Religion & Ethics Australia Digest

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

No. 052, 30 Sep-6 Oct 2005  ² edited by Rod Benson

News & opinion

Aboriginal & indigenous affairs

It’s difficult to warm to trans-national oil companies. But all the evidence is that BP is producing Opal, an unleaded, non-sniffable fuel, as an act of social good. It’s uneconomic to make the fuel in small quantities, and prohibitively expensive to duplicate all the equipment needed to store and transport the fuel. Online Opinion 30 Sep 05

Abortion

The Catholic Church is intensifying its opposition to abortion and the morning-after pill by encouraging believers to become mentors for women who are considering a termination. Age 2 Oct 05

Sydney’s Catholic Church will today escalate its push against abortion and the controversial morning-after pill by encouraging believers to become hands-on mentors for women considering a termination. Sun-Herald 2 Oct 05

Australian women should have access to a controversial abortion pill freely available in other Western countries, according to a leading obstetrician who says the pill would be useful to women in rural and remote areas.
SMH 3 Oct 05

Doctors are calling on the federal Government to lift its ban on mifepristone, a drug that induces abortion, claiming it offers a safe alternative to surgical abortion. Aust 3 Oct 05

Women may be made to wait three days after deciding to have an abortion before they can have the operation, if the Family First party has its way. Age 4 Oct 05

Abuse – child

The NSW Children’s Court, the second oldest such institution in the world, is turning 100. Every day the court deals with harrowing cases involving abuse and neglect. And every day magistrates have to make daunting, high-stakes decisions. With safety as the overriding consideration, should the court remove a child from its home, or return a child to its family? ABC Law Report 4 Oct 05

Abuse – sexual

Stephen Hagan argues that indigenous custom must not be used to protect violent sex offenders. Online Opinion 6 Oct 05

Ageing

British actuaries are scared to predict firmly how long human beings will live in the future, after releasing new figures showing that survival rates improved by more than 30 per cent in just eight years. Aust 1 Oct 05

Alcohol

Penalties for high-range drink-driving are harsher than ever, with courts disqualifying more drivers and all but eliminating leniency for a good reputation. SMH 30 Sep 05
Anglican Church – Australia

The new leader of the Anglican Church in Australia, Dr Phillip Aspinall, has called on his congregation to reject the evils of rampant materialism and unchecked scientific progress. Archbishop Aspinall also denounced terrorism and the security measures it had imposed on society. ABC radio 30 Sep 05

Bioethics – cloning

The lobby group Right to Life has blasted the State Government’s stance on therapeutic cloning, saying the procedure is morally unjustifiable and will inevitably lead to the birth of cloned babies. Age 30 Sep 05

Limits on stem cell research are under review – and the lobbying is becoming fierce. The key issue, explains Deborah Smith, is whether scientists should be allowed to clone embryos. Age 30 Sep 05

To maintain its world-leading reputation, Australia needs to change the law to allow the therapeutic cloning of cells, writes Anna Lavelle. Age 30 Sep 05

Big money may make for bad ethics in stem cell research, warns Gregory Pike. Age 4 Oct 05

Bioethics – IVF

IVF consumers have avoided contributing to an independent inquiry on the fate of excess frozen embryos because they are intimidated by the process, experts say. Age 30 Sep 05

Bioethics – stem cells

What does it mean when even embryonic stem-cell researchers have some qualms about their work? CT 29 Sep 05

The present system has already allowed great medical advances, writes Michael Casanova. Age 30 Sep 05

Dying and disabled Victorians have made a desperate plea to Prime Minister John Howard: make stem cell research laws more flexible and give them a chance at a better life.
Herald Sun 1 Oct 05

Australia’s reputation as a global biotech player could be undermined if conservative forces succeed in banning groundbreaking embryonic stem-cell research, a senior cabinet minister has warned. Aust 4 Oct 05

Embryonic stem cell research had failed to deliver on its promises, Nationals Senate leader Ron Boswell has told Parliament. Age 6 Oct 05

Bioethics – withdrawal of treatment

More Australians are deciding who will make life-and-death decisions on their behalf if they are placed on life support, following the controversy over Terri Schiavo in the US and Maria Korp in Australia. Aust 3 Oct 05

Death & dying

A town in Sweden plans to become the first place in the world where corpses will be disposed of by freeze-drying. SMH 30 Sep 05
Energy

Australia should embrace nuclear power and move away from “polluting and expensive” fossil fuels, prominent South Australian Liberal MP Christopher Pyne has said. Aust 3 Oct 05

Environment

Global warming in the Arctic might be accelerating out of control, scientists have warned, as new data revealed the floating cap of sea ice has shrunk to probably its smallest in at least a century. SMH 30 Sep 05

Ethics – business

Corporate social responsibility is a political ideology that wants private interests to be subsumed by narrowly-defined public interests, argues Gary Johns. Should NGOs approach your corporation with good ideas or complaints about the actions of your business, thank them for their information, and show them the door, he says. More…

Gender

Are men more likely than women to be born with the potential for abstract brilliance in science, mathematics, the arts or music? Los Angeles correspondent Robert Lusetich reports on new research claims from the author of The Bell Curve. Aust 1 Oct 05

HIV/AIDS

People infected with HIV can be refused visas to Australia regardless of their circumstances, the Federal Court has ruled. SMH 30 Sep 05

Homosexuality & faith

A predicted move by the Pope to ban even celibate gay men from joining the priesthood is a tragic over-reaction to the clergy sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in recent years. Age 3 Oct 05

More than 300 churches in the Pacific Southwest region of the American Baptist Churches USA have begun defecting in the largest church exodus from any denomination over the presenting issue of homosexuality.
CT 5 Oct 05

Pacifism

The anti-war left has not explained how to stop tyrants, writes Pamela Bone. Age 5 Oct 05

Parenting

Gay and lesbian couples are being urged to foster disadvantaged children in a bid to address the dire shortage of foster families across the state. Welfare agencies have approved dozens of gay men and lesbians as foster carers, in stark contrast to state laws that prohibit same-sex couples from adopting children. Sun-Herald 2 Oct 05

In her book Motherhood: How Should We Care for Our Children? Anne Manne provides a voice for women who are not convinced by the orthodox mantra that it is better for women to return to work and for young children to go to child care. A feminist with a strong streak of classical liberalism, Manne nonetheless talks about the moral limits of choice, writes Janet Albrechtsen. Aust 5 Oct 05

Politics – US

In a generation, the lower and middle ranks of the American working class have suffered a precipitous decline in living standards and job security. So how is it that the Republicans—the traditional champions of big business—are the preferred party of so many workers? More…

Politics – Australia

If we trash the idea of “politics as a vocation”, why would the talented choose politics over business or other occupations that pay more money, and carry less uncertainty and intrusion into personal life? Age 2 Oct 05

Politics & faith – Australia

Religious beliefs can guide politicians while preserving the separation of church and state, writes Darryn Jensen. Policy Spring 05

Racism

Why on earth is anyone surprised by Labor’s capitulation [on anti-terror laws] this week? Shocked party faithful and commentators with short memories are running about asking how the premiers could sign up to a regime of control orders and preventive detention. Isn’t this a betrayal of all Labor stands for? Baloney. Labor introduced the virus back in 1992 to save the nation from a couple of hundred Cambodian boat people, writes David Marr. SMH 30 Sep 05

Roman Catholic Church – Australia

The number of Australian Catholic priests needs to increase more than 20-fold by reopening the priesthood to married men and possibly women, a body representing the nation’s clergy says. SMH 4 Oct 05

Smoking

Eighteen NSW pubs and clubs have been officially warned by the State Government over allegations they were forcing patrons to gamble if they wanted to smoke on their premises. SMH 5 Oct 05

Social justice & faith

The Waiters’ Union was founded as a non-formal network of spiritually minded activists who serve the homeless and the needy in the streets of West End in Brisbane. Founder and Baptist pastor Dave Andrews talks to Rachael Kohn. ABC The Spirit of Things 25 Sep 05

Technology

The children of the e-revolution can do many things at once. After years of technological stimulation they can simultaneously surf the internet, text message their mates, listen to music on an iPod and write a blog. But these digital natives are on a collision course with their technologically illiterate teachers, who speak digital as a second language and print out emails so they can read them. SMH 1 Oct 05

Recent research, including a University of Munich study of 174,000 students in thirty-one countries, indicates that students who frequently use computers perform worse academically than those who use them rarely or not at all. Orion Online Sep/Oct 05

Television

Various religious and non-religious people talk with Florence Spurling about one of the icons of popular culture – the phenomenon of Big Brother. ABC Encounter 2 Oct 05

Terrorism

In remarks that set him on a collision course with the Federal Government’s new anti-terrorism laws, the president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ameer Ali, said the laws went too far and it was time to “draw a line through them”. SMH 1 Oct 05

Chronic anxiety is driving support for Howard’s anti-terrorism measures, writes Hugh Mackay. Age 1 Oct 05

Australians waking up to their clock radios on Sunday morning would have thought they were hearing a re-run of the news from 2002. The latest Bali bombings have come nearly three years after the appallingly deadly 12 October 2002 bombings that killed 202 people, 88 of them Australians. Aust 3 Oct 05

The al-Qa’ida terror network has launched an internet advertising campaign to recruit agents, calling for applicants who are fluent in English, are willing to pursue jihad against the West and have “video production” skills. Aust 4 Oct 05

To argue that the only way to combat terrorism is by eliminating economic inequalities between nations is to misjudge the threat of jihadism. Age 4 Oct 05

The latest Bali bombings are a change in tactics for Indonesian Islamist terrorists. Aldo Borgu looks at how and why. C-M 5 Oct 05

Today, the terrorist ideology masquerading as Islam is bringing war and violence and tears to the region. Those who care about Islam should be at the forefront of fighting terror, writes Irfan Yusuf. Online Opinion 5 Oct 05

The Bali bombings last weekend show the war on terror is going badly in Southeast Asia, writes Greg Sheriden. Aust 6 Oct 05

Violence

Men who kill in jealous rages will no longer be able to avoid murder convictions by claiming they were provoked, under changes announced by the Victorian Government. Aust 5 Oct 05

War

George W. Bush, facing a dramatic surge of chaotic violence in Iraq, yesterday sought to buttress failing domestic support for the conflict that has killed almost 2000 Americans. Aust 30 Sep 05

Weapons

Hans Bethe spent a lifetime enhancing the security of his adopted homeland—initially designing its nuclear bombs, but ultimately warning presidents and the public to guard against the hazards of such bombs.
Physics Today 6 Oct 05

Welfare provision

The Howard Government will further toughen “three strikes and you’re out” dole rules by including in the tally mistakes by unemployed people made during the 12 months before the changes are brought in. Aust 3 Oct 05

Workplace relations

Australia is on the edge of a new era in industrial relations. Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Kevin Andrews is expected within the next week or two to announce details of an IR package that will finally end a system that has governed the Australian workplace for more than a century, writes Paul Gollan. Online Opinion 30 Sep 05

Women’s pay and workplace bargaining power would be reduced under the Howard Government’s proposed industrial relations reforms, a senior academic has warned.
SMH 2 Oct 05

Debate over John Howard’s industrial relations reforms had fuelled community fears that the civilised standards of democratic society were being further eroded, Melbourne Anglican Archbishop Peter Watson said last night.
Aust 6 Oct 05

Other items of interest

Simon Blackburn’s new book, Truth: A Guide is an attempt to alarm us into believing in something he calls “the Truth Wars,” a kind of shadow version or echo of what was once known in the 1980s and ‘90s as “the culture wars.” Slate 29 Sep 05 and 30 Sep 05

Does prayer change God? Philip Yancey probes the unfathomable mystery.
CT Books & Culture Sep/Oct 05

The culture shock of university is fraught with peril for young US people: pressure to party, drink, have sex. And all those non-Christian ideas. But David Noebel and Summit Ministries have the solution. More…

The gurus who wrote the syllabus for the NSW Higher School Certificate have nominated 20 movies they think will help us evolve into fully educated adults.
SMH 4 Oct 05

Religion & Ethics Australia Digest is published by the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College, 120 Herring Rd, Eastwood 2122 AUSTRALIA. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College or the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT. To view the full article, click the blue underlined text at the foot of the summary. Abbreviations: AFR=The Australian Financial Review; Aust=The Australian; C-M=The Courier-Mail; CT=Christianity Today; SMH=The Sydney Morning Herald. For back issues click here. For a free copy by email each week, email and type “subscribe to READ” in the subject line.