Vol 28 No 1

15 January 2018

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RELIGION

Francis Sullivan: Reform and renewal after Royal Commission
- Fatima Measham
- 24 January 2018
19 Comments
Fatima Measham speaks with Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Truth Justice and Healing Council, to reflect on the journey since the Royal Commission was first announced in November 2012 and to consider what are the next steps for the Church.
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RELIGION

Rebuilding trust must be the priority
- Michael McVeigh
- 24 January 2018
37 Comments
It's a common refrain from survivors of clerical sexual abuse, often heard when church leaders try to explain away their failure to listen and respond to the crimes of their peers: 'They just don't get it.' Up until recently, Pope Francis has seemed to 'get it' in his response to the crisis of abuse. But recent events have raised doubts.
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INTERNATIONAL

Belle of the ball: A Syrian morality tale
- Justin Glyn
- 23 January 2018
1 Comment
Assuming the world is a stage upon which we are the pre-eminent player is problematic when applied to real life, particularly if we happen to have some advantage which allows us to get away with the illusion for a time. The perils of such hubris can be seen particularly acutely in the current Syrian situation.
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CARTOON

Don't go changing
- Fiona Katauskas
- 23 January 2018
1 Comment
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AUSTRALIA

Attacks on 'lenient' judges harm society
- Andrew Hamilton
- 23 January 2018
12 Comments
Alarm at supposed youth gangs in Australia is not new. But the current response to claimed Sudanese gangs has a fresh and disturbing aspect: the attack by politicians and their media allies on judges and magistrates for lenient sentences and the granting of bail. Such attacks have harmful consequences.
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INTERNATIONAL

Israel and Palestine's game of twos
- Na'ama Carlin
- 22 January 2018
4 Comments
These are volatile days in Israel and Palestine. From Trump's inflammatory statement on Jerusalem, to the arrest of the Nabi Saleh women, every gesture fuels tensions. In Israel and Palestine, division is etched into geography, captured by the separation wall. My family lives on one side of that wall; on the other, The Other.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Writing workshops at the Muslim School
- Jenny Blackford
- 22 January 2018
3 Comments
I ask the kids to pick a character and write a sentence or a paragraph to start the telling of those lives cut short. A tragedy so far away in space and time is made brand-new, but still as sad, by Aussie Muslim hands and shiny minds.
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MEDIA

Ansari shows we need to talk about consent
- Olga Segura
- 19 January 2018
12 Comments
Following Grace's account of her encounter with comedian Aziz Ansari, I have had many conversations with men I love and admire, about how we define consent, how we define intimacy, and how a man's aggression, while not being criminal, can still be harmful. I, like many women I know, have been Grace.
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ENVIRONMENT

Bitcoin has a massive energy problem
- Greg Foyster
- 19 January 2018
1 Comment
The digital currency Bitcoin consumes more electricity per year than New Zealand. Yes, the entire country. Escalating energy intensity is actually a security feature of the currency. With the related carbon dioxide emissions from this escalating electricity consumption, Bitcoin is a formula for climate change catastrophe.
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RELIGION

Australia's gay Muslims face a double bind
- Rachel Woodlock
- 18 January 2018
9 Comments
Nur Warsame hopes to open a gay-friendly mosque, quite a feat, in a country where mosque applications often face fierce resistance from non-Muslim locals. Gay Muslims are mostly rejected by the Muslim community for being gay and stigmatised by the wider community for being Muslim. Many cannot reconcile the two identities.
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AUSTRALIA

Australia Day has never been unifying
- Fatima Measham
- 18 January 2018
32 Comments
Other states, having been founded on various dates, regarded 26 January as a Sydney thing until 1935. In 1938 it was declared an Aboriginal Day of Mourning. To press the point, the current momentum against Australia Day is not some newfound 'political correctness', not least because it predates the term.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Trump and Nixon vs the media
- Tim Kroenert
- 17 January 2018
1 Comment
As America endures one of the most authoritarian and chaotic presidencies in its history, Richard Nixon has, for obvious reasons, been a recurring touchstone for many commentators. Given the clear comparisons, it's no surprise Steven Spielberg pulled out all the stops to bring The Post to the public ASAP.
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RELIGION

Philippines needs pro-social justice church
- Erin Cook
- 17 January 2018
4 Comments
Though public health activists in the Philippines point to the church's influence in keeping sex education out of schools and contraceptive sales low as a major factor in the country's rising HIV rate, when it comes to taking on Duterte the church is the country's strongest progressive force. But that may be set to change.
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AUSTRALIA

Airing abuse allegations serves public interest
- Kate Galloway
- 16 January 2018
15 Comments
Many claim it is inappropriate for media to report these stories. The concept of justice at law depends upon systems designed to weigh evidence, affording the parties the opportunity to tell their stories. But what if these systems are inadequate to expose the abuses of power evident in the recent disclosures?
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CARTOON

Unhappy New Year
- Fiona Katauskas
- 16 January 2018
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AUSTRALIA

Bursting Australia's monolingual bubble
- Ann Deslandes
- 15 January 2018
6 Comments
Over 250 languages were spoken across Australia at the time that English arrived with British colonisation. Since then, English has been a strict marker of the contours of Australianness. Were it reframed as a lingua franca rather than the mandatory language, the linguistic diversity in this nation would have more room to breathe.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

At St Brendan's
- Grant Fraser
- 15 January 2018
7 Comments
On days like this, with blisters of tar already softening on the road, the nuns would curdle in the heat, shifting their stays by habit; sometimes, a bead of sweat would tempt their brows. Cooped in our desks, we steered our wilful pens over acreages of white pages.
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RELIGION

New Year dreams of a better world
- Andrew Hamilton
- 12 January 2018
10 Comments
The beginning of the year is traditionally a time to look beyond the messiness of the past year, to imagine a larger and more generous life, and to make good resolutions. It is also a time for reflecting on the character of public life and to ask whether we find there any large vision of a better world. And, indeed, to ask whether we should look for one.
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INTERNATIONAL

Oprah won't be the anti-Trump
- Zac Davis
- 12 January 2018
5 Comments
With a rousing display of oration not seen since before last November, she electrified the room and inspired a nation to all ask: should Oprah be our next president? True, it was a great speech. If she runs, she will win. If she wins, it will be a substantial improvement. But these are not good enough reasons to cheer for a presidential run.
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AUSTRALIA

African gangs myth shows fear is winning
- Troy Pittaway
- 12 January 2018
20 Comments
I have been working with Sudanese youth for over eight years and never encountered anything like the gangs of youths that are being talked about. To try and distill an entire culture, with various sub-cultures and values, into a media soundbite about hordes of African gangs, insults not only the Sudanese community, but every Australian.
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Vol 28 No 1