Vol 19 No 7

13 April 2009

ARTS AND CULTURE

The gospel according to Dostoevsky
- Cassandra Golds
- 24 April 2009
1 Comment
That Dostoevsky is said to have developed a 'theology of writing' does not mean he arrives forearmed with a set of dogmatic truths. Rather, he practises the narrative and spritual discipline of allowing each character to be heard.
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AUSTRALIA

The false nationalism of Anzac Day and football
- Ruby J. Murray
- 24 April 2009
31 Comments
The hype surrounding the AFL's annual Anzac Day match has reached near-sacred heights. Asking what it means to have football played on Anzac Day is as risky as wondering why the Digger is the most powerful expression of Australian identity.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

A child's suffering for sainthood
- Tim Kroenert
- 23 April 2009
1 Comment
Within the cloistered world of Opus Dei, a young girl, Camino, is dying. The Church hierarchy and its emphasis upon a Father-God have displaced the nurturing instincts of Camino's mother, who urges her daughter along the path of suffering.
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RELIGION

Kevin Rudd and the problem of evil
- Andrew Hamilton
- 23 April 2009
25 Comments
With uncharacteristic vehemence, Mr Rudd said people smugglers could rot in hell. This kind of language echoes the tabloid characterisation of people who have done foul deeds as monsters. The Christian view of evil is more complex.
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AUSTRALIA

Beginning of the end for US Cuban embargo
- Antonio Castillo
- 22 April 2009
4 Comments
The Fifth Summit of the Americas will be remembered for Obama's pledge to 'seek a new beginning with Cuba'. He could be the statesman to end the Cuban embargo, the foreign policy blunder that has caused much pain to Cuba and its people.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Prayer for a drunk dad
- Brian Doyle
- 22 April 2009
5 Comments
At 1am I noticed that the dad of a friend of mine was in the corner drinking hard and telling funny stories. He got drunker and drunker until, at about 3am, he started shouting and cursing and some glass smashed. Finally he fell down.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

What Frank did
- Frank Brennan
- 21 April 2009
4 Comments
Frank Costigan was a man of such moral authority that you would not need to speak to him, just think, 'What would Frank do?' When Frank was being wheeled in for surgery, he completed reading the morning papers, then waved to his children.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Pictures of Stalin
- James Waller
- 21 April 2009
'By the end of the 21st century, icons of Joseph Stalin will be in every Orthodox Church.'
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AUSTRALIA

Howard asylum seeker policy must remain history
- Michael Mullins
- 20 April 2009
9 Comments
The military misadventures of nations including Australia contribute greatly to the motivation of asylum seekers. Australian immigration policy must de-emphasise border protection in favour of being a 'good international citizen'.
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AUSTRALIA

Gallipoli Diggers and the 'forgotten' holocaust
- Nick Toscano
- 20 April 2009
43 Comments
Although it was a military disaster, the battle of Gallipoli was a defining moment in Australia's history. But that same battle also marked a nation's destruction: a campaign was underway to exterminate the Armenian race.
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INTERNATIONAL

An outsider's guide to the Tamil crisis
- Natalie Francis
- 17 April 2009
19 Comments
Hundreds of Australian Tamil people gathered outside Kirribilli to protest the attacks on Tamil civilians in northern Sri Lanka. Not wanting to wake the neighbours, they kept their voices down. But the message was clear: 'Please listen.'
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Portrait of the nun as a larrikin activist
- Andrena Jamieson
- 17 April 2009
Loreto Sister Veronica Brady has taken on the Government for its treatment of Indigenous Australians, the church for its treatment of women, and Australian society for its materialism. She belongs to the long tradition of Australian stirrers.
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ENVIRONMENT

The ethical cost of gardens
- Roger Trowbridge
- 16 April 2009
4 Comments
Fitfully, our quarter-acre has been transformed in ways that make us pleased across the joys and melancholies of our lives. Now, faced with the drying of the earth, we must bring new knowledges to bear. This garden must survive. It is of our soul.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Aged Lothario's terror and redemption
- Sarah Kanowski
- 16 April 2009
The narrator of Philip Roth's novella The Dying Animal is self-indulgent, narcissistic, and driven by the urge to sexually conquer. The film Elegy transposes Roth's log of masculine decline into a mournful lament for the dead.
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RELIGION

Why St Mary's conflict had to happen
- Alan Austin
- 15 April 2009
51 Comments
From the time Jesus decried the Pharisees for their adherence to rules over freedom and love, the leaders of radical Christian ministries have found themselves in bitter contention with their superiors. Peter Kennedy is no exception.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

The gardener's prodigal son
- Brian Matthews
- 15 April 2009
Joe's plans for a family business foundered on his son's refusal to get out of bed before 10am. Joe was not used to 'spilling his guts', but he needed to talk, and he knew that my experience of teenage vagaries was extensive.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Perhaps Aphrodite
- William Rush
- 14 April 2009
2 Comments
Her face gives little away except .. there is a definite invitation to worship .. which we do in our own way .. hearing in this hall .. built with unholy oil, whispers of war
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AUSTRALIA

Joel's junkets
- John Warhurst
- 14 April 2009
3 Comments
The undeclared acceptance by Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, while he was in Opposition, of two free trips to China, has raised eyebrows. In politics, such 'free lunches' bring dangers of bias and corruption, but also legitimate benefits.
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Vol 19 No 7