Keywords: Australian Student Christian Movement
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 10 October 2013
4 Comments
'When confronted with moral evil in public policy, church personnel have a choice: to be prophetic sticking to the moral absolutes, or to be practical engaging in the compromises needed to temper the evil. At the moment, the only political parties not wanting to embrace a short term shock and awe approach are the Greens, the DLP and the Palmer United Party. And neither Christine Milne, John Madigan nor Clive Palmer will ever be prime minister.' Workshop paper from Catholic Social Services Victoria's Listening, Learning and Leading conference, October 2013.
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MARGARET DOOLEY AWARD
- Alice Johnson
- 09 October 2013
3 Comments
In a contemporary society where the focus lies amid a whirlpool of egocentricity, self-gain and self-improvement, one must question where the true motive for giving service lies. While the 'ethic of duty' is the ethic of the social gospel movements, Kant believed religion was only valuable because it caused one to lead a good moral life. Thus it is possible to argue that the habit of giving true service lies in the 'ethic of love'.
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AUSTRALIA
- Luke Williams
- 19 October 2012
36 Comments
My first encounter with gay reparative therapy (GRT) was the day I summoned the courage to ask a friend about the cluster of scars on his wrists. The Australian Psychological Society recognises conversion therapy as harmful to individuals' mental health. Yet GRT of minors is unregulated, and in the case of Christian ex-gay groups often run by unqualified laypeople.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 18 July 2011
5 Comments
When I appeared on Q&A with Christopher Hitchens, a young man asked whether we can 'ever hope to live in a truly secular society' while the religious continue to 'affect political discourse and decision making' on euthanasia, same-sex unions and abortion. Hitchens was simpaticao. I was dumbstruck.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 19 March 2010
4 Comments
The challenges and opportunities are to fund equitably all
networks in education and to ensure that robust morale and community
engagement are hallmarks of all parts of the network, including state
schools and emerging schools such as Muslim schools.
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ENVIRONMENT
- Thor Beowulf
- 07 December 2009
5 Comments
Trees are recognised as powerful cosmological agents in many of the earth's myths, rituals and religious beliefs. A worldwide 'bell ringing for climate justice' on 13 December will signify a vocal, moral and spiritual re-engagement of churches with nature.
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EDUCATION
- Neil Ormerod
- 18 November 2009
7 Comments
The movement of existing theological schools into the university structure restores the ancient place of theology as a discipline within a university. But universities could be more interested in money than theology, with theological colleges bringing healthy student numbers and value for money research outputs.
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MARGARET DOOLEY AWARD
- Ben Coleridge
- 14 August 2009
The lecturer's joke about religion is met with laughter. Here, 'faith' is the jester. In dismissing faith, we dismiss people for whom faith is central to the search for truth. We exclude them from that task of imagination and creation.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Moira Rayner
- 13 August 2009
What do our major religions have to fear from changes to equal
opportunity law? The challenge is a worthy and a practical one: in what way do the
activities of religious institutions actually reflect the values of
their prophets and visionaries.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Avril Hannah-Jones
- 07 August 2009
1 Comment
The Australian Student Christian Movement was ahead of the mainstream church in its rejection of fundamentalism, its activism, support for ecumenism, and encouragement of lay and female leadership. Since the 1960s it has been a movement in exile.
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RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 11 December 2008
9 Comments
Church political pressure works against
engaging young people in meaningful conversation. The value of conversation is often seen to lie less in the search for truth than in articulating positions.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 06 October 2008
'Lee and
Christine Rush are your average Ozzie couple, except that their teenage son Scott is on death row in Bali having been
convicted of being a hapless drug mule. It will not go down well on the streets of Jakarta
if Australians are baying for the blood of the Bali bombers one month
and then pleading to save our sons and daughters the next month.'
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