Religion & Ethics Australia Daily

A twice-weekly public affairs review from the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College

No. 004, 26-28 October 2004  ² compiled by Rod Benson

News reports

Abuse – sexual

Failures by the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations, the agency that investigates allegations of sexual abuse against teachers and clergy, are putting children in Catholic schools at risk, the NSW Ombudsman says. SMH 27 Oct 04

Aged care

A major review into Australian residential aged care has found that tight government controls on pricing for aged care would deny consumers choice. Aust 27 Oct 04

The Salvation Army is finalising the sale of 15 aged-care facilities to a private equity group, involving close to 2400 beds in four states and territories. AFR 28 Oct 04

Anglican Church – Sydney

The Anglican Diocese of Sydney will embark on a recruitment drive for a new generation of church leaders to meet ambitious plans to convert at least ten per cent of Sydney’s population within a decade. SMH 26 Oct 04

The Anglican Diocese of Sydney supported a motion by Rev Chris Clerke, Anglican rector at Marrickville to expunge the word “priest” from diocesan legislation. “The New Testament describes all Christians as a kingdom of priests, so why should we call this one little group of us priests?” he said. SMH 27 Oct 04

Church growth

Rick Warren’s 40 Days of Purpose is a publishing phenomenon. “This book is right on track in reaching people where they are living today,” David Hull, pastor of First Baptist Church Huntsvile, Alabama, said. “Not many of our people sit around and read Barth and Bultmann. They will read Warren.” But not all Baptists agree: “Churches that encourage thoughtful reflection say the material is too simplistic. Others accuse Warren of proof-texting and choosing Bible translations that support his point rather than reading the Bible in context.”

Ethics Daily (CBF)

Civil disobedience

“Can a person be committed to non-violence while supporting an armed resistance movement?” Gerard Henderson asks, as Indian writer and activist Arundhati Roy prepares to receive the ratepayer-funded Sydney Peace Prize on 4 November. SMH 26 Oct 04

Ecology

When the world warms, key ecosystems may be tipped out of balance, creating a whole new set of climatic challenges. The Guardian’s Ian Sample explains where the dangers lie. SMH 26 Oct 04

Environment

Environmental and consumer groups have attacked the NSW government’s plan to promote private sector investment in a new coal-fired power station over the next decade. SMH 26 Oct 04

A proposed $1 billion pulp mill in Tasmania “will have to be totally chlorine-free or elemental chlorine-free,” according to Premier Paul Lennon. AFR 27 Oct 04

The federal government will wrest control of the environment debate from Greens Senator Bob Brown, the Wilderness Society and the Australian Conservation Foundation, whose “radical” green policies have been exposed as a front for a broader political agenda, according to Forests Minister Ian Macdonald. “It doesn’t matter what Bob Brown says, he’s not interested in the forests, he’s only interested in getting votes so he can run his radical social and political agenda,” Macdonald said. AFR 28 Oct 04

Ethics – business – Australia

James Hardie Industries was “very serious about trying to assist” the foundation it set up to handle asbestos compensations, its new chief financial officer said yesterday. SMH 26 Oct 04

The Australian argues that “there are simply no excuses” for the way in which James Hardie Industries has treated asbestos sufferers; “it has a clear ethical responsibility towards those it has harmed in the course of generating profits.” Aust 26 Oct 04

Pan Pharmaceuticals founder Jim Selim faces up to five years jail if found guilty of destroying evidence under federal criminal charges laid yesterday. AFR 27 Oct 04

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has identified at least 19 possible legal breaches by James Hardie Industries after examining the asbestos inquiry report, but played down expectations of fast convictions.

AFR 27 Oct 04

The NSW government yesterday released a draft amendment to the Occupational Health and Safety Act that will mean tougher fines and jail terms for employers (such as trucking companies) whose negligence leads to a worker’s death.

AFR 28 Oct 04

Ethics – resources

East Timor is making a last-minute attempt to secure a $3 billion liquid natural gas processing plant and pipeline on its soil as negotiations over the Timor Gap oil and gas reserves resume in Dili. SMH 26 Oct 04

Ethics – sport

Trafficking in steroids across Europe is now said to be more profitable than dealing in recreational drugs, but the Athens Olympics delivered “a good result” for the World Anti-Doping Agency. Aust 26 Oct 04

Executive salaries

Three of Australia’s top recruitment and salary consultants suggest what will be the biggest influence on salaries and their structure over the next 12 months. AFR 26 Oct 04

Freedom – press

Australia has been ranked 41st out of 167 countries in the third annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index, up from 50th place last year but well down on its 12th place ranking in 2002. New Zealand, in ninth place, was the only country outside Europe to make it into the top ten. Bottom of the list was North Korea. The Index is produced by the Paris-based media advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF). In its annual report RSF criticised the Australian government for restricting access to refugees and attempting to ease cross-media ownership laws; it also cited instances in which Australian reporters had been physically threatened. Aust 28 Oct 04

Human rights

At least 84 Muslims died, mainly from suffocation in the back of security force trucks, after police and troops broke up a violent demonstration in Narathiwat, southern Thailand. Aust 27 Oct 04

Media regulation

The federal government failed to achieve critical reform of radio and television regulations and is in breach of a national competition policy agreement on broadcasting regulation reform. Aust 27 Oct 04

Peace

Commenting on why Arundhati Roy was chosen to receive the 2004 Sydney Peace Prize, Stuart Rees, who was a member of the Prize’s jury, distinguishes peace as an end to violence from peace with justice. Roy is to receive the Prize “in recognition of her courage in campaigning for human rights and for advocacy of non-violence as in her demands for justice for the poor, for the victims of communal violence (in India), for the millions displaced by the Narmada dam projects and for her opposition to nuclear weapons.” SMH 28 Oct 04

Politics & faith – US

“God is out there, actively campaigning for George Bush,” claims Beverly Ryan, a born-again Christian from West Palm Beach, Florida. But Barry Lynn, a United Church of Christ minister and the executive director of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said: “It is, I think, extremely dangerous for people to believe that God is a Republican or a Democrat or a Naderite or even a Libertarian.” Meanwhile, on the war in Iraq, Beverly Ryan is convinced that “George Bush did what God wanted him to do. Who cares what the rest of the world thinks?” SMH 26 Oct 04

Population

Although more than 50,000 people are moving to Sydney each year, net growth has plummeted from 61,000 in 2001 to 35,000 today, according to demographer Bernard Salt. With a median house price of over $500,000, the city is literally pricing itself out of the market as a diverse social fulcrum, Salt said. AFR 26 Oct 04

Productivity

The Productivity Commission has released a potential road map for productivity growth “to maximize living standards while coping with the increased costs of aged care and greenhouse gas abatement.” AFR 27 Oct 04

Social justice

Rick Warren and California’s conservative evangelical Saddleback Church are going global: “Church volunteers are field testing prototypes for a Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan, an initiative set for launch next fall to mobilize small groups for evangelism, ministry, compassion and justice. The plan attacks what Warren says are the biggest problems on the planet – spiritual lostness, lack of leadership, poverty, disease and ignorance.” Ethics Daily (CBF)

Terrorism

Media ideologues intent on arguing that our involvement in the Iraq war escalated the threat of terrorism against Australia have tried to take comfort from a Tuesday speech by ASIO chief Dennis Richardson, The Australian claims. But the speech “is a grim but realistic reminder that there is nothing we can do to assuage the hatred of the terrorists” and the terrorists’ worldview “allows for no compromise or conciliation.” Aust 28 Oct 04

Weapons

The British Medical Association warns that designer biological weapons, based on the ability of scientists to unravel and compare human DNA, could be used by terrorists to target selected ethnic groups. Aust 27 Oct 04

Workplace relations

John Howard’s proposed changes to industrial relations legislation “will grant more autonomy to small business, create a more egalitarian balance between those in jobs and those without jobs, weaken trade union muscle, strengthen enterprise bargaining and move towards a national system of industrial practice,” says Paul Kelly. Aust 27 Oct 04

Other items of interest

Book review of Australian academic John Carroll’s revised book, The Wreck of Western Culture: Humanism Revisited – http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2680

Mark Noll, “The evangelical mind today” – http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0410/articles/noll.htm

In “There is no case for torture, ever,” Nick Cohen observes that torture is no longer as exceptional as it once was, and that the internment of foreign terrorist suspects without trial or knowledge of the charges against them threatens the integrity of the UK criminal justice system – http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1334783,00.html

READ is published by the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College, 120 Herring Rd, Eastwood NSW 2122 AUSTRALIA. Telephone (02) 9878 0201. The content of READ and the views expressed in articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College or the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT. Subscription is free. To subscribe, email with the words “subscribe to READ” in the subject line. Use the same email address to request more information. Copies of original articles are available on request. Abbreviations: AFR=The Australian Financial Review; Aust=The Australian; SMH=The Sydney Morning Herald.