Link Highlights | January 2019
Tuesday, 5 February 2019
| Ethos editor
Link highlights – January 2019
Below is a selection of links to online news and opinion pieces from January 2019. To keep up-to-date with our posts, ‘like’ us on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter.
The articles below are selected by the editor, Armen Gakavian, at his discretion. Neither the editor nor Ethos necessarily endorse the views expressed in these articles.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Laura Rademaker writes: Australia was one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world but today, few people speak an Australian language.
https://theconversation.com/why-do-so-few-aussies-speak-an-australian-language-109570
Holding events on the Sunday prior to the controversial day means churches can reach out to First Australians without needing to take a stance on the “change the date” debate. Kylie Beach writes.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/churches-make-space-for-australia-to-wrestle-with-its-past-ahead-of-january-26/
This Saturday, Anabaptists from across Australia and New Zealand sign an historic treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Kylie Beach writes.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/anabaptists-to-sign-treaty-with-first-nations-peoples-on-january-26/
Celeste Liddle writes: This Invasion Day, instead of calling on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to conform to simplistic solutions such as changing the date of a public holiday geared around reinforcing jingoism and nationalism, walk alongside us and commit to doing better.
www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=57191
Asylum seekers, refugees and migration
Andrew MacLeod asks: Why does Australia roll out the red carpet for one ‘queue jumper’, but not for so many others?
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/01/11/rahaf-mohammed-al-qunun
Australia Day / January 26
Holding events on the Sunday prior to the controversial day means churches can reach out to First Australians without needing to take a stance on the “change the date” debate. Kylie Beach writes. https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/churches-make-space-for-australia-to-wrestle-with-its-past-ahead-of-january-26/
Holding events on the Sunday prior to the controversial day means churches can reach out to First Australians without needing to take a stance on the “change the date” debate. Kylie Beach writes.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/churches-make-space-for-australia-to-wrestle-with-its-past-ahead-of-january-26/
This Saturday, Anabaptists from across Australia and New Zealand sign an historic treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Kylie Beach writes.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/anabaptists-to-sign-treaty-with-first-nations-peoples-on-january-26/
Celeste Liddle This Invasion Day, instead of calling on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to conform to simplistic solutions such as changing the date of a public holiday geared around reinforcing jingoism and nationalism, walk alongside us and commit to doing better.
www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=57191
"A kinder, more compassionate, more generous, more equitable Australia" - Australia Day address by researcher and bestselling author Hugh Mackay AO delivered on 23rd January 2019.
https://www.australiaday.com.au/events/australia-day-address/2019-speaker-hugh-mackay/
Darren Pennay and Frank Bongiorno write: As the debate around celebrating Australia Day on January 26 continues, new research shows Australians have mixed views of it as a national day.
https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-our-complex-attitudes-to-australia-day-110035
Meredith Lake writes: We heard calls to "change the date" and "change Australia" on January 26, but Christian communities across the country were rallying behind a different movement: to "change the heart". It's a spiritual process — with potentially national implications.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-24/christians-unpacking-baggage-colonialism-australia-day/10739750
Death and Dying
‘When I was writing Lament for a Son, I understood nothing about grief, other than that I would not be grieving over Eric’s death had I not loved him. Grief was the price I was paying for love. More than that, I did not understand — nor did I try to understand. Now I understand more.’ Nicholas Wolterstorff writes.
https://www.christiancentury.org/article/first-person/grief-and-not-theologizing-about-it
It doesn't take long for a nation to normalise death on demand, writes Ian Birrell.
https://unherd.com/2019/02/can-we-be-trusted-with-euthanasia/
Economics, finance & inequality
The sharing economy is often romanticised as a shift away from the evils of capitalism to a more communal and socially conscious way of life. But is this simply clever marketing? By Marianna Sigala.
https://theconversation.com/the-sharing-economy-simply-dresses-up-our-consumerist-tendencies-in-a-more-palatable-ideology-99090
Environment and Nature
Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides writes: From the Bible to Versailles, gardens are bound to their political and religious history.
https://theconversation.com/heaven-on-earth-the-ancient-roots-of-your-backyard-garden-108682
An award-winning atmospheric scientist on the urgency of the climate crisis and why people are her biggest hope. Interview with Jonathan Watts.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/06/katharine-hayhoe-interview-climate-change-scientist-crisis-hope
Everyday living
Today, experts will be sharing with us insights into how to make a change in your life - big or small - using evidence from the world of academic research. Presented by Sunanda Creagh and Dilpreet Kaur.
https://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-what-research-says-about-how-to-stick-to-your-new-years-resolutions-107279
Family
‘Jesus came to divide sons from their fathers and daughters from their mother — not to promote 'family values', writes Russell Moore.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/january-february/russell-moore-putting-family-first-puts-church-odds-jesus.html
Food
Norman Wirzba writes: Saying grace isn't simply a religious act. It is also a political and economic act in which eaters ask to be transformed so that they become the protectors of life, the defenders of farmers and cooks, and the nurturers of food sheds and communities.
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-theology-and-politics-of-eating/10683448
Gender
Why do so many men love Jordan Peterson and hate the Gillette ad? If they’re truly strong they don’t need to prove their virility, writes George Monbiot.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/16/men-masculinity-gillette-advertisement
In the latest episode of With all due Respect, Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen discuss Franklin Graham, angry women and the Netflix series Black Mirror.
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/podcasts/ep-8-with-all-due-respect-on-franklin-graham-angry-women-and-black-mirror/
Karina Kreminski writes: I’m glad for the #metoo movement. But after a year of fighting back, where are we with this "gender war"? Is it even helpful to portray this as a battle and use terminology like "fighting back"?
https://karinakreminski.com.au/being-female-a-feminist-and-a-follower-of-jesus-in-a-polarised-world/
Eugenie Joseph writes: Are quotas the key to boosting the number of women in federal parliament? Or do they undermine the important principle of merit? While gender quotas are touted as an obvious solution, they are not a magic bullet solution to improve the quality of parliament.
https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/quotas-are-no-magic-bullet/
Melinda Tankard Reist writes: What's so wrong with urging men to be their best selves? There is something consoling about seeing representations of good men holding each other to account, and being what men should be.
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/taking-a-razor-to-toxic-masculinity/10737548
Jordan Peterson
Why do so many men love Jordan Peterson and hate the Gillette ad? If they’re truly strong they don’t need to prove their virility, writes George Monbiot.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/16/men-masculinity-gillette-advertisement
Masculinity
Why do so many men love Jordan Peterson and hate the Gillette ad? If they’re truly strong they don’t need to prove their virility, writes George Monbiot.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/16/men-masculinity-gillette-advertisement
Melinda Tankard Reist writes: What's so wrong with urging men to be their best selves? There is something consoling about seeing representations of good men holding each other to account, and being what men should be.
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/taking-a-razor-to-toxic-masculinity/10737548
Men
Why do so many men love Jordan Peterson and hate the Gillette ad? If they’re truly strong they don’t need to prove their virility, writes George Monbiot.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/16/men-masculinity-gillette-advertisement
Money and possessions
Contemporary minimalism has two defining features that ultimately negate the religious function of living with fewer possessions, writes Heidi Deddens.
https://www.cardus.ca/comment/article/minimalism-and-monasticism/
Persecution
The practice of dissent and its theological justification is at the core of discipleship and worship. The response to the recent arrest by the Chinese Government of members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu provides another illustration of this theologically grounded dissent.
https://subversivechristianityblog.net
Politics, society & ideology
Humanitarianism has become the implicit faith of our time. In his new book, Daniel Mahoney offers a sharp indictment of its fatal flaws. Nathaniel Peters writes.
https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/01/48582/
L. Joseph Hebert writes: Thomas More’s Utopia suggests that a defense of property emphasizing material productivity, though valid, is inadequate. By probing classical reasons for and against private property, More goes deeper, addressing the objective needs of the human soul.
https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/01/47102/
Scott Buchanan writes: With each passing day, it seems harder and harder to discern any kind of coherent philosophical base uniting the Liberal Party. what has caused this ideological drift, and what should be done?
https://scottlbuchanan.wordpress.com/2019/01/24/listless-and-leaderless-the-modern-day-liberal-party/
Simon Kennedy writes: Seventy years ago, historian Herbert Butterfield delivered a series of lectures on "Christianity and History" that stand as a testament to the uneasy relationship between rigorous academic history and Christian piety.
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/christian-humility-and-the-task-of-history/10719982
Race and racism
Most people agree that racism is wrong. But as Christians we must think and feel deeply not just the what of the Bible but also the why. If racism is so bad, why is it so bad?
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/10-reasons-racism-sin/
Religion in Politics
Do people choose their politics on the basis of their religion, or is it the other way around? Tobin Grant writes.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/january-web-only/michele-margolis-politics-pews.html
Religion in Society
Martin E. Marty reflects on what it means, or might mean, that the liberal world order vanished within fifteen years of Fukuyama’s depiction of liberal democracy "as the default form of government for much of the world”. And what of the future of religion?
https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/religion-years-ahead
Alister McGrath writes: Czech theologian Tomáš Halík commends a theology of rediscovery, through which the church can learn from the past without being burdened by its mistakes, and in which we recognise a living and inexhaustible God.
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/tomáš-halík-on-theology-in-an-age-of-uncertainty/10718890
The Australian worship movement flourishes in both post-communist Budapest and post-church Seattle because it confronts the historical establishment, writes Clint Bryan.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/january-web-only/hillsongs-global-appeal-explained-by-sociologists.html
Religious Freedom
Frank Brennan writes: I support Penny Wong's bill dealing with religious schools' capacity to discriminate against students on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, subject to the proviso that religious schools should remain free to teach their doctrine respectfully and reasonably.
www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=57171
The Institute for Civil Society argues that the Sex Discrimination Amendment Bill is dangerous and inimical to freedom of religion, including the freedom of religious parents to have their children educated in their moral and religious beliefs and the freedom of association of religious parents, students and teachers.
www.i4cs.com.au/submission-inquiry-into-the-sex-discrimination-amendment-removing-discrimination-against-students-bill-2018/
Robert Forsyth writes: 'I learned four important — but somewhat dispiriting — things while taking part in the ABC Radio National’s God Forbid discussion of religious freedom last week.'
www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/4-things-i-learned-last-week/
Sexual abuse and #MeToo
Why do so many men love Jordan Peterson and hate the Gillette ad? If they’re truly strong they don’t need to prove their virility, writes George Monbiot.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/16/men-masculinity-gillette-advertisement
Sexuality
Jenny Graves writes: It's not about trauma or how you were raised: evidence now points to a biological basis for transgender, and to the action of particular genes in that determination.
https://theconversation.com/how-genes-and-evolution-shape-gender-and-transgender-identity-108911
Talking about genes and biology in relation to gender entrenches the idea that gender is fixed and rigid, writes The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/23/bringing-genetics-into-trans-identity-is-a-terrifying-path
Sexuality and same-sex marriage
Stefano Verrelli, Fiona White, Lauren Harvey and Michael R. Pulciani write: Findings confirm that debate on issues related to minority groups' lives and well-being can significantly affect their mental health.
https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-how-the-marriage-equality-debate-damaged-lgbt-australians-mental-health-110277
Social media
Time-pressured and often clueless, parents of digital natives often fret that they are getting it badly wrong. Where should we draw the boundaries? Nick Spencer writes.
https://www.licc.org.uk/resources/screen-time-ends-here/
Spirituality
Contemporary minimalism has two defining features that ultimately negate the religious function of living with fewer possessions, writes Heidi Deddens.
https://www.cardus.ca/comment/article/minimalism-and-monasticism/
Work
Kara Martin reflects on her experience of a church 'commissioning' its entrepreneurs.
https://www.workship.com.au/blog/13/1/2019/commissioned-to-be-a-light-to-the-community
Youth
Time-pressured and often clueless, parents of digital natives often fret that they are getting it badly wrong. Where should we draw the boundaries? Nick Spencer writes.
https://www.licc.org.uk/resources/screen-time-ends-here/