Religion & Ethics Australia Digest

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

No. 027, 4-10 March 2005  ² edited by Rod Benson

News reports

Aboriginal issues

The Howard Government has moved to break up the defiant ATSIC board by sending dismissal notices to at least four of its high-profile commissioners. Aust 5 Mar 05 *

Bioethics – cloning

Noted scientists and ethicists gathered for a Global State of Stem Cells and Cloning conference in Rome broke into spontaneous applause at the announcement that the UN passed a political declaration banning human cloning (84 for; 34 against; 37 abstentions). Christian Wire Service 8 Mar 05

Church & state

African-American minister and founder of the Progressive National Baptist Convention Gardner. C. Taylor told the annual Baptist World Alliance Window on the World banquet in Washington, D.C. on March 5 that much of Baptist history is a warning against the tendency to bring together the agencies of state and the resources of religion. Media release 8 Mar 05

Conscientious objection

A US Army sergeant who refused to return to Iraq saying he now opposes the war said Wednesday that an investigating officer is recommending that the military deny his bid to be classified as a conscientious objector. More.

Courtship

Online dating has shifted from the ghettos of singlesville to the centre of social intercourse for young professionals such as Andrew Borghouts. SMH 4 Mar 05

Death & dying

“Without a principled ethical approach to end-of-life-care, vulnerable people are at risk,” Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, spokesman on health ethics for the Catholic Church in Sydney, said in relation to new Guidelines for end-of-life care and decision-making tabled in the NSW Parliament. More. *

Disability

An Adelaide Catholic employment agency has said historic low in unemployment has exposed a growing group of people with borderline disabilities who flounder in the mainstream job network. More.

Drugs

Cannabis is not the harmless drug many people believe it to be, with new evidence showing genetically engineered crops are more potent and may trigger psychotic illnesses. SMH 7 Mar 05

Environment

Australian scientists say they have found proof that cutting down forests reduces rainfall. SMH 4 Mar 05

Ethics – media

Conservative board appointments don’t always mean change at the ABC, writes Gerard Henderson. SMH 8 Mar 05

Evangelism

Tensions are high in Melbourne’s Jewish community over an evangelical campaign by a Christian group called Jews for Jesus. The Age 2 Mar 05
Food

A survey of 150 cereals by the consumer magazine Choice found that most products targeted at children do not have enough fibre. Many have too much sugar and salt. SMH 8 Mar 05

Freedom of speech

An appeals court in Sweden has overturned Borgholm pastor  …ke Green’s hate speech conviction, saying there was “no evidence that the pastor was using his preaching as a cover to attack homosexuals.” Christianity Today 7 Mar 05

Gender

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark’s love story shows romance is hard-wired into women’s DNA, writes Miranda Devine. SMH 10 Mar 05

Health

A health and social equity report to be released today has found that the health and welfare system would have saved $4.2 billion in 1998 if the health status of the country’s entire population had been at the level enjoyed by those in the healthiest condition. Aust 7 Mar 05 *

HIV/AIDS

Jesuit Father Michael Kelly, who is on a committee preparing a national HIV/AIDS draft strategy, has contradicted claims that Health Minister Tony Abbott’s moral views are unduly influencing the strategy. SMH 4 Mar 05

Homosexuality

Three gay men who died in Sydney’s east were probably thrown off a cliff by violent gangs targeting homosexuals, a coroner found today. SMH 9 Mar 05

Immigration

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone has given a 104-year-old Chinese woman permission to stay in Australia, denying the Government ever intended to deport her. SMH 9 Mar 05

Internet

With search engines making it easy to find virtually anything bloggers say, companies are taking notice and taking action against disgruntled employees. AFR 8 Mar 05 *

Ministry

Hairdressers head the list, with clerics second, when it comes to happiness at work, a new UK survey claimed this week. Church Times 4 Mar 05

Politics – Australia

The attempt by the left to rationalise the ascendancy of the Howard Government focuses on the nefarious influence of right-wing think tanks. But think tanks get too much credit for influencing political policy, write Peter van Onselen and Wayne Errington. SMH 4 Mar 05

Politics & faith – Australia

The Christian Democratic Party will hold a “Community consultation” at Parramatta Baptist Church, 84 Kleins St, Northmead (Sydney) from 2-5 pm on Saturday 12 March to hear community perceptions of CDP; their understanding of what CDP stands for; their impressions of elected representatives; their views on what Christians expect in a political party, and some key priority suggestions on policy. Media release 4 Mar 05

Michael Baume asks where God disappeared to during last month’s WA election, and analyses the relationship between voter behaviour and religious affiliation. AFR 7 Mar 05 *

Politics & faith – US

Rick Warren tacitly endorsed US President George Bush six days before the 2004 presidential election, claiming that the Bible was on Bush’s side and that the two major candidates could not have more opposite views. “There are five issues that are non-negotiable,” wrote Warren. “God’s Word is clear on these issues.” He referred to Abortion, stem-cell harvesting, homosexual marriage, human cloning and euthanasia. More.

It’s a fine balancing act for the neo-cons – a too-hasty removal of Arab tyrants could unleash Islamist ideologues. Aust 9 Mar 05

Secularism

“Before Christ” (BC) has been removed from literacy test history books and replaced with “Before Common Era” (BCE) in what the NSW Opposition described as political correctness gone mad. Daily Telegraph 3 Mar 05

Social justice

Former Secretary General of the World Evangelical
Alliance, Gary Edmonds, has called for a closer combination of evangelism and social responsibility. Media release 5 Mar 05

Spirituality

Theologian Dr Carol Christ, who is associated with ‘Goddess’ spirituality, will speak on Saturday at a Sydney Uniting Church following Catholic Bishop Julian Porteous’ ruling that her use of their Santa Sabina college would be “inappropriate”. More.

Sport & faith

David Sheppard, former Bishop of Liverpool, former England cricket captain, was the last great muscular Christian: the last sportsman for whom sport was inextricably linked with morality. The Times 7 Mar 05

Truth

After decades of exploration in the thorniest thickets of philosophy, he has just published a slim treatise titled On Bullshit (Princeton University Press), an earnest intellectual inquiry into this most pungent and slippery of philosophical concepts. Aust 9 Mar 05

Violence

Anglicare is warning authorities not to cover the causes of the recent Macquarie Fields riots by turning desperate people into demons. More.

Women’s rights

International Women’s Day was first proclaimed in the early 20th century by Socialist International, making it the perfect symbol of a movement that is more dedicated to leftist, utopian politics than to women’s rights. Aust 8 Mar 05 *

There is not one country where women are equal with men, reports Cosima Marriner on International Women’s Day.
SMH 8 Mar 05 *

Work

A damning federal government report on vocational training has revealed the “new apprenticeship” revolution had actually resulted in a decline in traditional trades and in areas where there are now desperate skills shortages. AFR 8 Mar 05

Workplace relations

The Reserve Bank and Treasury – past critics of the impact of pay rises on the economy – will be directly involved in setting workers’ minimum wages under a restructuring of the industrial relations system expected to go before federal cabinet today. SMH 7 Mar 05

Other items of interest

Looking for accurate information on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) that inform the Micah Challenge? Look no further.

Should offensive speech be banned in universities? But learning how to argue means learning how not to be hurt by strong opposing views. More.

The Anglican Church in Australia has a national code for personal behaviour and the practice of pastoral ministry by clergy and church workers. More.

Contrary to popular Christian opinion, Brooke Allen argues that United States was built not on Christian principles but on Enlightenment ones; God was a minor player to the Founding Fathers; and Jesus was conspicuously absent. More.

Why do so many people believe? Why has belief proved so resilient as scientific progress unravels the mysteries of plagues, floods, earthquakes and our understanding of the universe? More.

Wartime Australian Prime Minister John Curtin should be lauded for his economic reform credentials. More.

John Stear, exasperated by what he views as errors being propagated by the Answers in Genesis organisation, has launched a rival website, No Answers in Genesis. More.

From the ABC’s Religion Report: The World Council of Churches in Geneva has released a statement, condemning the detention of foreign nationals at Guantanamo Bay as “unconscionable” and “illegal”. More.

From the ABC’s Religion Report: The slow-motion collapse of the worldwide Anglican Communion continues, with the US Episcopal Church being asked to withdraw for three years from a key governing council, in the hope of avoiding a rupture over homosexuality. More.

Focus on the Family’s US chairman James Dobson is waging a media campaign to counter what he claims are inaccurate reports that he said SpongeBob SquarePants is gay. More.

An attack on evangelicals by Glenn Scherer and Bill Moyers gives cover to the environment’s true enemies. Antienviron-mental industry leaders aware of the Scherer-Moyers “end-times” argument must be laughing all the way to the bank, as attention is deflected toward conservative Christians. More.

R.R. Reno, author of In the Ruins of the Church: Sustaining Faith in an Age of Diminished Christianity – a manifesto against a move from Anglicanism to Catholicism – reflects on his reception into the Catholic Church three years later. More.

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. 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.