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APPLICATION

Pope's equivocal view of social justice   
May 03, 2012
Andrew Hamilton

In his reflections on society and aspects of human life, Pope Benedict privileges charity. If any planning or struggle for a just society is to be effective it will depend on people's good will and generosity in the implementation. The Pope also says 'yes' to social justice. But his 'yes' is normally a 'yes, but ...'.

VIDEO

Religious fundamentalism is a two way street  
May 03, 2012
Peter Kirkwood

Religious fundamentalism is a two way street  
May 03, 2012
Peter Kirkwood

'The Anders Breivik example shows us that extremism is not one way ... We really need to think deeply about some of our prejudices.' Australian Muslim academic Mehmet Ozalp sees the case of Norwegian mass-murderer Breivik as highlighting the urgent need for interreligious and cross-cultural dialogue.

FILMS

Traversing grief on the Camino  
May 02, 2012
Tim Kroenert

Irishman Jack's cynicism has its roots in his hurt and betrayal over the clergy sex abuse scandal within his country. Snide American Sarah's abrasive personality masks numerous hurts. The most extraordinary aspect of religious pilgrimages is the ordinary humanity of the pilgrims themselves.

INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

Erasure of an Aboriginal temple  
May 02, 2012
Patti Miller

For thousands of years there was a temple on the banks of the Macquarie. A long avenue of trees carved with serpents, lightning, meteors and hieroglyphs led to a walled space where a giant human figure made of earth reclined. It was as important as the Acropolis or the temple of Horus. But it no longer exists. 

POLITICS

Christine Milne's chance to scupper an Abbott Senate  
May 01, 2012
John Warhurst

To prevent Tony Abbott from having total control of the Senate after the next election, the Greens need to attract votes from otherwise non-Labor voters rather than the easier task of picking up disappointed Labor defectors. The 15 per cent of Coalition-leaning Greens is generally forgotten altogether.

NON-FICTION

The politics of suicide  
May 01, 2012
Gillian Bouras

Albert Camus said suicide was the one serious philosophical problem in that it poses the question as to whether life is worth living. Some suicides are a private solution to anger and despair, but others, such as suicide bombings and the recent suicide of retired pharmacist Dimitris Christoulas, are both public and coercive.

CARTOON

Priorities of the Press Gang  
May 01, 2012
Fiona Katauskas

POETRY

Train gaze  
April 30, 2012
Various

Her deep eyes glance up from the page
 without perceiving me, the hidden camera trained
 on her by my unbroken gaze. 

POLITICS

A tale of two refugee movement speeches  
April 30, 2012
Kerry Murphy

Tony Abbott did not mention the term 'human rights' in his 3000 word speech to the Institute of Public Affairs on Friday. 'Illegal' appeared 11 times and 'asylum' once. In February, Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees gave a 3000 word speech to the Lowy Institute. A search of that speech finds 'human rights' five times, 'asylum' 21 times and no use of 'illegal'. 

THE AGENDA

Rupert Murdoch an example for older Australians  
April 29, 2012
Michael Mullins

There is a lot not to admire about the business practices of Rupert Murdoch, but he stands tall as an elder who is able to maintain his stature in the face of great challenge. The Federal Government's new aged care blueprint has the potential to ensure that more Australians will retain their dignity in old age.

POLITICS

To catch a despot  
April 29, 2012
Binoy Kampmark

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor's conviction by an international criminal court for crimes against humanity is the first conviction of a head of state since World War II. It does little to change the fact that it remains notoriously difficult to bring heads of state to trial for grave crimes.

EDUCATION

Schools confront the globalisation of superficiality  
April 26, 2012
Greg O'Kelly

In 2010, Kevin Rudd asked Fr Adolfo Nicolas SJ, the international leader of the Jesuits, what he believed to be the major challenges facing western society. Nicolas replied 'the globalisation of superficiality'. Educating for depth and discernment is one of the biggest challenges facing teachers today.

BY THE WAY

Letter from a lost soldier  
April 26, 2012
Brian Matthews

'I wish this war was finished for I am fed up. My dear Ann, you and the children try to be as cheery as you can. I feel all buggered up but I shall just have to carry on the best way I can ... we are on another front now and it is actually hell ...' Whatever ambiguous solace Annie could derive from Alex's letter, it was soon lost.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Dismembering the dead in Japan and Afghanistan  
April 25, 2012
Walter Hamilton

The publication of photographs of American soldiers posing with the body parts of dead Afghani insurgents has provoked a lively exchange of opinion in the media. Just as in Afghanistan, American and Australian soldiers fighting the Japanese saw themselves pitted against an opponent who acted by a different — inhuman — set of rules.

CARTOON

Gillard's Slipper misfire  
April 25, 2012
Fiona Katauskas

ARTS

Separating art from war in Iran  
April 25, 2012
William Gourlay

Sabre rattling, both by the Iranian leadership and by Western politicians and pundits, dominates the headlines and steers public discourse about Iran. A recent film, and a current art exhibition, remind us of the country's 'rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics'.

NON-FICTION

Getting personal with Anzac Day  
April 24, 2012
Philip Harvey

Should I even be saying all this to people I have never met? What do I say? How far do I go? My paternal grandfather, Edgar, was not only an Anzac but among those who landed nearly 100 years ago at the Turkish cove. Even among my family his experiences are still largely passed over in silence.

Profound silence of a conscientious objector  
April 24, 2012
Brian Doyle

I remember the day my older brother came back from the navy. He was 20. I was 11. He slouched in his chair, weary and dismissive and friendly. I wanted to say something amusing to make him see me but no words came. So I asked him if he wanted a sandwich. Sandwiches were a way of talking in our family.

RELIGION

Nuns bucked by papal bulls  
April 23, 2012
Andrew Hamilton

Tensions between enterprising women religious and church authorities go back a long way. Last week's Vatican action against women religious in the US raises the same questions about respect and process as did the dismissal of Bishop Morris in Toowoomba. But its potential consequences are much larger.

POETRY

Poets in wartime  
April 23, 2012
Various

O for a day without comrades bloody fallen, lovers in guttural grief, shrieking, sobbing, and mothers in stoic dignity, mantillas drawn tight, our heroic flame, corralled colts brazenly waiting, cruelly snuffed. Have we learned nothing my friend? 

THE AGENDA

Unlocking the culture of clergy sex abuse  
April 22, 2012
Michael Mullins

Victoria's parliamentary committee has much it could learn from Ireland's Murphy Report into clerical sex abuse, which identified the 'don't ask, don't tell' culture under which bishops did not talk about it even among themselves and were unaware of how widespread the problem was.

REFLECTION

Imagining nationalism through Anzac suffering  
April 22, 2012
Benedict Coleridge

Political theorist Isaiah Berlin argued that nationalism manifests most strongly in communities that have suffered some wound. In a period of unparalleled wealth, in which most Australians are far removed from war, Anzac Day is a way of instructing ourselves about the place of suffering in Australia's history.