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Female bishop sets Church on wider path
Charles Sherlock 16-Apr-2008
In May, the Rev. Canon Kay Goldsworthy will become Australia's first female bishop. The role will entail pressures from those opposed to having a woman as bishop,
and those who have been waiting for this moment for decades.
Church's future beyond left-right divide
James McEvoy 22-Apr-2008
The secular media tends to frame Church politics as a tussle between progressive and conservative. If that perspective is true, both sides of the divide rely upon a shallow analysis of the cultural change that shaped Western society since the 1960s.
'Meaningless' maths gives way to compulsory multilingualism
Frank O'Shea 24-Apr-2008
What Mozart and Michelangelo did with music and art, Maxwell and Euler did with numbers. But students would be better off learning a compulsory second language, rather than maths with little real-world application.
Summiteers treated to mix of showbiz and serious performance
John Warhurst 21-Apr-2008
Many of those present at the weekend's 2020 Summit struggled with understanding the difference between ideas, policies, visions, aspirations and general directions. The more hard-headed were probably disappointed, just as the others were obviously delighted by the vision statements.
Indigenous summiteers put dreams into practice
Frank Brennan 30-Apr-2008
The abuse of children in remote communities has been the catalyst for revising
romantic notion of land rights and self-determination. 2020 summiteers were allowed to dream and strategise about closing gaps while wondering how best to recognise the enduring rights of
indigenous Australians.
Anzac a 'politically pliable' legend
Tom Cranitch 28-Apr-2008
With Anzac Day over, and the 100th anniversary of the
Gallipoli campaign just under a decade away, it's time to re-examine, re-frame, and hopefully tame the Anzac legend. You don't need to be an expert to understand that 'Anzac'
has a stranglehold over Australian public life.
Maintaining the rage against WorkChoices
Tim Battin 01-May-2008
There are worrying signs that the Labor Government will interpret the grass-roots campaign against
WorkChoices in the
most conservative light possible. Catholic social thought defies any policy that results in a shift of power to the already powerful.
Fresh insights in old books
Andrew Hamilton 08-May-2008
Literary festivals introduce us to new writing. They rarely celebrate the old, for nothing is older than an old book. The works of St Augustine challenge our instinctive assumption that new wisdom supersedes old wisdom.
Waking up from the housing nightmare
Colin Long 05-May-2008
It is not just Joe and Jo Suburbia that have a lot riding on real
estate. Taking the heat out of house price
inflation is extremely difficult, because the whole system is based on
the expansion of credit and consumption that house price inflation
allows.
Denying the divine
Adrian Gibb 23-Apr-2008
Through a scientific imbalance, I, and about ten percent of my world's populace, am unable to experience anything beyond normal human intellectual capacity. We became mediators, lecturers, scientists and editors — anything which required a complete lack of spiritual moral parameters.
Most Commented
'Meaningless' maths gives way to compulsory multilingualism
Frank O'Shea 24-Apr-2008
What Mozart and Michelangelo did with music and art, Maxwell and Euler did with numbers. But students would be better off learning a compulsory second language, rather than maths with little real-world application.
Conflicting narratives converge on Israel anniversary
Philip Mendes 09-May-2008
Israel's 60th anniversary next week will be an occasion for celebration by Jews throughout the world. The formation of Israel in 1948 gave Jews renewed hope, but Palestinians remember it as a time of mourning. These conflicting narratives are reflected within the Australian context.
Anzac a 'politically pliable' legend
Tom Cranitch 28-Apr-2008
With Anzac Day over, and the 100th anniversary of the
Gallipoli campaign just under a decade away, it's time to re-examine, re-frame, and hopefully tame the Anzac legend. You don't need to be an expert to understand that 'Anzac'
has a stranglehold over Australian public life.
Church's future beyond left-right divide
James McEvoy 22-Apr-2008
The secular media tends to frame Church politics as a tussle between progressive and conservative. If that perspective is true, both sides of the divide rely upon a shallow analysis of the cultural change that shaped Western society since the 1960s.
Maintaining the rage against WorkChoices
Tim Battin 01-May-2008
There are worrying signs that the Labor Government will interpret the grass-roots campaign against
WorkChoices in the
most conservative light possible. Catholic social thought defies any policy that results in a shift of power to the already powerful.
Denying the divine
Adrian Gibb 23-Apr-2008
Through a scientific imbalance, I, and about ten percent of my world's populace, am unable to experience anything beyond normal human intellectual capacity. We became mediators, lecturers, scientists and editors — anything which required a complete lack of spiritual moral parameters.
Fresh insights in old books
Andrew Hamilton 08-May-2008
Literary festivals introduce us to new writing. They rarely celebrate the old, for nothing is older than an old book. The works of St Augustine challenge our instinctive assumption that new wisdom supersedes old wisdom.
Indigenous summiteers put dreams into practice
Frank Brennan 30-Apr-2008
The abuse of children in remote communities has been the catalyst for revising
romantic notion of land rights and self-determination. 2020 summiteers were allowed to dream and strategise about closing gaps while wondering how best to recognise the enduring rights of
indigenous Australians.
Female bishop sets Church on wider path
Charles Sherlock 16-Apr-2008
In May, the Rev. Canon Kay Goldsworthy will become Australia's first female bishop. The role will entail pressures from those opposed to having a woman as bishop,
and those who have been waiting for this moment for decades.
Waking up from the housing nightmare
Colin Long 05-May-2008
It is not just Joe and Jo Suburbia that have a lot riding on real
estate. Taking the heat out of house price
inflation is extremely difficult, because the whole system is based on
the expansion of credit and consumption that house price inflation
allows.
Retrospective
Olympic Torch a symbol of oppression
Michael Mullins 14-Apr-2008
The modern Olympic torch relay was initiated by the Nazi
leadership in 1936 to uphold the image of the Third Reich as a dynamic and
expanding influence. Those who extinguished the Beijing torch in protest against human rights violations in Tibet recognise its origins and potency as a political symbol.
Finding humanity in the book of lies
Tim Kroenert 10-Apr-2008
Norma Khouri's fraudulent account of a friend's honour killing became a bestseller before her lie was exposed. Forbidden Lies also considers the way media
spin facts into versions of the truth, and how artists use licence to carry their cause.
Zimbabwe result could open the airwaves
Nigel Johnson 04-Apr-2008
Independent radio stations have been denied broadcast licences under the Mugabe regime. While some still don't trust the government to honour the election result, others believe a new beginning for free speech is imminent.
East Timor reparations both symbolic and material
Lia Kent 18-Mar-2008
Australia could learn much from East Timor about the importance — and
limitations — of acknowledging a painful past. East
Timor's experience suggests the significance of both symbolic acknowledgement and material reparations.
Protection mechanisms for climate change victims
Maryanne Loughry 17-Mar-2008
The international community reacts rather than anticipates. It was only when hundreds of thousands of people were displaced after
the Bolshevik revolution, that protection mechanisms such as the 1951 Refugee Convention began to be developed.
The changing face of Kevin 24/7
John Warhurst 12-Mar-2008
Kevin 07 ended his campaign with a wooden and self-absorbed election-night speech. Supporters took a deep breath and hoped 2008 would be better. So far it has been.
Jewish West Bank Settlements a bad but reversible mistake
Philip Mendes 10-Mar-2008
Over the years, many simplistic arguments have been advanced in an attempt to justify the West Bank settlement project. None of these arguments had any substance in the 1980s, and they have even less validity now.
Lifelong cyclist's test of faith
Andrew Hamilton 05-Mar-2008
Brakes are useful when riding down a mountain at dusk, but they are not to be taken for granted. The god of cyclists gives and takes away, and punishes and rewards. Eureka Street June-July 1994
Fidel's unfinished business with the Church
Chris McGillion 21-Feb-2008
Cuba’s post-Castro leadership will need to come to terms with the fact that the revolution cannot answer all of life’s questions and that religion in general — and the Catholic Church in particular — has a legitimate role in supplying its answers without interference from the State.
The cultural heritage cost of Kakadu tourism
Colin Long 05-Feb-2008
From Ubirr, the wetlands, verdant and abundant with birdlife, stretch to the fringing escarpment. In a place so full of the beauties of nature, one feels keenly the absence of its traditional owners. For Australian and overseas visitors to experience this view, they lost their land.