A weekly public affairs review from the Centre for Christian Ethics

No. 111, 18-24 Jan 2007 ?? edited by Rod Benson

News & analysis

Aboriginal issues

A confidential report warning of the devastation of Aboriginal people through violence, alcoholism, disease and hopelessness was shelved ahead of the Queensland state election as Premier Peter Beattie moved to abolish the agency charged with redressing the problems facing the indigenous community. Aust 18 Jan 07

Abortion

Today, thirty-four years after Roe v. Wade, we can see into the womb with detail that was unimaginable in 1973. Now, 3-D and 4-D scans—scans that show a baby in motion in the womb—have brought the miracle of life into new focus. BreakPoint 22 Jan 07

Alcohol

It is always worth paying close attention to the words of those anointed to speak for the NSW pubs and clubs industries, for they seem to have more than their fair share of influence on the affairs of state, writes Richard Ackland. SMH 19 Jan 07

Bioethics – general

The quickening march of biotechnology is forcing a repositioning of familiar moral questions. Many ethical issues are essentially the same across the spectrum of scientific advancement and include informed consent, unequal distribution of global resources, the balance between individual risk and population health benefits and whether it is a human right to play with nature, writes Rachel Funari. SMH 18 Jan 07

Bioethics – reproductive technologies

An Israeli woman has won the right for her dead son’s sperm to be used to impregnate a woman he never knew. Aust 18 Jan 07

Bioethics – stem cells & cloning

Isn’t it time Americans recognize the promise of obtaining medical miracles from embryonic stem cells for the fairy tale it really is? asks Maureen L. Condic. First Things Jan 07

Bioethics – withdrawal of treatment

Australian health professionals lead the world

in acknowledging that life-saving treatment for severely premature babies sometimes should be withheld, writes Peter Singer. Aust 3 Jan 07

The Vatican’s rigid opposition to euthanasia has come under fire from within its own ranks after it denied a religious funeral to a paralysed man who had asked to be removed from a life-saving respirator. SMH 24 Jan 07

Climate change

Those waiting for the message on global warming to get through may now be contemplating the Chinese proverb: “Be careful what you wish for,” writes Jim Douglas. SMH 18 Jan 07

Tim Lambert critically assesses Andrew Bolt’s scathing assessment of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. O-Op 18 Jan 07

Australia and Indonesia will experience more severe and prolonged droughts, as global warming trends drive stronger Asian monsoons and drier winds across the Indian Ocean, according to new research by the Australian National University. Canberra Times 18 Jan 07

Malcolm Turnbull confirmed today that water management and climate change would be the main priorities in his new role as federal environment minister. Aust 23 Jan 07

Former fossil fuel mogul John Schubert says the nation has reached a “tipping point” on climate change and has called for Australia to implement a carbon-trading scheme.

Aust 23 Jan 07

Debt

Debt — and the ability to manage it — is likely to lead debate again in the election almost certain to be held this year. It encapsulates arguments on interest rates, fiscal policy, public versus private debt and WorkChoices, writes Marc Moncrief. Age 20 Jan 07

Ecology & environment

These days, co-founder of Greenpeace Patrick Moore believes the environmental movement has adopted extreme agendas that abandoned science and logic in favour of emotion and sensationalism. ABC Counterpoint 22 Jan 07

Employment

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has defended the Federal Government’s free-market stance on manufacturing, saying innovation, not government intervention, will save ailing textile, clothing and footwear companies. Age 18 Jan 07

It may well be true that if Australia reversed all of the tariff cuts that have taken place since the early 1980s Blundstone would find it worthwhile to continue manufacturing boots in Australia, but there are many other factors involved. Canberra Times 22 Jan 07

Ethics – business – Australia

Given recent negative publicity, the feeling among farmers, motoring organisations, consumer advocates, politicians, and the courts, it’s little wonder that Woolworths is desperate to be seen as the farmer’s friend, writes Alan Matheson. O-Op 19 Jan 07

Ethics – health

Vaccinating boys against cervical cancer would significantly reduce the spread of the disease, argues Clara Pirani. Aust 24 Jan 07

Ethics – political

The Howard Government recently announced that all MPs and senators would receive an increase in staff, from three to four full-time employees. This announcement, apparently timed to ensure new staff are on board for the election campaign later this year, has been met with suspicion and cynicism by the wider public. Canberra Times 19 Jan 07

Gender

Susan Wise Bauer reflects on the place of women in the redemptive community, and her place in the current gender debate among evangelicals. CT Books & Culture Jan/Feb 07

Homosexual rights

Far from devaluing traditional unions and family ties, legal equality for same-sex couples and their families focuses public attention on what marriage and family are really about. It strips these institutions of the cultural baggage and political hype that has worn them down, and draws our attention back to the love and commitment they were always meant to be about, argues Rodney Croome. IPA Review Dec 06

Housing

Housing in Australia’s capital cities remains too expensive for many would-be buyers, a study has found. Age 23 Jan 07

Human rights

Terry Hicks has expressed concern over his son’s mental state after his five years of imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, but Mr Downer said that according to a person who had seen Mr Hicks a few days ago, there was no sign of mental distress. SMH 18 Jan 07

David Hicks will face fresh charges within weeks after the Pentagon set down regulations overnight for military commissions to try enemy combatants arrested by the US military. Aust 19 Jan 07

The Australian Government should use its special relationship with the US to get David Hicks repatriated immediately, former premier Jeff Kennett says. Age 22 Jan 07

Prime Minister John Howard has told the US government that Australian terror suspect David Hicks must be formally charged by the middle of next month. SMH 23 Jan 07

See also The trials of David Hicks [multimedia]

Islam – Australia

Islamic cleric Sheik Feiz Mohamed who went overseas days before his cohorts were rounded up in the nation’s biggest counter-terrorism raid is the subject of a new police investigation. Aust 19 Jan 07 Also SMH 19 Jan 07

It is time Australian Muslims unified as a community with responsible leaders who can competently lead them in the right direction, argues Syed Atiq ul Hassan. O-Op 23 Jan 07

Marriage

The number of unmarried women in Australia is expected to outstrip the number of married ones when census results are released later this year, according to projections by experts. Age 20 Jan 07 Also Age 15 Jan 07

Mining

Mining giant BHP Billiton and the operators of the Ok Tedi copper mine in Papua New Guinea are being sued for civil damages exceeding $US4 billion by villagers on the Ok Tedi River. Aust 19 Jan 07

Nationalism

They’re loud, they’re confronting, they’re ours. As Australia Day approaches, Raymond Gill finds the many voices of the arts still best express the national character. Age 20 Jan 07

Organisers of this Year’s Big Day Out in Sydney claim that the Australian flag was used at last year’s event to bully people, with young men demanding people kiss the flag and pledge their loyalty to Australia, and have banned the flag this year. Telegraph 22 Jan 07

Also Age 23 Jan 07 and SMH 23 Jan 07

Parenting

Labor’s Julia Gillard put the spotlight on the issue this week by asking whether the Prime Minister and the Treasurer could have been mothers and held their positions for more than 10 years. SMH 18 Jan 07

Politics & faith – Australia

John Howard has sent a video greeting to the controversial Christian group Catch the Fire Ministries, in which he reflects on Australia’s Christian heritage and values. Age 19 Jan 07

The Government is inconsistent and hypocritical in its responses to religious extremists, offering support to radical Christians and vilifying Muslims, writes Irfan Yusuf. Age 20 Jan 07

Privacy

A government taskforce and doctors have raised major privacy concerns about draft legislation for a new access card. Age 23 Jan 07

Prostitution

Organised crime is strengthening its grip on Queensland’s prostitution industry, thwarting attempts by police and the State Government to control the flourishing trade in sex.

C-M 22 Jan 07

Racism

A growing row about racism on Celebrity Big Brother has erupted into a financial headache for Britain’s Channel 4. SMH 20 Jan 07

Republicanism

The republican debate, so passionate not so long ago, appears to have evaporated, writes Phillip Knightley. SMH 20 Jan 07

Religious liberty

British Airways has changed its uniform policy to allow staff to wear a “symbol of faith” in the wake of a row over its decision to ban a Christian worker from displaying a cross. Telegraph (UK) 21 Jan 07

Technology

Technology has created a kind of lifestyle that does not readily accommodate disruption, writes Christopher Bantick. Age 18 Jan 07

Transport

When Qantas made the decision in mid-2004 to slug passengers with a fuel surcharge to offset the rising price of crude oil, CEO Geoff Dixon promised to remove the extra levy should the petroleum market settle down. It is time for him to make good on his commitment. Aust 18 Jan 07 [scroll down]

War

What if, after the September 11 attacks, George W. Bush had done things differently? Christian Century 9 Jan 07

US President George W. Bush’s biggest mistake by far was the decision to invade Iraq. Because of that decision, the US finds itself trapped in a war it cannot win, and one which – according to Bush – it cannot afford to lose. Aust 18 Jan 07

Among its many omissions, the Iraq Study Group’s stillborn report lacked any sustained description of the probable and possible consequences of a shattered Iraq, writes Reuel Marc Gerecht. Aust 20 Jan 06

US President George W. Bush vowed in his State of the Union speech today to stick firmly to his controversial foreign policy built around “ideological struggle” and the promotion of democracy in the Middle East. Aust 24 Jan 07

War – nuclear

“We stand at the brink of a Second Nuclear Age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices,” say the world’s top atomic scientists.

Aust 18 Jan 07 Also SMH 19 Jan 07

Water

With a few exceptions, your politicians are not dealing honestly with you about the water crisis looming on your horizon. The use of the word “drought” leads people to believe that this is a cyclical situation and will end. That is not my reading, says Maude Barlow.

Age 19 Jan 07

Weapons

Most of China’s massive military build-up in recent years has had two things in mind — Taiwan and the US. Now we know that it is also looking very, very closely at the US’s satellite vulnerability, writes Greg Sheridan. Aust 20 Jan 07

Work

The work-life balance is building as a key theme for Labor in its bid to trap the federal Government on industrial relations in the lead-up to this year’s general election, says The Australian. Aust 18 Jan 07

Workplace relations

This week’s Industrial Relations Commission ruling in the case of a cinema manager with 19 years of loyal service to his employer, closes – at least for the time being – a legal loophole that gave workers some scope to challenge redundancies. Age 18 Jan 07

Of related interest

Jesus loved to tell parables – perplexing, yet revealing stories that teach us, spiritually blind and self-deceived as we are, to see reality beyond ourselves and to know God’s love and loving demands on our lives. Full text of the latest issue of Christian Reflection (from Baylor University’s Center for Christian Ethics)

Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) surprised everybody. Charles E. Curran talks to Stephen Crittenden about its impact. ABC Religion Report 17 Jan 07

In the past 100 years, the Australian population has increased fivefold while the number of households has increased tenfold. The single-person household is our fastest-growing household type, writes Hugh Mackay. SMH 20 Jan 07

With the Iraq war going badly and a hostile Congress looking for the exit, comparisons to Vietnam are all the rage. But accounts of that war’s endgame have generally been spun politically or distorted by hindsight, writes Gideon Rose. Slate 22 Jan 07

Reviews

John Danforth, Faith and Politics: How the “moral values” debate divides America and how to move forward together (reviewed by Michael G. Long). Christian Century 9 Jan 07

Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, reviewed by Andrew Leigh. O-Op 22 Jan 07

Mark Kurlansky, Non-violence: The history of a dangerous idea, reviewed by Harry Throssell. O-Op 24 Jan 07

From the vault

The time has come to forge a new coalition of political forces across the Australian community, writes Kevin Rudd.

The Monthly Nov 06

Religion & Ethics Australia 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 or affiliated agencies. Abbreviations: Aust=The Australian; C-M=The Courier-Mail; CT=Christianity Today; O-Op= Online Opinion; SMH=The Sydney Morning Herald. To subscribe, email ethics[at]morling.edu.au and type “subscribe-REA” in the subject line.

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