-discovery. In Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity, Coles writes without an agenda but instead with the hope of lighting a beacon for other same-sex-oriented Christians who feel trapped a similarly daunting place.’

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/october-web-only/you-cant-just-tell-us-what-to-believe.html

Is orientation an Evangelical argument for same-sex marriage? Nigel Chapman says yes, arguing that, if we look at orientation and marriage together, we find it doesn't match the reasons for the Bible's moral condemnations of same-sex relations. This fundamentally changes our arguments about nature and marriage, and suggests that we should view a same-sex marriage of two same-sex oriented Evangelicals as a biblical marriage.

http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/in-depth-articles/is-orientation-an-evangelical-argument

Jennifer Cox and John Yates write: The purpose and reality of human gender and sex can only be comprehended from the perspective of the End, a perfected state already realised in the exalted humanity of Jesus. Conversely, if gender and its meaning are fluid and definable merely by human choice, then the biblical understanding of marriage is completely evacuated.

http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/Engage-Mail/the-destiny-of-human-sex-and-gender

There has been a litany of crazy ironies so far in our same-sex marriage debate. A Father’s Day ad is banned. Australia’s most senior Family Court judge intervenes in favour of the Yes side because children now no longer have a right, wherever possible, to know the love of their mother and father. And Yes campaigner Benjamin Law wants ‘Safe Schools’ radical sex and gender fluid theory taught in all schools and that parents should have no say.

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

Non-profit group Christian Concern is sounding the alarm over teachers and students who have been unjustly treated for maintaining their belief in traditional, male-female marriage. ‘We had so many assurances that religious freedom would be protected … But unfortunately it's not been the case.’

https://freedomforfaith.org.au/freedom-means-security-whatever-your-beliefs

Dennis Shanahan writes: John Howard has repudiated Malcolm Turnbull’s assurances that freedoms of conscience will be addressed after the same-sex marriage survey and foreshadowed a parliamentary showdown before Christmas while renewing his calls for the government to spell out religious protections before the poll closes.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/john-howard-rejects-pms-vow-on-religious-freedom/news-story/d93656638c4014d3499b160253da29fe

Augusto Zimmermann of the Murdoch University School of Law outlines how amending the Marriage Act would potentially harm liberty of conscience and freedom of religion in Australia.

https://www.whyvoteno.org.au/legal-opinion-threats-to-liberty-conscience/

Frank Brennan writes: I have a quite orthodox Catholic position about the sacramentality of marriage in the Church, but I don't see that my theology of marriage determines what ought to be the law about marriage in a plural diverse society like Australia. A thinking and compassionate Catholic could have good reasons for voting yes. And respect and endorsement of loving same sex relationships did not preclude consideration of issues such as freedom of religion.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54209

Rory Shiner writes: We cheerfully & rightly impose our views on government on issues such as asylum seekers, so why not SSM? The notion that religious people can’t impose their beliefs on government assumes that marriage is an exclusively Christian institution, and plays into a wider myth that there is a such a thing as a secular space in which there are no beliefs, only facts.

https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/article/religious-conservatives-imposing-their-views-a-reflection-on-the-ssm-debate

In a recent essay published in The Quarterly Essay, Fairfax columnist Benjamin Law confirms that at least some high-profile LGBTIQ advocates seek broader goals than just SSM. The fact that, according to Law, opposition to SSM is by definition homophobia has major implications for those who don’t agree with SSM. And Law admits that SSM is ‘Far from the final frontier in the battle against homophobia’, and that Safe Schools, which he admits teaches queer theory to school kids, should be implemented across the country.

http://akosbalogh.com/2017/09/25/ssm-not-final-frontier-homophobia/#

http://www.mamamia.com.au/same-sex-marriage-woman-fired-vote-no/

Sunanda Creagh writes: Where should the line fall between protecting people’s right to hold religious beliefs and the right to be free from discrimination? Renae Barker, an expert on the relationship between religion and the state, explains what the law really says on secularism, religion and discrimination in the context of same-sex marriage. And she outlines some of complex legal issues that may emerge if it is legalised in Australia.

https://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-a-lawyer-a-biblical-scholar-and-a-fact-checker-walk-into-the-same-sex-marriage-debate-85089

Scott Buchanan writes: Is the Liberal Party is (marginally) more likely than the ALP to ensure religious freedom? Scott Buchanan looks at Senator Smith's proposed bill, arguing that the concessions to religious freedom are not sufficient and based on false assumptions about religion.

http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/in-depth-articles/the-liberal-party-same-sex-marriage-and-freedom-of-conscien

Neil James Foster writes: The Senate Select Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill, handed down in February, was a well-balanced document which fairly presents the different points of view. It suggests that religious freedom could most appropriately be achieved through the inclusion of ‘religious belief’ as a protected attribute in federal anti-discrimination law.

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/02/15/report-of-the-select-committee-on-same-sex-marriage-bill/

Andrew Gleeson writes: The differences between men and women are subtle and profound, and there is something profoundly valuable, and worth preserving, in this distinction that all human societies have drawn. But more important is the need for more civilised debate that does not label the other as ‘bigoted’, and an understanding that there is more at stake in same-sex marriage than the rhetoric of equality and 'same love' would have it. We are contemplating a key move in what is a now a long-ish history of social reforms that are profoundly reconfiguring human sexual and familial relations.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/26/4756077.htm

Social media

Tess Holgate speaks with Dan Wu, a lecturer at Sydney’s Moore Theological College, on social media: ‘We Christians like to have a bit of argy-bargy, a little bit of debate, trying to establish who’s who in the zoo. … Our goal should be to love and care for those who we’re chatting to, even those who we disagree with.’

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/in-depth/why-is-it-impossible-to-have-a-normal-conversation-online/

Bret Stephens writes: What makes our disagreements so toxic is that we refuse to make eye contact with our opponents, or try to see things as they might, or find some middle ground

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-26/art-of-disagreeing-has-disappeared/8986470

Zeynep Tufekci: Think FB is destroying society? Shortening attention spans, polarising public discourse, enabling fake news to proliferate, fostering digital addictions and empowering trolls and bullies? All this is (more or less) true. Yet the problem is not social media. The problem is capitalism.

https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_we_re_building_a_dystopia_just_to_make_people_click_on_ads

Technology

Google, Twitter and Facebook workers who helped make technology so addictive are disconnecting themselves from the internet. Paul Lewis reports on the Silicon Valley refuseniks alarmed by a race for human attention.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia

US politics

Sabrina Siddiqui writes: Bush characterized the current era as a ‘unique moment’ that threatened the pillars of US democracy. ‘We need to recall and recover our own identity,’ he said. ‘Americans have a great advantage. To renew our country, we only need to remember our values.’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/19/george-w-bush-trump-bigotry-lies-coded-attack

War, peace & nonviolence

Maher Mughrabi writes: So often we are told that Australia punches above its weight in world affairs. Is it hard to imagine in this situation, in which Koreans have such a huge stake, that they might take the lead in showing the rest of us a better way? And could a Melbourne student hold the key to peace on the Korean Peninsula?

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/could-a-melbourne-student-hold-the-key-to-peace-on-the-korean-peninsula-20171009-gywz9u.html

Welfare

http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/welfare/2017/10/19/depoliticise-welfare

Women

https://amandaadvocates.blog/2017/09/27/archibald-musings/

Work

John Quiggin writes: ‘A Senate committee has made the right decision by rejecting the Fair Work Commissions recommendations to slash penalty rates. ... Given wages currently make up the lowest ever percentage of Australia’s GDP, we need a new approach. Cutting the incomes and entitlements of Australia’s lowest paid workers is the wrong way to go.’

https://theconversation.com/slashing-penalty-rates-a-misguided-response-to-problems-of-the-past-85317

Sheridan Voysey writes: In a celebrity-driven age like ours it’s easy to applaud those who work on the top deck - the public faces of business, government, medicine, entertainment - while overlooking those who work in the galleys and engine rooms that keep the ship running. Are you a back office, behind-the-scenes kind of person? Well, your talents matter and your work is indispensable.

http://sheridanvoysey.com/good-news-for-behind-the-scenes-people-your-work-is-indispensable/

http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/work/2017/10/22/new-class-working-poor/

David Fagan writes: Will technology take your job? The rise of robots and new technology threatens to take over many jobs, but just how many is still up for debate. New analysis says more of us are safer than we thought, but not all.

https://theconversation.com/will-technology-take-your-job-new-analysis-says-more-of-us-are-safer-than-we-thought-but-not-all-86219

Young people

Matthew Schultz writes: Millennials are coasting on the moral and intellectual capital of previous generations. Young people press for the cause of social justice as if it were a divine right grounded in an objective truth, rather than one way in which we try to make meaning for ourselves in a meaningless world. While it is comforting to imagine belief in equality will continue as an essential part of democracy, the rise of the post-Christian far-right should temper that expectation.

https://arcdigital.media/the-end-of-protestant-america-is-in-sight-24d766f57292

Wendy Williams writes: Millennials are taking more direct, less muted action according to a new US report that claims ‘2016 may have been the lull before the storm’ for cause engagement.

https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/09/millennials-altering-models-giving/

Got something to add?

Your Name
Email
Your Comment

Type the code from the image

RSS Feed

Ethos Blog

Shopping Cart

Link Highlights | October 2017

Monday, 6 November 2017 | Ethos editor

Got something to add?

Online Resources

subscribe to engage.mail

follow us

Latest Articles