Religion & Ethics Australia Digest

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

No. 036, 6-12 May 2005  ² edited by Rod Benson

News & opinion

Abortion

Federal Parliament will be asked to legislate to ban abortions of fetuses more than 23 weeks into gestation and require women seeking abortions to undergo compulsory counselling. Herald Sun 6 May 05

A Brisbane mother’s 23-year quest for justice for her severely disabled daughter will be decided by a last-ditch test case before the High Court. The case, to be fought on behalf of another disabled woman, will try to prove the concept of “wrongful life” – that, given correct medical advice, their parents would have opted to terminate the pregnancy.
The Sunday Mail 8 May 05

Pope Benedict XVI indicated Saturday he will stick to Pope John Paul II’s unwavering stands against abortion and euthanasia, saying pontiffs must resist attempts to “water down” Roman Catholic teaching. The Washington Post 8 May 05

Ageing

In 2050 one in three Australians will be older than 55, and life will be good, writes Peter Martin. SMH 11 May 05

Aid & development

The Howard Government has given more in overseas development assistance than the Fraser government and, perhaps more surprisingly, the Hawke Labor government, writes Tim Costello. Aust 9 May 05

Bioethics – embryo

Surplus human embryos created by IVF will be used for scientific research under plans by Adelaide scientists. A national moratorium banning the use of such embryos since 2002 has been lifted and SA researchers intend to seek to use excess embryos, under strict ethical guidelines. The Sunday Mail 8 May 05

Bioethics – IVF

There is big money to be made in the IVF industry and many Australians are prepared to pay up. The Age 6 May 05

Single women and lesbians would legally have access to IVF treatment without needing to prove they are medically infertile under recommendations by the state’s Law Reform Commission. The Age 12 May 05

The Catholic Church in Victoria appears likely to lobby against the implementation of recommendations by the state’s Law Reform Commission that single women and lesbians should legally have access to IVF treatment without needing to prove they are medically infertile. CathNews 12 May 05

Bioethics – stem cells

Human eggs have been grown for the first time in the laboratory using stem cells scraped from the surface of women’s ovaries. The development raises the possibility of delaying menopause, as well as providing a limitless source of donor eggs for in vitro fertilisation treatments and embryonic stem cell research. SMH 6 May 05

Biotechnology

During the next 20 years, biotechnology must become a fundamental contributor to Australia’s productivity, both directly through increases in export income and indirectly through the maintenance of the population’s health. Aust 6 May 05

Contraception

Doctors have prescribed the contraceptive pill to girls as young as 10, according to research that will reignite the debate over the spread of under-age sex in Britain.
The Sunday Times 8 May 05 Also.

Girls as young as 13 are being prescribed the contraceptive pill in Perth and doctors are under no obligation to tell their parents, according to family planning agency FPWA. The West Australian 12 May 05

Drug trafficking

Sydney Airport baggage handlers allegedly helped smuggle cocaine for a multi-million dollar drugs ring. SMH 10 May 05

Qantas could not rule out a link between corrupt baggage handlers implicated in a cocaine smuggling racket and claims by Schapelle Corby that handlers planted drugs in her luggage, chief executive Geoff Dixon said today. SMH 12 May 05

Ecumenism

Pope Benedict XVI will meet with the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, from 12-14 June 2005 in the first official meeting between the pontiff and the head of the ecumenical body. More.

Energy

The State Government has agreed to demands from the property industry that building guidelines requiring new residential developments to use less energy and water be weakened. SMH 10 May 05

Ethics – journalism

An investigation over the sourcing and accuracy of news stories by a freelance journalist at a leading Internet news site concluded that the existence of dozens of people quoted in the articles could not be confirmed. SMH 11 May 05

Ethics – medical

A “human timebomb” who has infected 12 people with tuberculosis while refusing treatment has prompted calls for an urgent change in the law to allow people with infectious diseases to be treated by force. The Times 9 May 05
A Jehovah’s Witness teenager felt “violated, raped” after he was given a life-saving blood transfusion against his and his parents’ wishes, the Supreme Court has heard. The Children’s Hospital at Westmead sought the court’s approval yesterday to administer a further transfusion today. SMH 12 May 05

All surgical deaths in Australia will be independently audited under a new initiative aimed at saving patient lives. Aust 12 May 05

Euthanasia

Patients motivated to seek a doctor for their death wish did so after a deliberative and thoughtful process rather than on impulse, according to a research study. More.

Food

Australians are throwing away more than 3 million tonnes of food a year, mostly because of overshopping and waste at the table, a study of our eating habits has found. SMH 8 May 05

Genocide

Natalee Neumann reflects on the continuing and collective pain that Jews of European descent feel as a result of the Holocaust. Aust 6 May 05

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urged thousands of people at a ceremony to mark the liberation of Auschwitz to let their tears flow and never forget the atrocities committed at the concentration camp.
Aust 7 May 05

HIV/AIDS

Pope John Paul II allowed a culture of death – and it seems likely his successor, Benedict XVI, will do the same – in relation to the AIDS pandemic raging through the developing world. Aust 7 May 05

A new regulation scheduled to go into effect this month calls on sperm banks to reject anonymous donations from men who have been sexually active with other men within five years – an effort to screen out potential carriers of the AIDS virus. The Washington Post 7 May 05

Homosexual rights

Howard, Bush and Blair have all secured new terms, though many said they couldn’t, writes Gerard Henderson. SMH 10 May 05

Homosexuality & faith

Celibate homosexuals and ex-gays often live in a lonely place between two warring cultures – gay and conservative activists, writes Douglas LeBlanc. More.

Immigration

Unscrupulous migration and education agents are putting the reputation and finances of Australia’s public universities at risk, a student body says. SMH 9 May 05

Law & faith

The NSW Supreme Court has ordered the Church of Christ to hand over notes made by its ministers which detailed a conversation between clergy and teenagers alleging they have been sexually assaulted by fellow parishioners. SMH 11 May 05

Persecution

Iranian Christian Hamid Pourmand faces possible execution, the first religiously motivated death sentence in Iran since 1990. The lay pastor faces charges of apostasy from Islam and proselytizing Muslims. More.

Policing

The Police Integrity Commission believes it can direct its extraordinary powers against private citizens to pursue allegations of wrongdoing not involving police, it was confirmed yesterday. SMH 10 May 05

Politics – Australia –
budget commentary

Transcript of Treasurer Peter Costello’s tenth federal budget. Aust 11 May 05

Catholic Welfare Australia has welcomed last night’s Federal Budget announcement of a range of family friendly initiatives, but said that new Job Network initiatives to assist the long-term unemployed may be overshadowed by the new regime to automatically suspend welfare payments. More.

UnitingCare Australia today welcomed the Budget’s focus on and investment in Australia’s unemployed. More.

Children cost money – and the family-friendly Howard Government wants you to know it cannot afford to keep picking up the tab. Aust 11 May 05

High-income earners are the biggest winners in Peter Costello’s 10th budget, which includes across-the-board tax cuts, breaks for business and tough new welfare-to-work rules designed to encourage individual effort. SMH 11 May 05

There was something for everyone in Peter Costello’s 10th budget, but especially the rich. SMH 11 May 05

This budget will go down well enough, because budgets that put popularity ahead of responsibility always do. Until the wheels fall off, writes Ross Gittins. SMH 11 May 05

Apart from his first, which required big spending cuts to drag back a $10.3 billion deficit, this is Peter Costello’s best budget. Aust 11 May 05

Kim Beazley has come under internal party pressure for the first time since returning as leader, after Labor’s shock decision to oppose Peter Costello’s $21.7 billion budget tax cuts. Aust 12 May 05

High-income singles and families in which one parent stays at home are the biggest winners from the budget. Aust 12 May 05

The Howard government’s failure to cut the top marginal tax rate owes much to the weakness of our conservative intellectual tradition. Aust 12 May 05

Politics & faith – Australia

The Family First party has begun a bid to build bridges to the ALP for the 2007 election. The Age 6 May 05

David Rutledge interviews John Henderson and Brian Pickering about Australia’s National Day of Thanksgiving. More.

Refugees

The Federal Court has condemned the Government for failing in its duty of care towards two severely depressed Iranian detainees held at Baxter. The Age 6 May 05

Sport & faith

The 21st Jesus Pro Am Surfing Contest saw some spectacular surfing at Cronulla last weekend. But the main focus of the event was evangelism. More.

Superannuation

Two leading industry super funds yesterday agreed to a $13 billion-plus merger in what is tipped to be the first in a new round of consolidation, as not-for-profit super funds face prepare for increased competition when membership choice is introduced on July 1. Aust 6 May 05

Terrorism

More than a year after the Madrid train bombings that left 191 people dead, and hundreds more injured, Europe is struggling to come to grips with the spectre of Islamic terrorism. Aust 9 May 05

Australia’s Islamic spiritual leader says the deadline set by Douglas Wood’s kidnappers for Australia to withdraw its troops from Iraq has been extended to midnight tonight. SMH 12 May 05

Vilification – religious

David Rutledge interviews Mark Zirnzak, Director of the Social Justice Unit of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania, about anti-vilification legislation. More.

Weapons

An international conference is underway in New York to try to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, writes Keith Suter. More.

Iran stepped up the rhetoric on its nuclear program yesterday, saying it is determined to go ahead with its plans. Aust 7 May 05

If George W. Bush’s first term was dominated by the war against terrorism, the second will be preoccupied with the effort to stem the spread of nuclear weapons, writes Henry Kissinger. Aust 11 May 05

North Korea has warned it may conduct a nuclear test soon, saying that such a step is “indispensable” to proving its military might to the world. SMH 11 May 05

Women – role of

The arrival of more women in Parliament won’t quite be what the feminists envisaged in the 1970s, writes Paul Sheehan. SMH 9 May 05

Work

Australians feel increasingly stressed by a “do-it-yourself” world in which they save for their own retirement and work harder and longer to hold jobs that may disappear offshore tomorrow. Aust 6 May 05

Australia can no longer sustain its generous welfare system without significant structural change, Peter Costello has warned, as he flagged a raft of budget “incentives” to increase workforce participation. Aust 7 May 05

Workplace safety

Reckless employers could go to jail for their role in workers’ deaths under new laws that have angered union leaders who say the penalties are too lax. SMH 6 May 05

Other items of interest

Young Australians are embracing time-honoured traditions like Anzac Day and venerable patriarchal figures such as the late Pope, writes Christopher Pearson. More.

One of the rising stars of Catholic theology, Father James Alison of England, re-thinks the atonement of Jesus. More.

Peter T. Chattaway reviews Ridley Scott’s action epic Kingdom of Heaven. More.

A Christian and Muslim talk about Kingdom of Heaven, and what impact it may have on Christian-Muslim relations. More.

Think of the Crusades as a series of holy wars against Islam led by power-mad popes and fought by religious fanatics? Think again, writes Thomas F. Madden. More.

Religion is its own worst enemy, forever at war with itself, argues Phillip Adams. More.

What sets Jim Wallis apart from other US evangelicals is that he is also socially progressive, writes John McKinnon in a review of Wallis’ new book, God’s Politics. More.

Nicholas Rothwell points out the many weaknesses and contradictions of the notion of Western nation-building in Iraq. More.

What were the real reasons for the Bush administration’s invasion and occupation of Iraq, asks Naomi Klein. More.

Gary Bryson explores the rise and rise of pop Christianity, from its roots in 19th century Evangelicalism to the marketing machine of the mega-church. More.

Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code, has people wondering if it’s true. More.

Howard, Bush and Blair have all secured new terms, though many said they couldn’t, writes Gerard Henderson. More.

Religion & Ethics Australia Digest is published by the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College, 120 Herring Rd, Eastwood NSW 2122 AUSTRALIA. Telephone (02) 9878 0201. Back issues are available at http://www.baptistsocialissues.org.au/review.htm. 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. To view the original article or transcript, click on the blue underlined text at the end of the summary. Abbreviations: AFR=The Australian Financial Review; Aust=The Australian; SMH=The Sydney Morning Herald. For a free copy of READ by email each week, email and type “subscribe to READ” in the subject line.