Religion & Ethics Australia Digest

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

No. 047, 26 Aug – 1 Sep 2005  ² edited by Rod Benson

News & opinion

Aboriginal & indigenous issues

The number of indigenous Australians diagnosed with AIDS has more than doubled in four years. Herald-Sun 26 Aug 05

Abortion

New South Wales MLC Fred Nile says he will introduce a bill into Parliament forcing doctors to warn women who are considering having an abortion that the foetus feels pain during the procedure. More…

Agriculture

There are many styles of farming. Two Australian farmers talk about the Savory method, and how it is re-shaping their landscape. More…

Bioethics – IVF

It is quite legal in New York, and in many other US states, to pay a woman to go through an IVF procedure to produce eggs for you if your own are no longer viable. In Australia it’s illegal under the Human Tissue Act to pay somebody to produce eggs for you. Aust 27 Aug 05

Bioethics – reproductive technologies

Artificial wombs, to bring a foetus of a human being to full term outside a woman’s body, could become a reality within 20 years, scientists have predicted.
The Times 30 Aug 05

Bioethics – stem cells

A proposal for a national stem cell bank will be under consideration when a government-appointed committee begins public hearings into human cloning and embryo research next month. The Age 26 Aug 05

Bioethics – withdrawal of treatment

London’s high court yesterday upheld the right of the NHS to withdraw life support systems from a critically ill 86-year-old man considered by doctors to have no chance of getting better. His Muslim family appealed to the court to block the decision on the grounds that their religious beliefs required doctors to do everything in their power to keep him alive. The Guardian 27 Aug 05

Bullying

A victim of bullying in the exclusive Trinity Grammar boarding school has been awarded a legal settlement, believed to be $500,000, after the school settled out of court last week. SMH 28 Aug 05

Childcare

The cost of child care has escalated under the Howard Government, rising almost every quarter since it was elected nearly a decade ago. SMH 31 Aug 05
Communications policy

The growth of the internet and other media for news and entertainment could make existing cross-media ownership rules redundant, competition regulator Graeme Samuel said yesterday. Aust 27 Aug 05

Education & faith

Governments should not be promoting or favouring religion in schools, writes Pamela Bone. The Age 25 Aug 05

Environment

“Hard” evidence, mainly produced by the Federal Government and the anti-Kyoto lobby, has enabled the construction of a slam-dunk case against reducing Australian emissions, writes Martin Callinan. More…

John Howard claims he has been vindicated over his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol after business groups in New Zealand and Germany demanded their countries quit the agreement as soon as possible and join the Asia-Pacific climate pact. Aust 29 Aug 05

Environment & faith

Out of respect for the land, a West Virginia librarian takes on mining companies—in the name of Jesus Christ. More…

Ethics – journalism

David Flint argues for a ‘shield law’ to protect journalists who do not wish to reveal confidential sources. More…

An explosive story that took a month to emerge erupted yesterday into a full-scale debate about journalistic ethics and a public figure’s right to privacy. Central to the furore is the question: did Sydney’s Daily Telegraph go too far in hounding disgraced Liberal MP John Brogden? Aust 1 Sep 05 Also…

Enough about Brogden – why weren’t proper journalistic standards applied to the media treatment of Mark Latham? Aust 1 Sep 05

Ethics – medicine

Smallpox was eradicated when doctors and later the WHO made vaccination compulsory. Such ideas no longer fit the liberal state. More…

Gender

Forget a simple XX or XY – what determines whether it’s a boy or a girl is more puzzling than first thought, writes Peter Ellingsen. The Age 28 Aug 05

Homosexuality & faith

A dinner with a Christian group known as Salt Shakers has landed the federal Special Minister of State Eric Abetz in trouble with gay activists. Salt Shakers’ executive director, Peter Stokes, confirmed yesterday that the group saw the acceptance of homosexuality as a great threat to society. The Age 26 Aug 05

Former Anglican Primate in Australia, Peter Carnley, was won over to women’s ordination by theological research; he believes that the same path will resolve the crisis of Christianity versus homosexuality.
Bulletin 30 Aug 05

Human rights

Sheryl Henderson Blunt interviews Nina Shea on what she believes is the greatest threat to human freedom today. More…

Internet

Spam is on the run, with the world’s leading spammer closed down and bankrupt. However, experts warn the latest computer scam called phishing is far more dangerous, reaping billions of dollars from unwary internet users. Sun-Herald 28 Aug 05

It would be pointless to apply strict disclosure rules to the internet, argues John Quiggin. AFR 1 Sep 05

Islam – Australia

It was no accident that Australia’s leading Islamic cleric, Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly, was absent from John Howard’s summit with Muslim leaders. Former president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, Keysar Trad, advised the leader to stay away. “It’s not in his interest as a man of God to be rubber-stamping the marginalisation of the Muslim community,” he said. SMH 27 Aug 05

The issue of Islamic headscarves continued to bubble after federal Liberal backbencher Bronwyn Bishop told Channel Seven they were being worn “as a sort of iconic item of defiance” and should be banned from state schools. SMH 29 Aug 05 Also…

John Howard said he opposed Mrs Bishop’s push to ban Muslim girls from wearing headscarves at public schools because it would be impractical but defended her “right to express a view”. SMH 30 Aug 05

Judiciary

Federal Court judge Ronald Sackville, chairman of the Judicial Conference of Australia, makes a strong case why they should toughen up a bit. Justice Sackville suggests that, as an arm of government, the courts should not be cocooned against criticism. Aust 30 Aug 05 [scroll down]

Multiculturalism

Many people don’t even consider migrants as part of the mainstream of any society unless, of course, their behaviour is different. Then they see them as a problem or as terrorists, argues Jose Zepeda. More…

Peter Costello and Brendan Nelson have embraced gross populism, writes Geoffrey Barker. “To shout ‘love us or leave us’ at an overwhelmingly decent minority group is crude politics unworthy of senior politicians.” AFR 29 Aug 05
Ignorant MPs calling for a ban on headscarves are inciting hatred, writes Iktimal Hage-ali. The Age 30 Aug 05

Citizenship has been at the heart of Australia’s immensely successful immigration and settlement policies. But the war on terror poses deep and troubling challenges to the way we organise citizenship, writes Greg Sheridan. Aust 1 Sep 05

Peace

“I come from a land lost in conflict and I am part of a people who are helplessly seeking their basic human rights of freedom and independence,” says Palestinian Christian Zack Sabella. “What our world needs are ears to listen, hearts to feel, bridges to communicate, courage to forgive, strength to compromise and the will to make a difference.” More…

Pharmaceuticals

The Therapeutic Goods Administration will investigate claims that many brands of the popular arthritis supplement, glucosamine, do not contain the quantity of glucosamine promoted on labels. Aust 27 Aug 05

Plagiarism

Anti-plagiarism software is being installed in Sydney schools to stem the rising tide of cheating. In some cases schools have discovered copying by one in five students. SMH 27 Aug 05

Politics – Australia

On 26 August 1925, in the ‘bear pit’ of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in Sydney’s Macquarie Street, Millicent Preston-Stanley gave the first speech made by a female Member of Parliament in NSW and only the second in any Australian parliament. It is depressingly relevant today. More…

The Greens’ demand for more accountability and transparency from political parties in elections has not stopped some in their own party using complex and opaque methods to channel campaign funds. SMH 26 Aug 05

Why does John Howard not rein in Bronwyn Bishop, Sophie Panopoulos, Michael Ronaldson, Peter Costello and Brendan Nelson? These Liberals have contributed in recent days to what is fast becoming the defining debate this year in Australian society: values. The Age 30 Aug 05

Politics & faith – Australia

The hope that Peter Costello will regenerate the Liberal Party may be misplaced, writes Don Watson. SMH 26 Aug 05

Opposition spokesman for Foreign Affairs Kevin Rudd has said that Jesus cannot be confined to his private life but must be allowed to influence the formation of public policy. More…

Following an attack on outspoken religious leaders by Tasmanian Liberals Senator, Eric Abetz, Hobart’s Archishop Adrian Doyle has said the Church has the right to comment and is expected to when political issues have a moral dimension. CathNews 30 Aug 05

Politics & faith – US

Move over, politics. Americans are looking for personal, ecstatic experiences of God, and, according to our poll, they don’t much care what the neighbors are doing. More…

The teachings of Jesus have never been very popular with Pat Robertson. He gets his religion elsewhere, from the twisted ideologies of an American brand of right-wing fundamentalism that has always been more nationalist than Christian, says Jim Wallis. More… [scroll down]

Pornography

The British Government is to introduce laws to combat the availability of violent pornography online. Aust 31 Aug 05

Prostitution

Gloria Steinem working with the likes of Chuck Colson? It makes sense if one looks at history, going back about a decade. That’s when US antiporn feminists gave up trying to ban sexual imagery and shifted their energies to prostitution. More…

Refugees & asylum seekers

Tomorrow it will be four years since the Norwegian freighter Tampa diverted to pick up 438 people from a sinking Indonesian fishing boat in the Indian Ocean, in the process changing the course of Australian politics. Aust 25 Aug 05

Roman Catholic Church – Australia

Christopher Pearson comments on the announcement that the Catholic World Youth Day would be held in Sydney and the state of Australian Catholicism. Aust 27 Aug 05

Tax reform

Business leaders and academics urged John Howard yesterday to lower personal income tax scales so that taxation reform became a legacy of his leadership. Aust 27 Aug 05

Terrorism

While we must of course protect ourselves against outrages like September 11, 2001, Bali and the recent London attacks, we cannot remove the extremist poison at work in some Muslim communities by such means, writes Gary Brown. More…

All Australians, not just Muslims, have to address terrorism, writes Christopher Kremmer. SMH 30 Aug 05

If we lose perspective on the threat of terrorism to Australia, we risk losing the fight for our free society. The Age 31 Aug 05

Transport

Soaring petrol prices are starting to bite into the economy, with motorists tipped to curb their driving soon and car firms feeling the pinch as buyers abandon fuel-guzzling vehicles. SMH 27 Aug 05

War

A little history is a dangerous thing, and George W. Bush has been sipping from its well all too skimpily. More…
Wouldn’t it be nice if Australians looking to recommend the great national values could look beyond our involvement in war? Wouldn’t it be nice if politicians could cease manipulating the Anzac myth?
SMH 26 Aug 05

A new study rejects the notion that Australia punches above its weight in military contributions to operations such as the Iraq war and peacekeeping initiatives.
SMH 1 Sep 05

Weapons

Australian nuclear experts working to prevent terrorists launching a regional “dirty bomb” attack have found large, unsecured sources of dangerous radioactive material in Southeast Asia. Aust 29 Aug 05

Russia has sharply criticised a US report that suggests Moscow maintains an offensive biological weapons program, saying today that it strictly adheres to an international agreement designed to control biological arms. SMH 1 Sep 05

Workplace relations

Federal Government advertising promoting its industrial relations changes came under attack in the High Court yesterday, with two judges saying it would be “naive” to accept the campaign was about protecting productivity and wages. SMH 30 Aug 05

Industrial relations reform is only half of what the Howard government is up to. The other part of the equation is draconian welfare changes that aim to create a desperate class willing to take up work on the low-wage, insecure jobs that will come about from the IR changes. Aust 1 Sep 05

Other items of interest

Max Rodenbeck reviews six new books on jihad (by Jonathan Randal, Olivier Roy, Gilles Kepel, Marc Sageman and Faisal Devji) for the New York Review of Books. More…

John Koessler reflects on why it is hard to be heavenly minded. More…

I have plowed through almost a dozen of J ¼rgen Moltmann’s books, and to my surprise, the German theologian in person exuded a charm and sense of humor that belie his scholarly works, writes Philip Yancey. More…

What caused Hurricane Katrina to slam the U.S. Gulf Coast? A tropical storm caused by wind, water, and heat? Mother Nature crying out on behalf of the earth’s pain? An angry God? Depends whom you ask. More…

Curtiss DeYoung reviews Richard Foster’s Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of the Christian Faith. 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.