Religion & Ethics Australia Daily

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

No. 018, 14-16 December 2004  ² edited by Rod Benson

News reports

Aboriginal issues

A bitter feud has erupted within Labor over indigenous policy, with popularly elected vice-president Warren Mundine challenging Mark Latham to dump the party’s “politically correct” and “touchy-feely” approach to black Australia. Aust 14 Dec 04

Aboriginal reconciliation

The Tasmanian government is poised to become the first state government in the nation to offer a formal apology and financial reparation to Aboriginal “stolen generations.” Aust 15 Dec 04

Abortion

Doctors have forced the federal Health Department to dump a secret plan to tighten the guidelines for women seeking a taxpayer-funded abortion after the first trimester of pregnancy. Aust 16 Dec 04

Australians overwhelmingly support abortion rights, with new research showing that 81 per cent believe “a woman should have the right to choose whether or not she has an abortion.” SMH 16 Dec 04 *

Ageing

Researchers say it is simplistic to talk about the ageing workforce as if it were a homogenous thing. Catherine Cox reports. AFR 14 Dec 04

Alcohol

Parents have a big influence on their teenagers’ alcohol use and can be a powerful force in preventing their children from starting drinking too early, a federal government study reveals. Twenty per cent of males and 17 per cent of females aged 14-17 are regular weekly drinkers, and parents are the most common source of alcohol. SMH 15 Dec 04 *

Animal rights

The US-based animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals began a worldwide protest campaign yesterday to force the Benetton fashion chain to drop Australian wool, threatening the $880 million industry. Aust 16 Dec 04

Censorship

A portrait of George W. Bush by Chris Savido in which images of chimpanzees swimming in a marsh are used to form the US President’s face has forced the closure of a New York art exhibition and provoked an anguished debate about freedom of expression. Aust 15 Dec 04

Christmas

The religious amnesia evident in Australia at Christmas is not only sad, it’s dangerous, writes Muriel Porter. “It is no

coincidence that the Pentecostal churches and the fundamentalist sections of mainstream churches are drawing large numbers of converts from the very generations who missed out on even a rudimentary Christian education . A culture without a religious story is fragile and rudderless when it comes to death. People with a residual belief in God but no coherent religious framework are often left floundering when tragedy strikes . As a society, we have lost far more than we imagine by not having at least a nodding acquaintance with the engaging story of Mary, Joseph, and the Child of Bethlehem.” The Age 14 Dec 04

This year, if you are on his Christmas card list, John Howard will be “wishing you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,” while Mark Latham, a declared agnostic, will be celebrating “the festive season” but not mentioning the C-word. Aust 14 Dec 04

Civil liberties

Armed with at least 20 new security laws, Australian agents have unprecedented powers to interrogate people in their lounge rooms and detain them without charge for up to a week. Trudy Harris investigates what happens. Aust 14 Dec 04

Domestic violence

Employers have a role to play in breaking the cycle of abuse in the home, writes Jill Margo. AFR 14 Dec 04 *

Ethics – business – Australia

Former HIH Insurance chief executive Ray Williams has pleaded guilty to three charges arising out of Australia’s biggest corporate collapse. Williams, 68, faces a maximum 12 years in jail for breaching directors’ duties, authorising a misleading prospectus and overstating HIH’s 1999 financial statements by $92 million. AFR 16 Dec 04

Gender

Teenage boys want a future of wealth, sex with many beautiful women, fast cars and sport, while teenage girls want romance, a career, meeting Mr Right, marriage and shared parenting, a new study reveals. SMH 15 Dec 04

Housing

A home is a castle, but does it have to be so big? As Sydney’s suburban sprawl intensifies, Lisa Allen looks at the latest plan to apply the brakes to the big and ugly “McMansion” style of housing development popular in many outer Sydney suburbs. AFR 14 Dec 04

At least 150,000 new homes will have to be fitted into Sydney’s eastern suburbs, inner west and lower North Shore – some of the city’s most crowded neighbourhoods – in the next 25 years. In addition, 120 new suburbs for 250,000 people will be created. SMH 14 Dec 04

About 480,000 new homes will be squeezed into specified Sydney suburbs with existing transport services over the next 25 years, according to the NSW government’s Metropolitan Strategy. SMH 14 Dec 04

Nationalism

Most Australians oppose any change to the national song, Advance Australia Fair. But whereas Australians once experienced “quasi-religious” feelings about God Save the Queen, they will never feel the same way about Advance Australia Fair because “we no longer have the need for nationalism as an idea of community,” says Sydney University historian Neville Meaney. SMH 16 Dec 04 *

Parenting

Complaining parents can blame themselves for rearing lazy offspring, argues Daniel Donahoo. Aust 15 Dec 04

Piracy

An Australian judge has zeroed in on the big issue behind the Kazaa case: can internet file-swapping be stopped? AFR 14 Dec 04

Racism

Racist Western Australian public servants are forcing Aboriginal families to live in overcrowded, rundown public houses and favouring white tenants when allocating “good” properties, a report reveals. Aust 16 Dec 04

Refugees

Three Iranian detainees have been conducting a hunger strike for up to ten days at Baxter Detention Centre in South Australia. Aust 15 Dec 04

Road deaths

A plan to curb young driver deaths was approved yesterday by federal and state transport ministers and the transport industry. Aust 16 Dec 04

Smoking

Many smokers still cling to old myths that they will somehow escape the dangers of inhaling, writes Simon Chapman. AFR 16 Dec 04 *

Social justice

In a world of conspicuous compassion, pity the person with not a care in the world, writes Patrick West. But to today’s collective “carers,” the fate of the homeless, starving Africans or dead celebrities are of secondary importance. What really matters, argues West, is the need to be seen to care. Yet sometimes it can be cruel to care. Sometimes, the only person you care about is you. SMH 15 Dec 04; see also Aust 15 Dec 04

Theology – public

The Australian Evangelical Alliance is delighted to announce the appointment of Rev Alan Nichols as Acting Director of Public Theology, beginning immediately and continuing to July 2005. The appointment allows EA to continue the momentum established this year by Rev Dr Brian Edgar, who is on leave for six months to be Visiting

Professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, USA. Alan Nichols is well known around Australia, and we are grateful for the chance to have a person of such calibre and experience to fill this important and ground-breaking position. Media release 14 Dec 04

Trade

Does it matter where your shirt comes from? The Australian’s economics editor, Alan Wood, urges the Coalition and Labor to “fight the good fight for real free trade,” and argues that all Australia’s free trade agreements are in fact trade-distorting preferential agreements. Aust 14 Dec 04

Violence

Australian primary school students are among the most bullied in the world, new international research shows. More than 30 per cent of Australian and New Zealand nine-year-olds surveyed said they were bullied regularly. SMH 15 Dec 04

Workplace relations

Australian unions will seek an alliance with the churches, Family First and other faith-based organisations to show how industrial deregulation destroys families and ruins communities. Unions NSW media release

The Howard government plans to package most of its industrial reforms into a single piece of legislation by about Easter next year, and will then consider a second wave of reforms that could involve a total rewrite of the workplace relations laws. AFR 16 Dec 04

Other items of interest

Michael Helms considers the pros and cons of inviting John the Baptist to preach at his church this Christmas. http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=5094

Transcript of an exclusive interview of philosopher and former atheist Antony Flew by Christian philosopher Garry H. Habermas. Flew’s change of mind is significant news, not only about his personal journey, but also about the persuasive power of the arguments modern theists have been using to challenge atheistic naturalism. http://www.biola.edu/antonyflew/flew-interview.pdf

Ross Langmead, professor of missiology and director of School of World Mission at Whitley College, the Baptist Theological College of Victoria, offers ten reasons why justice is essential to the gospel. http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=5110

READ is published by the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College, 120 Herring Rd, Eastwood NSW 2122 AUSTRALIA. Telephone (02) 9878 0201. The content and 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. You may use the same email address to request more information. Abbreviations: AFR=The Australian Financial Review; Aust=The Australian; SMH=The Sydney Morning Herald.