Link highlights | September 2017

Monday, 2 October 2017 | Ethos editor

Link highlights – September 2017

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

Asylum seekers, refugees and migration

David Holdcroft writes: Francis' pontificate coincided with the rise of numbers of forced migrants to historically unprecedented post-war levels, presenting him with a unique opportunity to develop and demonstrate his vision for a renewed Church, repositioned in and for a globalised world.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54087

Child sexual abuse

Calla Wahlquist writes: A sexual abuse victim was re-traumatised by the Catholic church compensation process. Her ‘extremely difficult’ 13-month ordeal to receive a payout adds weight to calls for an independent redress scheme, says her lawyer.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/08/sexual-abuse-victim-re-traumatised-by-catholic-church-compensation-process

Civil society

James Macintyre writes: A US Catholic bishop addressed Facebook employees this week on the subject of 'How to have a religious argument' online, urging users to seek 'with great patience to understand your opponent's position'.

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/us.bishop.addresses.thousands.of.facebook.staff.on.how.to.have.a.good.religious.argument.online/114148.htm

Jane Johnston writes: The “public interest” is a political concept that’s regularly trotted out along with other democratic principles such as transparency and accountability. And, like transparency and accountability, it’s difficult to pin down exactly what it means. But it is an integral part of the discourse, law, regulation and governance of modern democracies.

https://theconversation.com/whose-interests-why-defining-the-public-interest-is-such-a-challenge-84278

Disasters

While Australian media has been saturated with coverage of the disastrous flooding in the US town of Houston, a far more damaging and unfolding deadly humanitarian catastrophe is taking place. Farrah Plummer writes.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2017/09/02/south-asia-floods-catastrophe

Drugs

Ben O'Mara and Anthony McCosker write: The parliamentary inquiry into establishing an injecting room in Victoria has failed to make any recommendations. This is despite finding drug use is at crisis levels in the area.

https://theconversation.com/a-medically-supervised-injection-facility-matters-for-victoria-and-for-more-inclusive-mental-health-support-79761

Economics & inequality

Scott Stephens writes: Before the wound of inequality can be inflicted on the body politic, certain moral emotions need to be anaesthetized. What must be overcome is a refusal to profit at the expense of another's misery.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/18/4736352.htm

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

First of two articles on the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill to be debated in NSW Parliament later this month:

The ‘yes’ case, by Trevor Khan: My father, a retired doctor, was left incontinent and bedridden after a severe stroke. He died a slow, painful death over three and a half years.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/why-ill-be-voting-yes-to-the-voluntary-assisted-dying-bill-20170831-gy8986.html

The ‘no’ case, by Walt Secord: It is not possible to put in place sufficient safeguards and protections to prevent abuses of voluntary euthanasia laws.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/why-ill-be-voting-no-to-the-voluntary-assisted-dying-bill-2017-20170830-gy70p3.html

Michael Cook writes: A book to be released next week - Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Lessons from Belgium - explores the legal, philosophical and medical issues around euthanasia, as well as how euthanasia affects vulnerable populations. The authors conclude that "the only secure way to avoid [negative] consequences is to ... instead invest in palliative care as well as research into end-of-life practices while re-emphasising the preciousness of human life".

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/first-interdisciplinary-study-of-belgian-euthanasia-published/12435

Ben White, Andrew McGee and Lindy Willmott write: There is now a reputable body of research evidence from places that have introduced assisted dying. Both MPs and the public must examine that evidence before deciding how they will vote. We should recognise moral claims for what they are – claims underpinned by personal values. And they should challenge those who are making factual claims to name the evidence, then test how reliable that evidence is.

https://theconversation.com/as-victorian-mps-debate-assisted-dying-it-is-vital-they-examine-the-evidence-not-just-the-rhetoric-84195

Margaret Somerville writes: Those who support physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia deny there are slippery slopes, but once euthanasia is normalised slippery slopes are unavoidable. Where it is legal, expanding the situations where euthanasia is allowed is constantly increasing.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/euthanasia-slippery-slope-is-inevitable-and-perilous/news-story/99e1b349de4722c32f2525bca0240095

Michael Cook reports: The American College of Physicians, the second-largest physician group in the United States with 152,000 members, has declared that physician-assisted suicide is unethical. The declaration expressed concern about woolly terminology used in the debate, endorses concerns about “slippery slopes”, asks whether the goal of medicine is the elimination of all suffering and points out that physicians gain power when PAS is legalised and can be seen as a return to paternalism.

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/major-us-doctors-group-opposes-physician-assisted-suicide/12446

In a CPX rebroadcast Life & Faith episode from 2015, bioethicist Margaret Somerville explains why she's sympathetic to euthanasia advocates - but also strongly disagrees with them.

https://publicchristianity.org/library/life-and-faith-the-ethical-imagination

Caitlin Mahar writes: Today, a primary goal of both movements aimed at care of the dying – palliative care and euthanasia – is to eliminate suffering. These are underpinned by the idea that a good death is a painless death. But it wasn’t always so. But for centuries, in Western societies, 'euthanasia' referred to a pious death, blessed by God. The pain that could accompany dying was seen as punishment for sin and ultimately redemptive.

https://theconversation.com/when-a-good-death-was-often-painful-euthanasia-through-the-ages-84604

Ben White, Andrew McGee and Lindy Willmott write: As Victorian MPs debate assisted dying, it is vital they examine the evidence, not just the rhetoric

https://theconversation.com/as-victorian-mps-debate-assisted-dying-it-is-vital-they-examine-the-evidence-not-just-the-rhetoric-84195

Peter Singer writes: We can draw on decades of experience with medical assistance in dying from other countries. They have been carefully studied and there has been no slippery slope to disaster. We should end the suffering of patients who know they are dying and want to do so peacefully.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/18/we-should-end-the-suffering-of-patients-who-know-they-are-dying-and-want-to-do-so-peacefully

Margaret Somerville writes: We can judge the ethical tone of a society by how it treats its weakest and most in need. With euthanasia we offer them death instead of loving care. Legalising assisted dying would be a failure of collective human memory and imagination.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/20/legalising-assisted-dying-would-be-a-failure-of-collective-human-memory-and-imagination

Environment

Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik writes: The destructive power of storms and fires often leads us to understand them as abnormal bursts of extreme weather. Words like ‘mega-drought’, ‘flash flood’, or ‘superstorm’ suggest Biblical natural disasters. But climate disasters are never ‘natural’; they are an effect of both atmospheric and societal conditions.

https://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2017/09/15/social-climate-disasters

Andrew Klekociuk and Paul Krummel write: The treaty to limit the destruction of the ozone layer is hailed as the most successful environmental agreement of all time. Three decades on, the ozone layer is slowly but surely returning to health.

https://theconversation.com/after-30-years-of-the-montreal-protocol-the-ozone-layer-is-gradually-healing-84051

Epistemology

Jessica Hamzelou writes: We can’t help but be more welcoming of information that confirms our biases than facts that challenge them. Now an experiment has shown that we do this even when it means losing out financially.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2146124-we-ignore-what-doesnt-fit-with-our-biases-even-if-it-costs-us/

Family

Michael Frost writes: Jesus demands we fashion a whole new kind of family, the likes of which no one has ever seen before, a task so extraordinary it ought to completely swamp something like campaigning against a secular state granting homosexual couples the right to marry. The early church got it. Some married and had children, but others chose not to out of devotion to Jesus. The unmarried, the widowed, the abandoned were all welcomed in as full family members. And it turned the world upside down.

http://mikefrost.net/jesus-wasnt-real-big-biological-family/

Foreign policy

Australia’s engagement with Asia & the world has fallen on hard times, writes Joseph A Camilleri.

Australia continues with its interventionist deployments at the side of the United States, primarily in the Muslim world, even though these interventions have proved unwinnable, and have exacted tragic cost in human lives and social, cultural, and economic infrastructure. At the same time, we seek the help - hypocritically - of our Muslim communities and the Muslim world to stem the tide of Islamist terrorism, even though it is US-led interventionism and the financial backing of Saudi Arabia, America’s privileged ally in the Arab world, which have done much to fuel the terrorist scourge.

https://johnmenadue.com/joseph-a-camilleri-australias-engagement-with-asia-and-the-world-has-fallen-on-hard-times/

Through its support of extremist Wahabism, the Saudi government has been promoting radical Islam around the world. Its influence has included funding schools, universities and mosques in over 80 countries. But, like the issue of the burqa, few Australians want to discuss the highly dangerous activities of the Saudi government. Drawing on earlier posts in Pearls and Irritations by John Tulloh and Peter Rodgers consider a few facts about Wahabism and the Saudi government.

https://johnmenadue.com/john-menadue-when-will-saudi-arabia-be-brought-to-account-for-its-malign-influence-and-promotion-of-terrorism/

Gambling

Cristy Clark writes: A court case against a poker machine manufacturer and casino operator could set a precedent for every poker machine in Australia.

https://theconversation.com/can-a-federal-court-case-against-pokies-succeed-where-politics-has-failed-83871

Michael Bird writes for The Sydney Morning Herald on the devastation wrought by gambling addiction - and challenges our politicians to do something about it.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/politicians-must-get-real-about-gambling-reform-20170904-gya63v.html

Gender

Female Empowerment? Why Feminism Deserves Better than Honey Birdette.

Caitlin Roper writes: Normalising the objectification of women by corporations whose primary goal is to sell a product is not in the interests of women, nor is it about granting women more power - it's about profits.

www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/07/4730594.htm

Sarah Williams has been mapping the history of the concept of gender. She shares with CPX’s Life & Faith some of her findings, and why this context matters for current debates.

https://publicchristianity.org/library/the-story-of-gender

Scott Cowdell writes: The Genesis accounts of humanity's creation have been annexed by Western anxieties and made to tell a less nuanced, more linear story about human identity than they actually provide.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/14/4734308.htm

Homelessness & housing

Hal Pawson and Oliver Frankel write: Unaffordable housing and homelessness are burning issues. Policymaking has suffered from a critical lack of data and expert input since the National Housing Supply Council was axed in 2013.

https://theconversation.com/mounting-housing-stress-underscores-need-for-expert-council-to-guide-wayward-policymaking-84196

Identity

Temptation and the Crisis of Identity: Lessons from Adam and Eve, and Jesus Christ:

Brian Rosner writes: Given the results of the modern do-it-yourself personal identity experiment, perhaps an ancient approach to identity formation is worth considering.

www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/08/4731056.htm

On Being Rightly Identified: Recognition and the Theology of Identity:

Andrew Errington writes: Our lives are lived as a contest of identifications. The phrase "I identify as ..." can be a refusal of the adequacy of the names I have been given, a plea to others to identify me rightly.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/05/4729503.htm

Indigenous affairs

Helen Gardner writes: We are living in a mythical Whig history in which the contemporary reality is shrouded by our comfortable belief that the present is a more enlightened place. Historians are part of the problem.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/11/4732636.htm

Brooke Prentis reflects on #ClintonsWalkForJustice and the injustices Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples still face in Australia, exhorting us to walk forward together, step-by-step.

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

Law, human rights and free speech

Stephen McAlpine writes: Progressive Christians have gone strangely silent, missing in action, in the same sex marriage debate when it comes to defending freedom of religious expression in the public square or freedom of conscience. The silence I hear from my progressive brothers and sisters is either extreme naivety or extreme desperation.

https://stephenmcalpine.com/2017/09/12/progressive-christian-where-art-thou/

Two leading NSW legal voices - Michael Quinlan and Pauline Wright - explore some of the key judicial arguments for and against same-sex marriage.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/same-sexmarriage-a-legal-debate-conflict-and-equality/news-story/bfd420b61604f3570c749879a731715e

In response to concerns about hateful and harmful speech on both side of the SSM debate, the Commonwealth Parliament has passed anti-vilification legislation. Neil James Foster examines the content and possible consequences of the Marriage Law Survey (Additional Safeguards) Act 2017.

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/09/13/free-speech-and-vilification-in-the-marriage-law-postal-survey/

Legal expert Neil James Foster has compiled a helpful reading list of in-depth articles addressing concerns about the proposal to introduce same-sex marriage.

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/09/16/some-in-depth-reading-on-same-sex-marriage-issues/

Neil James writes: If Australia is to change its laws to allow assisted dying, voluntary suicide, or same-sex marriage, it would surely be inconsistent to discontinue honouring the exercise of individual conscientious objection - especially by limiting conscientious objection to only religious belief, and then only to collective practice by religious organisations and their staff. Otherwise, we risk replacing one form of real or perceived discrimination, or indeed bigotry, with its opposite extreme.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/11/4732614.htm

Carl R. Trueman writes: The sound-bite opinions and cheap gestures of these entertainers seem to carry a cultural and political weight that belies the intrinsic triviality of their earthly callings. If freedom made the American public square great, entertainment appears to be in danger of making it rather ridiculous.

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2017/09/this-sporting-life

Luther 500th anniversary

Tess Holgate writes: Thanks to them, and others before them, you don’t need to just trust someone who says you can buy your way out of the punishment of sin with $50. You can go home, open your Bible, and see for yourself that God’s grace is a gift freely given to those who simply ask for it.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/in-depth/500-years-later-why-do-i-care-about-the-reformation/

Media

Ruby Hamad writes: Many people, including journalists, think the role of the media is 'to let people make up their own mind'. But that is not strictly true. In a liberal democracy, the media's most essential function is to serve the public interest. While this includes providing information so that the public can make informed decisions, the key word being 'informed'. In order to do so, journalists must decide what is in the public interest – what the public 'needs to know' – and why.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54098#.Wcxd6xOCyu4

Persecution

When ISIS killed a Chinese man and woman in their mid-twenties in Pakistan's most volatile province, many would have assumed they were two of the thousands of workers sent by Beijing.

But Meng Lisi and Li Xinheng were in the provincial capital, Quetta, on a clandestine mission: to spread the word of Christianity in the unlikeliest and most dangerous of places in conservative Muslim Pakistan.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41116480

Politics, society & ideology

ABC’s Q&A panel dealt with the issues the politicians can’t solve, arguing that a broader global vision can help save the world.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/tv/2017/09/05/qanda-melbourne-writers-festival-dystopia-trump-north-korea/

Judith Brett writes: A new book attempts to cloak Tony Abbott in a political philosophy, but is not entirely convincing. In particular, one glaring omission is the failure to distinguish between economic and social policies. Modern conservatives embrace the economic liberalism of the 19th-century free traders, while championing socially conservative attitudes to women’s role, marriage and family life, and to traditional British Australian nationalism.

https://theconversation.com/book-review-abbotts-right-83228

Mick Chisnall writes: Progressive politics is losing to a fantasy state of mind. As a result, we are increasingly seeing voters support candidates whose policies are, superficially at least, against their own interests.

https://theconversation.com/progressive-politics-is-losing-to-a-fantasy-state-of-mind-79499

Michael Jensen asks: “The church seems to represent a dangerously outmoded vision for human life that would be quaint if it weren’t so dangerous. If there’s a right side to history, it’s hard to see Jesus Christ and his followers have much of a future in it. So, hadn’t we better get out of the way – or quietly accept our irrelevance?”

And yet the timeless truth of the gospel reminds us that one thing does not progress: “the problematic character of human beings”.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/are-we-on-the-wrong-side-of-history/

Will Jones writes: Why are so-called progressives so anti-freedom, so imperious in enforcing compliance with their creed? Yes, it’s a double standard, but it’s also more than that: paradoxically, the nihilism and relativism at the heart of modern culture underpins the progressives’ confidence in their moral superiority and their overactive sense of being justified in suppressing all dissent. The progressive creed is not really a positive philosophy but a negative one.

https://www.psephizo.com/life-ministry/why-are-progressives-so-anti-freedom/

Religion in Society

Time for the Benedict Option? A Conversation on Community, Counterculture, and Christianity’s Future in the West - with Rod Dreher, Ross Douthat, R. R. Reno, Peter Mommsen and others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3MRceZX_NA

Greg Sheridan writes: In abandoning God, we are about to embark on one of the most radical social experiments in Western history. It is nothing short of the reordering of human nature. Short of war, nothing is as consequential. And our culture, our people, not to mention our poor and our sick, will miss Christianity more than they can possibly know.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/is-god-dead-western-has-much-to-lose-in-banishing-christianity/news-story/b1dcbeabbd5776307debc9ddcb845539

Samuel Gregg writes: People need not be faithful Jews or orthodox Christians to affirm Western civilisation’s achievements. Any defense of the West must be clear about those core commitments to reason and the reasonable God that are central to its identity.

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2017/08/19819/

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/us.bishop.addresses.thousands.of.facebook.staff.on.how.to.have.a.good.religious.argument.online/114148.htm

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

Science

Chris Mulherin writes: In an era of increasingly strident secularism, it’s increasingly common to hear people say “I believe in science so I couldn’t be religious”. But the church has a cloud of scientist witnesses who have proclaimed the harmony of science and Christian faith over the centuries.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/culture/for-the-love-of-science-and-god/

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

Mark Christensen writes: A ‘Yes’ vote will further galvanise an ill-founded confidence in politics at the expense of the things that matter, including acceptance of minorities.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19250

'Pretty much the same': Irish voters offer lessons for Australia's same-sex marriage debate

It's been more than two years since Ireland voted Yes to same-sex marriage. Voters from both sides of the campaign say Australians can learn from their experiences.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-02/same-sex-marriage-lessons-from-ireland/8858320

The gay couple who oppose same-sex marriage

Ben Rogers and Mark Poidevin are committed to preserving traditional marriage and say the postal survey could be a "Brexit or Trump moment for Australia".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-04/the-gay-couple-who-oppose-same-sex-marriage/8871118

“I will never give up fighting for a more free and joyful world.” I’ve been accused of plotting the downfall of civilisation. Even my mum, who thinks I’m doing an awesome job, knows my powers of destruction are more limited, writes Safe Schools co-founder Roz Ward

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/01/roz-ward-i-will-never-give-up-fighting-for-a-more-free-and-joyful-world

This survey is about much more than same-sex marriage, writes Aubrey Perry.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/this-survey-is-about-much-more-than-samesex-marriage-20170831-gy83b6.html

As most prepare to vote on the issue which our politicians seem unable to resolve themselves, it is right to ask how a "yes" vote would impact on family life.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/how-a-yes-vote-will-affect-fathers-day-20170901-gy8vx3.html

Karen Brooks writes: Marriage equality has zero to do with Safe Schools or kids. Making these false connections is a lazy and unethical way to argue a case

http://www.couriermail.com.au/rendezview/argue-using-facts-not-made-up-connections/news-story/de2570944d1ffff5ac1a304f4e7fb01e

Ron Levy writes: I now feel I've heard it all – all the arguments against marriage equality. And I feel very confident at this point saying that none of the arguments against marriage equality holds up in the light of logic.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/seven-common-myths-in-the-marriage-equality-debate-20170831-gy84vu.html

Who is 'Marriage Equality' Serving? The Last Stand of Australia's Libertarian Left.

Caroline Norma writes: The "marriage equality" campaign is, at best, an exercise in corporate and political party grandstanding. At worst, it is a vehicle for the consolidation of Australia's libertarian left. Infectious is the naive idea that the campaign to legislate lesbian and gay access to the institution of marriage is nothing but a wholesome, good-hearted community effort to support gay youth.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/01/4727818.htm

Tom Switzer writes: Many important issues, such as same-sex marriage, now can't be debated openly without inspiring immediate hysteria. Anyone who tries to defend traditional marriage – or even highlights the risks that the campaign poses to religious freedom – is instantly treated with shock and distaste.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-marriage-equality-movement-and-the-new-intolerance-20170902-gy9hyq.html

David Marr writes: “The laws of God may be going out the window, but the laws of politics will remain hard and fast. All the dark outcomes predicted by Bernardi and Abbott and Howard and the commentariat of News Corp must first pass parliament. … Democracy will continue to work. Nothing will change without public backing. Parliaments will be the best protection the churches have for religious liberty.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/19/wheres-the-biff-free-speech-has-won-every-round-in-the-marriage-equality-debate

Neil James Foster writes: A contractor working for an ACT-based children's entertainment business has lost her position solely due to her indication of support for a "No" vote.

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/09/20/contractor-dismissed-due-to-views-on-same-sex-marriage/

Jennifer Power and Simon Crouch write: Liberal MP Kevin Andrews said children who are brought up with a mother and a father “are, as a cohort, better off than those who are not”.

What do the studies show? Some studies have indicated that adults raised by same-sex parents fare worse on some educational, social or emotional outcomes. But the majority of research does not support this, and there are methodological limitations in all studies. And recent studies have supported the finding that children or adolescents raised by same-sex couples do not experience poorer outcomes. However, when same-sex parent families experience stigma and discrimination, this can impact on child health and well-being.

https://theconversation.com/factcheck-are-children-better-off-with-a-mother-and-father-than-with-same-sex-parents-82313

Janet Albrechtsen writes: There is a conservative case for voting yes: granting gay couples the legal right to marry is a recognition of liberty. Voting Yes is entirely consistent with anti-statist, libertarian and indeed conservative beliefs that the state should stay out of our personal lives.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/janet-albrechtsen/a-libertarian-conservative-case-for-voting-yes-to-ssm/news-story/599daae498499aaf6a40e37b82a63c13

George Rennie writes: While polls show strong support for marriage equality at present, the history of widespread advocacy campaigns shows that the “No” campaign has many unfair advantages – especially when it uses ads to make its point.

https://theconversation.com/marriage-vote-how-advocacy-ads-exploit-our-emotions-in-divisive-debates-83501

While calls to redefine marriage so as to include same-sex partnerships and polygamy may be motivated to remove discrimination, every law makes distinctions about right and wrong. So the question is whether discrimination in favour of male-female marriage is a justifiable action. By David d'Lima.

http://www.fava.org.au/publications-access-notice/891

Troy Simpson responds to nine arguments against same-sex marriage in Australia, including arguments around the current status of LGBTI couples, freedom of religion and psychological impact.

http://www.mamamia.com.au/same-sex-marriage-myths/

Two leading NSW legal voices - Michael Quinlan and Pauline Wright - explore some of the key judicial arguments for and against same-sex marriage.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/same-sexmarriage-a-legal-debate-conflict-and-equality/news-story/bfd420b61604f3570c749879a731715e

https://stephenmcalpine.com/2017/09/12/progressive-christian-where-art-thou/

Michael Koziol reports: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says a Victorian church which cancelled a couple's wedding because they expressed support for same-sex marriage was acting well within its rights.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-defends-right-of-church-to-refuse-to-marry-couples-who-support-gay-marriage-20170915-gyi0hm.html

Timothy W. Jones writes: The voluntary postal survey is unique and bizarre, in that no government has yet conducted such a statistically unreliable exercise in gauging public opinion on a contentious social issue. Yet it is typical, in that political responses to social change in areas of sex and morality are usually slow, fiercely contested, ideologically confused, but nonetheless important.

https://theconversation.com/the-postal-survey-is-both-bizarre-and-typical-in-the-history-of-western-marriage-83572

Frank Bongiorno writes: Historically, Australians have been leaders rather than followers on progressing social issues. But more recently, our leaders have trailed behind public opinion.

https://theconversation.com/on-marriage-equality-australias-progressive-instincts-have-been-crushed-by-political-failure-83796

Adrian Beaumont writes: Yes supporters were concerned that optional voting would imply lower turnout among the young, who are most likely to vote Yes. However, polling has shown that Yes support among those who will definitely vote is greater than among all voters.

https://theconversation.com/coalitions-pro-coal-policy-likely-a-vote-loser-optional-voting-in-plebiscite-helps-yes-83787

Michelle Grattan writes: While there were arguments for keeping the issue as simple as possible and leaving the detail for later, this certainly has given the No side more room to raise doubts and scares.

https://theconversation.com/turnbull-would-need-to-prevent-protections-fight-delaying-legislation-after-a-yes-vote-84130

Tom Switzer writes: Many important issues, such as same-sex, now can't be debated openly without inspiring immediate hysteria. Anyone who tries to defend traditional marriage – or even highlights the risks that the campaign poses to religious freedom – is instantly treated with shock and distaste.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-marriage-equality-movement-and-the-new-intolerance-20170902-gy9hyq.html

Lachlan O'Dea writes: “The fear amongst conservative and religious people, fear that there’s a great deal of bad faith on the pro side, is well founded. This campaign across the entire western world seems less interested in improving the lives of gay people than it does in reengineering society’s attitudes towards gender, sex and relationships.

I find this to be a tragic state of affairs, because I think there is actually a strong argument to be made for same-sex marriage. The irony is, it’s a conservative argument.”

https://medium.com/@quelgar/australias-marriage-vote-40efc22d788e

Hanna Robert and Fiona Kelly write: Opponents of marriage equality often say that married and de facto couples already have the same rights. To what extent is this true? And, in legal terms, how much do the differences matter?

https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-legal-benefits-do-married-couples-have-that-de-facto-couples-do-not-83896

Augusto Zimmermann writes: The AMA's endorsement of child-rearing in same-sex marriages has drawn protests from doctors and professors who accuse President Michael Gannon of ignoring adverse research in favour of dangerous, politically correct myths. An overwhelming body of research supports their case.

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2017/08/childrens-welfare-sex-families/

Michelle Grattan: As a rare example of direct democracy - albeit non-compulsory and conducted by mail - the same-sex marriage ballot has captured the attention of a public alienated from politicians.

https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-same-sex-marriage-ballot-captures-attention-of-a-public-alienated-from-politicians-84456

P. D. Riches: Creating a different category of union, and calling it something other than "marriage", is a form of segregation. And, while I don't think objecting to same-sex marriage on traditional grounds makes someone a bigot or homophobe, I do believe it requires a certain ignorance of history.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/logically-theres-only-one-good-reason-for-voting-no-20170922-gymr7n.html

Nick Haslam writes: Recent research shines a revealing light on the roots of pro- and anti-marriage equality sentiment. It helps explain the roots of our attitudes to same-sex marriage, and whether they are shallow enough to allow attitudes to change.

https://theconversation.com/attitudes-to-same-sex-marriage-have-many-psychological-roots-and-they-can-change-84563

Sexuality and same-sex marriage – Christian perspective

From the archives (28/5/2015). Michael Jensen writes: In order to offer the status of marriage to couples of the same sex, the very meaning of marriage has to be changed. In which case, what same-sex couples will have will not be the same as what differently sexed couples now have. It will be called marriage, but it won't be marriage as we know it. It won't be "marriage equality": it will be an entirely new thing.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-28/jensen-i-oppose-same-sex-marriage-(and-no,-im-not-a-bigot)/6502850

Nathan Campbell writes: In the fallout of a controversial recent post it has been suggested that the framework I’ve put forward for speaking about sexuality in the modern world — that it’s a form of idolatry — is ‘soft pedalling’ when it comes to calling sin “sin”. I disagree. The Bible, from start to finish, is pretty sure that idolatry is deadly and destructive — the most deadly and destructive sin — and I’d argue that it sees most sinful actions as a result of an idolatrous disposition. It even gets the top two spots in the ten commandments.

http://st-eutychus.com/2017/why-calling-something-idolatry-is-not-soft-pedalling-on-sin-and-how-idolatry-is-breath-takingly-dangerous/

A ‘position statement’ on sexuality, by Steve Holmes: ‘We failed to agree.’ But ‘we succeeded in rekindling each other’s hope. We succeeded in helping each other to increased commitment to Jesus even when we understood his call in different ways. We succeeded in making mission more possible, more imaginable, even when we found the goal of mission less clear. We succeeded in respecting each other’s commitment to Scripture, even when we disagreed about how to read or apply it.’

http://steverholmes.org.uk/blog/?p=7688

Michael F. Bird writes: The Nashville Statement is well-intentioned, some genuinely sound stuff is contained there, but the substance in places is superficial, and some parts are not beneficial to an evangelical witness to LGBTI people.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2017/09/reflections-nashville-statement/

Bill Muehlenberg writes: Anyone who has dared to stand for natural marriage has known all about the horrific bullying, intimidation, hatred and abuse that gets poured on them by the pink mafia. But people power can win.

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2017/09/04/people-power-wins-rainbow-militants/

Bill Muehlenberg writes: For the Christian, to say “love is the highest value” or “love is the gospel” is patent nonsense. Biblical love is always about willing the highest good of the other person. It is seeking God’s best for them, and saying yes to God’s best always means saying no to sin, the flesh and the devil.

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2017/09/03/love-matters-errant-nonsense/

Stephen McAlpine writes: While the former PM has been pilloried for his “alarmist” stance in promoting the “No” campaign, a proponent of same sex marriage has backed up Abbott’s claim that there’s so much more to it than marriage equality.

https://stephenmcalpine.com/2017/09/03/the-day-the-age-newspaper-agreed-with-tony-abbott/

These religious leaders are putting dogma aside to support same-sex marriage If you met two priests, a rabbi and an imam, would you presume that because of their religious beliefs they would oppose same-sex marriage? Well, think again.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-07/religious-leaders-thinking-differently-about-same-sex-marriage/8878680

Lisa Bryant writes: To hear the "no" vote messages you would think that Australia is a country that cares deeply about children and their protection. But is it?

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/the-no-vote-says-australia-cares-about-kids-but-does-it-20170904-gya5xm.html

http://mikefrost.net/jesus-wasnt-real-big-biological-family/

The Institute for Civil Society writes: Approving same-sex marriage without broad-based protections will accelerate discrimination and detriment against supporters of traditional marriage. Therefore, robust and broad-based laws are needed to protect individuals and organisations, schools and charities from such repercussions.

http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/Engage-Mail/the-same-sex-marriage-survey-legal-issues

Corey Widmer writes: As we espouse the historically Christian view of sexuality, we must also embrace a radical view of community that makes the biblical ethic viable, practical and plausible. Self-denying sexuality needs robust ecclesiology. May we create communities as Jesus did - communities in which all sorts of people with all sorts of pasts are welcomed and given the support they need to follow him together until the day we see him face to face.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/traditional-sexuality-radical-community

Lyle Shelton lamented the decline of marriage as an institution, which he blamed not on the LGBTI movement but straight people, and acknowledged that gays and lesbians have been subjected to "hateful and hurtful" things by Christians.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/marriage-trashed-by-straight-people-not-gays-says-christian-lobby-boss-lyle-shelton-20170913-gygegw.html

In his pastoral letter on the same-sex marriage postal survey, Vincent Long, Bishop of Parramatta writes: Let us pray, discern and act with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Catholics, in keeping with the tradition of the Church, are asked to exercise their consciences, ensuring that they are informed as they come to exercise their democratic rights in the coming postal survey.

https://catholicoutlook.org/bishop-vincents-pastoral-letter-sex-marriage-postal-survey/

Kanishka Raffel writes: We love our gay friends and family members, we treasure our friendships with gay colleagues, as Jesus would have us do. And, following Jesus too, we respectfully affirm that marriage is the exclusive covenant union of a man and a woman. This is why I will be voting No.

http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/samesex-marriage-why-we-love-our-gay-neighbors-but-say-they-shouldnt-marry-20170905-gyawur

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/09/13/free-speech-and-vilification-in-the-marriage-law-postal-survey/

Legal expert Neil James Foster has compiled a helpful reading list of in-depth articles addressing concerns about the proposal to introduce same-sex marriage.

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/09/16/some-in-depth-reading-on-same-sex-marriage-issues/

Scott Higgins writes: Our opposition to LGBT freedoms contributes to the marginalisation, hurt and oppression of LGBT people. This is why I believe every Christian should support marriage equality. The issue is not whether I believe same-sex relationships to be within the will of God. The issue is that it is not up to the church nor the state to make that decision for others, and that when we do so we contribute to a culture that doesn’t embody love but embodies hurt.

http://scottjhiggins.com/not-view-sexual-morality/

Campbell Markham writes: Christians can vote no with a good conscience, and that this is in fact the right and most kind and loving thing that we can do.

http://thinkingofgod.org/2017/09/letter-christian-student-plebiscite/

Murray Campbell writes: I understand the difference between religious and civic marriages, and so I’m not trying to conflate the two. The point I’m making here is that disagreement and hate are not synonymous. Cannot love lead us to disagree with fellow human beings? I do not hate you. I would willingly stand alongside you against those who insult and assault you. These same values also convince me, by reason and love, that marriage should remain as currently defined.

https://murraycampbell.net/2017/09/18/an-open-letter-to-lgbti-australians-about-the-marriage-debate/

Frank Chung writes: A small business owner has sacked a staff member who came out in support of the “no” campaign in the same-sex marriage postal plebiscite. Madlin Sims, who runs a party entertainment company in Canberra, said she was taking a stand on the issue, likening it to employing a staff member who posted racist material online.

http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/its-not-okay-to-be-homophobic-canberra-contractor-sacked-for-vote-no-facebook-post/news-story/4ed027f47b5810e87036450054a8b6dd

Rachel Olding writes: A Christian kids entertainer who was fired from her Canberra job for saying she would vote 'no ' in the same-sex marriage survey has hit back, saying she is "not afraid to stand up for my beliefs" and should not have lost her job.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/im-not-afraid-to-stand-up-for-my-beliefs-teen-party-entertainer-let-go-for-samesex-marriage-view-hits-back-20170919-gyktsv.html

Bill Muehlenberg writes: She is only 18 years old, but she now knows full well what the wrath of the homosexual lobby looks like. For daring to say on her own private media page that she believes marriage is between a man and a woman, young Madeline was fired from her job.

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2017/09/20/one-brave-teenager-vs-rainbow-juggernaut/

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/14/4734308.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/11/4732614.htm

Scott Higgins writes: Evangelicals continue to oppose significant social change, declaring the Bible to be absolutely clear that the changes are not of God, pillory the liberals who would undermine the authority of Scripture, and declare that the sky will fall in should change come.

http://scottjhiggins.com/bible-clear-keep-getting-wrong-evangelicals-bible-1/

Drawing on a theology of exile, Michael Bird proposed (in 2012) that we adopt a European model on civil unions and marriage.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2012/05/my-solution-to-the-same-sex-marriage-debate-with-an-ecclesiology-of-exile/

Rachel Woodlock writes: The state doesn't have an opinion on whether God approves of the union because theocracy went out of fashion in the West, along with the Divine Right of Kings. These days in Australia, the state doesn't even care to enforce sexual exclusivity of partners, although once upon a time that was a major element of marital law. Divorce is all about distribution of assets and establishing proper care of the kids. So why the brouhaha over marriage for gay people?

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54019

Lachlan McFarlane writes: I want gay people to believe that the Church is on their side, that our main message for them is about a love that is stronger and deeper and better than they can even imagine. But they can’t hear that message and hear a Church opposed to same-sex marriage at the same time. And I truly believe that the Church has no mandate from God to contest against gay marriage in this world. What if, before trying to tell the gay community how we can serve them, we listened to them?

https://lachlanmcfarlane.wordpress.com/2017/09/04/im-a-christian-and-i-intend-to-vote-yes-to-same-sex-marriage/

The Australian Christian Lobby suggests three reasons: impact on schools, impact on freedoms and impact on children.

http://www.acl.org.au/3_reasons_to_vote_no

Akos Balogh writes: How should Christians talk about SSM? Is there a Christ-honouring way of discussing a subject that is so sensitive, especially to our LGBTI friends and family? It begins with understanding the culture we’re in.

http://akosbalogh.com/2017/09/11/engaging-the-ssm-debate-part-3-speaking-well/

From a debate that was at least minimally civil, public discussion surrounding same-sex marriage has descended into a vicious, sardonic ideological shouting-match. So how did we get to this point? Xavier Symons draws lessons from Alasdair MacIntyre.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/09/21/4737990.htm

Karen R. Keen writes: As the Body of Christ, we are still seriously wrestling with the issue of sexuality. Yet, too often parties in the debate lack an understanding of why the other side believes as it does. We also tend to rehash the same outdated arguments. I hope this five-post series will help move the conversation forward.

https://interpretingscripture.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/same-sex-relationships-god-and-the-search-for-truth/
Anna McGahan writes: Sexuality has been reduced to a dualistic, contemptuous, hysterical grapple between two words: yes and no.

“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. From my story. I am both a queer woman and a deeply devoted Christian.”

http://www.aforbiddenroom.com/people/the-ache-of-co-existence/
Mark Jennings writes: What is it like for people who are both LGBT and Christian? How do LGBT Christians see their place in conservative Christian churches? And how do pastors care for LGBT people in their congregations, and include them in the life of the church? To answer these questions, I spoke to LGBT people, and pastors of LGBT people, from Pentecostal-Charismatic churches in Australia.

https://theconversation.com/welcoming-but-not-affirming-being-gay-and-christian-64110

Spirituality

You Are What You Love: James K.A. Smith

Q Founder and President Gabe Lyons sits down for a conversation with James K.A. Smith about his book, You Are What You Love. What does it mean to view our world holistically and how can Christians reclaim some lost practices?

http://qpodcast.libsyn.com/episode-048-you-are-what-you-love

Sport

Tom Heenan reviews two books on multiculturalism and Australian sport: As Australians turn their backs on multiculturalism, Joe Gorman reminds us of its contribution to this country and its football. Unlike David Hill, he writes for those who kicked round balls in school grounds before the gates were padlocked, and grew up believing in an authentic rather than a sanitised multicultural Australia.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/this-sporting-life-what-do-joe-gorman-and-david-hill-reveal-about-australia-20170921-gylrpo.html

Technology

Adrianne Jeffries writes: Opponents argue that the adoption of Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) will make the web less secure, less open, less accessible for people with hearing and vision impairment and harder to archive. Regardless of the impact, this marks a significant milestone in the history of the World Wide Web Consortium: the moment the users fought back and lost.

https://theoutline.com/post/2304/netflix-microsoft-and-google-just-quietly-changed-how-the-web-works

Terrorism

Australia’s engagement with Asia & the world has fallen on hard times, writes Joseph A Camilleri.

https://johnmenadue.com/joseph-a-camilleri-australias-engagement-with-asia-and-the-world-has-fallen-on-hard-times/

https://johnmenadue.com/john-menadue-when-will-saudi-arabia-be-brought-to-account-for-its-malign-influence-and-promotion-of-terrorism/

War, peace & nonviolence

Wes Granberg-Michaelson writes: The prevailing narrative in our current administration is that diplomacy has been exhausted. But those I've spoken with in South Korea tell a different story. ... and countless times here I’ve heard prayers and hopes for reunification, some time, in some way.

We must plea with those in US political power to pursue, relentlessly, ‘the things which make for peace’, knowing that in God’s realm, they are never exhausted.

https://sojo.net/articles/what-us-christians-miss-about-north-and-south-korea

D. L. Mayfield writes: In this context of global upheaval, First They Killed My Father is a tremendously important film. For those of us who are not blessed with neighbors from far away countries, it allows us to see all of God’s beloved children as our neighbors, no matter the distance, geography, culture, or religion. ... Through this film, I now have a better view of Cambodians as my neighbors, and I can catch a glimpse of the image of God wandering the earth in the midst of horror.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2017/september/angelina-jolie-film-first-they-killed-my-father-genocide.html

Benjamin Habib writes: We should interpret the threat posed by North Korea from an informed perspective based on demonstrable strategic logic, rather than on caricatured misrepresentations of its leadership.

https://theconversation.com/five-assumptions-we-make-about-north-korea-and-why-theyre-wrong-84771

Will Jones writes: Christianity enjoins non-retaliation on a personal level – but that is all to the good, to make society a more civilised, law-abiding place. And on the social level there is no such commandment to non-retaliation. Indeed, to the contrary, there is a clear affirmation of the divine mandate of civil authority to bear the sword in upholding the law and defending the weak.

https://faith-and-politics.com/2017/09/03/does-christianity-make-us-weak/

Welfare

Andy Walton writes: If Christians throughout history had adopted the 'well, we weren't asked so we didn't do' approach, so much of the most influential Christian social action would never have happened. The Good Samaritan didn't ask permission before embarking on his action, and neither should we.

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/houston.floods.show.that.churches.should.act.first.ask.questions.later/112823.htm

Kate Galloway writes: The Senate is inquiring into the Cashless Debit Card Bill that will expand income management. Welfare is a redistributive mechanism that supports the dignity and self-determination of the individual. In tying conditions to payments government denies the self-determination of recipients, counter to the very purpose of welfare.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54099

John Falzon writes: The proposed welfare bill will push people further into poverty. With discriminatory and demonising policy measures, the government is again taking from those who have little and giving to those who have much

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/18/the-proposed-welfare-bill-will-push-people-further-into-poverty-we-have-to-stand-together-against-it

Work

Subramaniam Ananthram and Christopher Chan write: Does being religious or spiritual make you more ethical at work? What is the impact of religiosity and spirituality on ethical decision-making at work? India has a rich experience of such behaviours.

https://theconversation.com/does-being-religious-or-spiritual-make-you-more-ethical-at-work-80754

How can our worship on Sunday empower us for the lives we long to live for Christ out in the world, Monday to Saturday?

Whole Life Worship is a set of four resources to inspire leaders and their congregations with a fresh, creative experience of worship for all of life.

https://www.licc.org.uk/resources/whole-life-worship/

Young people

A survey shows that people want under-18s involved in politics. Louise Phillips, Francisco Perales and Jenny Ritchie argue that, when children and young people have opportunities for active citizenship, they demonstrate a wide range of ways of contributing to their communities.

https://theconversation.com/giving-voice-to-the-young-survey-shows-people-want-under-18s-involved-in-politics-83101

Zareh Ghazarian, Jacqueline Laughland-Booy and Zlatko Skrbis write: Young people have a poor understanding of Australian democracy, which must be redressed by the education system if they are to become full citizens. Otherwise, in a country that has compulsory voting, this shortfall in knowledge not only deprives young citizens from having a meaningful say about their nation, but also works against building a more inclusive political system.

https://theconversation.com/young-australians-are-engaged-in-political-issues-but-unsure-how-democracy-works-84360

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/

Paul Donoughue writes: While a teenager today might be physically safer, they are experiencing higher levels of loneliness, anxiety and depression, one expert argues, and the smartphone may be part of the problem.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-20/teens-smartphones-resilience-adulthood/8960618

Ross Gittins writes: When they look at the economy that older generations are leaving for them, young Australians have a lot to be angry about. Some of their fears and resentments are misplaced, but most aren't.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-young-are-mostly-right-they-are-getting-a-bad-deal-20170919-gyk6ip.html

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Link highlights | September 2017

Monday, 2 October 2017 | Ethos editor

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