Religion & Ethics Australia Digest

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

No. 023, 4-10 February 2005  ² edited by Rod Benson

News reports

Abortion

“Abortion is an unresolved issue that has to be debated, but it should be much broader,” Anglican Primate Peter Carnley said. “We shouldn’t focus on late-term abortion. If abortion is wrong, all abortion is wrong.” Also: “[Abortion] is happening simply because we have too many unmarried females who get pregnant and do not plan to have children and do not have the support of a family or husband,” Muslim leader Amjad Mehboob, chief executive of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, said. But not all church leaders welcomed the new debate. Uniting Church general secretary Terence Corkin said there was no groundswell of interest in his church for the matter to be re-examined, while Victorian Baptist leader Alan Marr said he saw no need for a change in the law. The Age 3 Feb 05 *

Australians still overwhelmingly support abortion rights, and there is no evidence of a mood swing. Aust 4 Feb 05 *

Without legislative proposals, a debate on terminations is useless and destructive, writes Leslie Cannold. “What are anti-choice MPs planning to do with women’s freedom to get an abortion? How are their secret plans going to affect the freedom of women and couples to decide for themselves if and when they’ll have children?” she asks. SMH 4 Feb 05

Severe foetal health problems or in rare cases, a risk to the mother’s life, were the only reasons doctors would perform a late-term abortion in NSW public hospitals, obstetricians and neonatalists say. SMH 4 Feb 05 *

If the debate on abortion results in improvements in resources for women to make an informed choice, it would be a good thing. If the debate results in withdrawing support for women making an informed choice, it would be a bad outcome. Herald Sun 5 Feb 05

Senator Brian Harradine today condemned the inertia and lack of interest evident in some parts of the Government to working to better understand the difficulties of women who are pregnant in order to offer practical alternatives to abortion. “If there are opportunities to improve Government programs to give women the option to steer clear of abortions, we should embrace that opportunity,” he said. Media release 7 Feb 05

Prime Minister John Howard will not stop a private member’s bill on abortion being debated in Parliament but believes it would be unsuccessful. SMH 7 Feb 05

Men should take more responsibility for unplanned pregnancies and women seeking an abortion should be offered independent counselling and a free ultrasound, Queensland Liberal Santo Santoro said yesterday. But Men’s Rights agency director Reg Price said the plan raised questions over women who tricked men by claiming they were taking contraceptives. He claimed boys should be taught about “sexually transmitted debt,” saying that “if they get a girl pregnant they can be forced to pay 18 per cent of their in come for 18 years.” Aust 8 Feb 05

Coalition tensions over abortion have erupted in the partyroom, with calls for compulsory sex education and attempts to shut down the debate. Aust 9 Feb 05Government whip Joanna Gash has invited all female MPs from the Liberal and National parties to a meeting to discuss the abortion issue today. Aust 9 Feb 05

Foreign women are paying up to $4500 for late-term abortions in private Australian clinics. Aust 9 Feb 05

John Howard has backed improved sex education in schools to help cut the abortion rate and more support for mothers facing an unplanned pregnancy to keep their baby. Aust 10 Feb 05 *

Abuse – sexual

Australia’s most infamous gang rapists could receive a reduction of up to ten years in their prison terms after one of their victims said she could not face the ordeal of a retrial. Aust 4 Feb 05

Anglican Church – Australia

The head of the Australian Anglican Church, Peter Carnley, effectively steps down this week, triggering a succession race that will pit moderates against conservative evangelicals in a battle for the soul of the church. The Age 7 Feb 05

Bible – texts & versions

Militant feminists have produced a “degendered” version of the Bible for liberal Roman Catholic organisation Priests for Equality. The revisers say that most scriptures read in worship services are still grossly sexist. “They don’t appear to like the Bible all that much,” Dr Peter Toon said. AP media release

Bioethics – cloning

The scientist who created Dolly the sheep has been given the go ahead to produce cloned human embryos in the search for a cure for motor neurone disease. SMH 10 Feb 05 *

Debt

The world’s seven richest countries have agreed that up to $100 billion in debts from 37 of the world’s poorest countries should be written off. How to fund the plans and whether International Monetary Fund gold reserves should be used were left to be decided when G7 finance ministers next meet in April. SMH 7 Feb 05

Divorce & remarriage

A radical Family Court project, the Children’s Cases Project, is reducing the bitterness of divorce. New Chief Justice of the Family Court, Diana Bryant, cited the project as “the future of family law.” SMH 9 Feb 05 *

Ethics – business – Australia

Corporate law reforms were needed to prevent a return of the James Hardie asbestos scandal, legal experts said yesterday. The barrister who assisted the Hardie inquiry, John Sheahan, SC, said there was a “very strong case” for confining the benefit of limited liability to parent companies, making them liable for subsidiaries that injure or kill people. AFR 9 Feb 05

Ethics – medical

Birthing rights groups have slammed a hospital’s decision to report a woman to child welfare authorities after she refused a caesarean birth because she wanted a natural delivery. The case has sparked a debate between doctors and midwives about the safety of vaginal births after caesareans and the rights of mothers to choose how they give birth. Aust 4 Feb 05

Gambling

A NSW government-funded interactive website introducing school students to gambling has come under fire from the Salvation Army. The Powerhouse Museum project, Gambling: calculating the risks, explains the mathematical principles underpinning gambling, as well as highlighting gambling’s economic and social costs. SMH 9 Feb 05

Health – mental

“The criminal justice system rather than the health system has now become a major service provider for those with mental illness. Hopefully this case will put the issue of providing good clinical care for everyone who resides in Australia back on the national agenda,” beyondblue clinical advisor Professor Ian Hickie said, commenting on the case of Cornelia Rau, the mentally ill Australian resident held in jail and immigration detention for 10 months. SMH 8 Feb 05

Human rights

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock plans to revive stalled legislation crimping the powers of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and restructuring it. AFR 10 Feb 05

Immigration

The federal government is pushing ahead with plans to take iris scans, fingerprints and facial measurements from immigration detainees and refugees to help fight identity fraud and terrorism. AFR 5-6 Feb 05

Following the revelation of Cornelia Rau’s detention, the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office and the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council have called for the government to ensure an adequate process of inquiry to address the similar treatment of all people in detention. Media release 10 Feb 05

Marriage

Couples who keep their promise to one another fare better physically than those who remarry, remain single after divorce or never marry, a study reveals. Aust 10 Feb 05 *

Morality

John Howard’s electoral success and the response to the Asian tsunami suggest that Australians may be absorbing the lessons of the controversial American “prosperity gospel,” write Julie Macken and Geoffrey Barker. AFR 7 Feb 05 *

Parenting

Stay-at-home mothers will get a bonus $150 this year ahead of the $300 already promised by John Howard for 2006, thanks to the strength of an economy that threatens to push up home mortgage rates. Aust 9 Feb 05

Politics – Australia

Australian public life suffers from a crisis of truth and honesty, according to Sister Patty Fawkner, director of Uniya, the Jesuit Social Justice Centre. “When 43 eminent former public servants sought to keep alive the debate about truth in government they were summarily dismissed as ‘doddery daiquiri diplomats.’ The truth can discomfort and disturb us, but honesty is the basis of human community and human solidarity,” she said. Media release 8 Feb 05

Roman Catholic Church – Australia

A schismatic ultra-conservative Catholic group has sent a letter to Australia’s 1400 Catholic priests trying to recruit them. The Society of Pius X, followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, rejects the 1960s Vatican II council that liberalised much Catholic practice and teaches that only the Latin (Tridentine) Mass is valid. The Age 4 Feb 05

A Catholic choir-master wrongly accused and sacked from Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral over inaction regarding a child sex abuse allegation is suing the church for unspecified damages. The Industrial Relations Commission ruled the dismissal “harsh, unreasonable and unjust” and ordered his reinstatement. Aust 9 Feb 05

Tax reform

Professor Peter Saunders, social research director at the Centre for Independent Studies, outlines his four-part strategy for affordable tax cuts and threshold increases. Aust 8 Feb 05

Terrorism

There are good reasons why authorities should keep a close eye on Mamdouh Habib, writes Janet Albrechtsen. For example, “someone can benefit from the presumption of innocence but still be dangerous.” Aust 9 Feb 05 *

Workplace relations

John Howard has revealed plans for an aggressive fourth-term industrial relations agenda, including reducing the powers of the industrial relations commission, paring back awards and possibly taking over state industrial powers to form a national system. AFR 7 Feb 05

South Australia’s Labor government will make a last ditch bid to secure passage of controversial union-friendly industrial relations changes but it will probably have to water them down to win the support of crucial independents. AFR 9 Feb 05

Other items of interest

Gordon Moyes puts the new debate on abortion in context and supports the religious leaders’ statement issued on 1 February. http://jmm.org.au/articles/14367.htm

Cameron Stewart provides a detailed perspective on the relationship between Christian faith and Australian politics.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,12147348,00.html

Larry King interviews Tim LaHaye, Franklin Graham and others on Late Night Live, with some interesting responses, such as this: KING: ‘Does the Christian church care about Social Security, tax, war in Iraq?’ LAHAYE: ‘No. We care about moral values.’

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0502/01/lkl.01.html

The (US) National Association of Evangelicals offers a principled framework for evangelical public engagement titled “An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility.” http://www.nae.net/images/civic_responsibility.pdf

Why don’t left-leaning Western women speak up about abuses in the Islamic world, asks Pamela Bone. http://www.theage.com.au/news/Pamela-Bone/The-silence-of-the-feminists/2005/02/03/1107409981815.html

Current statistics on religion and world mission from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. http://www.globalchristianity.org/resources.htm

The proselytizing zeal of American missionaries knows no slack even in tsunami aid, says Outlook India. http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=5190

Christians providing tsunami aid are held in deep suspicion. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/003/1.19.html

The politics of climate change might appear stormy, but only if we lose sight of the consequences of not acting. We are fast running out of time to act, says Gareth Walton of Greenpeace. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2997

Ramzy Baroud suggests why the people of the Middle East are wary of democracy imposed by the West: “It’s not democracy itself that they distrust. It’s the cynical exploitation of the term for imperial or geostrategic purposes that they oppose.” http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0203/p09s01-coop.html

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