Religion & Ethics Australia Digest

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

No. 022, 28 Jan – 3 Feb 2005  ² edited by Rod Benson


News reports

Abortion

On 31 January, a “powerful alliance” of religious leaders from major Christian denominations and from several other religions met to discuss abortion, and resolved to call upon State and Federal governments for better data on abortion, better informed choice for pregnant women, better care for women, and “to guarantee as an initial measure the protection at law of the viable foetus (after twenty weeks) in the interests of women’s health and protection of the unborn child.”


Director of the Centre for Christian Ethics at Morling College, Rod Benson, said he saw some forms of therapeutic abortion as necessary, but favoured the elimination of abortion on demand. “What we want to do is to see governments produce and monitor programs that really reduce the need for women to seek abortions at all. Some women seek abortions for reasons not their own – they’re pressured by their partner, perhaps, or work situations. One area where I’d like to see some changes would be greater workplace reforms with respect to pregnant women and women with young children.” He advocated education for sexual responsibility; education on adoption and options for foster parenting; and other options that help to reduce to the need for women to seek abortions in the first place. ABC AM 1 Feb 05


Australian Christian Lobby spokesman Jim Wallace suggested religious leaders would be fighting for an end to late terminations. “We would want people to understand that this is a pretty barbaric sort of procedure,” he said. “Each of these religious leaders will exert what political pressure they’re able.” ABC news 2 Feb 05


Labor leader Kim Beazley has publicly declared his opposition to abortion, sparking concern and division among pro-choice ALP MPs as a powerful bipartisan and interfaith pro-life coalition entered the fray for the first time. Aust 2 Feb 05


Women carrying foetuses with fatal abnormalities would be forced by law to carry the pregnancy to full term if a plan by a coalition of religious leaders is accepted by the Howard government. Aust 3 Feb 05 *


The failure of health authorities to keep accurate national abortion statistics lies at the heart of the campaign by religious leaders and anti-abortion MPs and activists to change the law as a first step to greater reform. Aust 3 Feb 05 *


The SMH leader criticises National Party senator Ron Boswell’s re-igniting of a debate on abortion by putting 16 questions to Health Minister Tony Abbott; acknowledges an “embarrassing lack of Medicare information about [publicly funded pregnancy] terminations”; and concludes that “no amount of new data is likely to shake the community consensus that abortion is rightly a matter for individual conscience.” SMH 3 Feb 05 *


Abortion is back on the table and it is women who are putting it there, writes Miranda Devine. Formerly pro-choice Hilary Clinton last week “softened her stand on abortion” and advocated measures such as preventing unplanned pregnancies, supporting sexual education, including “abstinence counselling,” and encouraging adoption. And in early December 2004, 800 women crowded into the ballroom of the Sheraton on the Park to create a women’s organisation to find ways to reduce abortion. SMH 3 Feb 05 *
Acting Prime Minister John Anderson yesterday gave his support to a national debate on abortion, as government members raised concerns that a change in the status quo could mean women are forced to seek out illegal abortions. SMH 3 Feb 05


The Australian publishes nine letters to the editor on abortion. Aust 3 Feb 05


The SMH publishes seven letters to the editor on abortion. SMH 3 Feb 05


Advertising

Flight Centre has been forced to abandon its famous “lowest airfares guaranteed” slogan after a crackdown from the competition regulator on misleading and deceptive conduct. AFR 1 Feb 05


Atheism

Sydney Catholic Archbishop, George Pell, reflects on the ways in which the Asian tsunami disaster encouraged people to think and talk about God, and argues that Christian faith is alive and well. “Atheism is in trouble. Religion is on the up. The 21st century will be post-atheist,” he said. Weekend Aust 29-30 Jan 05 *


Censorship

Let freed Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib tell and sell his story, argues Brian Toohey. AFR 29-30 Jan 05 *


Divorce & remarriage

Divorced fathers are more involved in their children’s lives than conventional wisdom suggests, a new study shows. SMH 3 Feb 05


Energy

With the world’s demand for green energy growing inexorably, the race to find a way to turn hydrogen into a useable fuel is hotting up. Weekend Aust 29-30 Jan 05 *


With Australia endowed with more than 40 per cent of the world’s economically recoverable uranium resources, we need a proper federal policy to take advantage of nuclear energy’s resurgent popularity. Aust 31 Jan 05 *


Environment

A new report by the World Wide Fund for Nature warns that polar bears, along with several species of Arctic seal and migratory birds, could be extinct in two decades if the polar caps continue to melt at current rates. Aust 31 Jan 05


Whether they like it or not, Australian industries are readying for life after the Kyoto Protocol. AFR 2 Feb 05 *


Ethics – business – Australia

The federal government will introduce jail terms for executives and tough new fines for businesses caught secretly colluding with rival firms to fix prices and markets, under new laws expected to be announced soon. AFR 2 Feb 05


Ethics – medical

Prescribing software used by GPs and proposed for some hospitals is riddled with advertisements and does not have enough independent information about the medicines being prescribed, a health expert and a consumer group says. AFR 29-30 Jan 05


Euthanasia

Dutch doctors have reported 22 mercy killings of terminally ill newborns in the Netherlands since 1997, a study has found, and prosecutors decided not to take action in any of the cases. Courier-Mail 24 Jan 05


Food

School tuck shops face dramatic changes as food companies are forced to offer healthier choices, writes Lara Sinclair. Aust 31 Jan 05


Gambling

Australia’s first legislation to cut poker machine numbers came into effect in South Australia yesterday, but the first of 3000 machines will not be removed from hotels for six months. Aust 2 Feb 05


Homosexual rights


NSW police and the DPP are using laws repealed two decades ago to prosecute homosexuals, reports David Marr. SMH 29-30 Jan 05


Politics & faith – Australia

Conservative Christian party Family First has committed to running a full campaign “for the sake of West Australian families” with 30 lower-house and 10 upper-house candidates. The party was committed to a zero-tolerance approach to drugs, improving conditions for the elderly and dealing with hospital waiting lists. But it looked set to split the Christian vote, hurting Western Australia’s Christian Democratic Party. Advertiser 3 Feb 05


Pornography


As the internet boosts the use of pornography, there are fears that for some it can become a dangerous addiction, writes Jock Cheetham. SMH 3 Feb 05 *


Poverty

The World Economic Forum was unusually receptive to the idea that there is a vital role for global business leaders to play in solving the problems of the developing world, writes Geoff Kitney. AFR 31 Jan 05 *


In the compassion-fest that the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland became, the voice of Prime Minister John Howard sounded coldly discordant, arguing that noble ideas on how to lift the yoke of poverty from the necks of the world’s poor should have been matched by an acknowledgement of how rich countries’ trade protection policies exacerbate poverty. AFR 1 Feb 05 *


Going against the Davos tide, Prime Minister John Howard made it clear that the solution to poverty lies in free trade. Aust 2 Feb 05 *


Rev Peter Price, Bishop of Bath and Wells, kick-started the church launch of MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY, an ecumenical event held in London on 29 January. “Today we call for a new morality. Put the poor first – above all the demands of the world’s financial systems and our own self interest,” he said. Media release 2 Feb 05


Privacy

The federal government has rejected criticism that it is creating hysteria about identity theft to fast-track technology that erodes personal privacy. AFR 1 Feb 05


IT staff know far more about you – and your computer habits – than you realise. SMH Radar 2 Feb 05


Robotics

South Korean authority on technology and the ethics of robotics, Kim Jong-hwan, has developed artificial chromosomes that he says will allow robots to “feel lusty,” and may even lead to them reproducing. “Christians may not like it,” he said, “but we must consider this the origin of an artificial species.” SMH 3 Feb 05


Wealth

Australians have never been richer – never owned more, never earned more – yet they think they are too poor to have children. New homes have never been bigger, yet Australians have fewer children to put in them. Australians, it may appear, want more of everything – except children. Despite a decade of strong economic growth and an approaching surfeit of jobs, our fertility rate is at an all-time low. SMH 31 Jan 05


Labor must make Australians feel secure in their new wealth as the fundamental prerequisite for everything the party does, according to the new Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley. SMH 3 Feb 05


Weapons

The CIA has issued a classified report revising its prewar assessments on Iraq and concluding that Baghdad abandoned its chemical weapons programs in 1991, intelligence officials say. SMH 2 Feb 05


Work

Reports that Australians are moving away from a job for life are overstated, writes Deborah Tarrant. AFR 3 Feb 05




Other items of interest


One less remarked effect of the ALP succession from Latham to Beazley is that professed Christians will again lead all three parties in the House of Representatives. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/perspective/stories/s1292719.htm


If you’re over Rick Warren and The Purpose Driven Life, you’ll love this somewhat satirical site, dedicated to “throwing the book at postmodern Christianity” – seriously. http://www.sacredsandwich.com/front.htm


Focus on the Family’s James Dobson has “outed” popular children’s cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=5314


Was Sodom into sodomy? Ben Witherington III, professor of New Testament interpretation at Asbury Seminary, on what the Bible says about sodomy, homosexuality and sin. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/128/story_12885_2.html


The full VCAT ruling in the matter of Islamic Council of Victoria v Catch the Fire Ministries Inc. is now available.
http://www.vcat.vic.gov.au/CA256DBB0022825D/page/Listing-Home+Page+News-Anti-Discrimination+List+decision?OpenDocument&1=Home~&2=~&3=~&REFUNID


And here’s a critique of the VCAT ruling and related matters, by Anglican Mark Durie. http://www.acl.org.au/pdfs/load_pdf_public.pdf?pdf_id=227


Finally, some National Council of Churches in Australia peace resources. http://www.ncca.org.au/dov/resources












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. An asterisc (*) following an entry indicates that the article contains significant new information or comment.