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Keywords: Punitive

  • AUSTRALIA

    The homeless poet

    • John Falzon
    • 12 October 2009
    5 Comments

    A Japanese homeless man was sending the most exquisite poems to a popular newspaper. There is nothing extraordinary about a person experiencing homelessness producing great poetry. Yet the scenario was regarded with astonishment.

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  • RELIGION

    When tolerance doesn't cut it

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 27 August 2009
    5 Comments

    One striking feature of our society is the contrast between an emphasis on tolerance, and an increasingly punitive approach to lawbreaking. Shock jock Kyle Sandilands and violent youths in our cities have been exposed to this.

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  • RELIGION

    Who deserves charity

    • Susie Byers
    • 14 July 2009
    10 Comments

    The Pope's social encyclical comes at a time when Australian churches increasingly have to provide charity to those who have been failed by the state. For charity to constitute true giving, social organisations must also be prepared to commit politically.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Migration reform good news at last

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 01 July 2009
    1 Comment

    'Migration reform' rarely has positive connotations when dealing with refugees and asylum seekers. As asylum seekers continue to reach Australia by boat, reforms to Labor's immigration policies point to a more just approach.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Surviving institutional abuse

    • Andrena Jamieson
    • 05 June 2009
    4 Comments

    The policy of assimilation made an inhumane idea more important than human beings. Redfern Pastor Bill Simon recovered from his own oppression under Government policies. It's shameful that a miracle was required.

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  • RELIGION

    The 'bad eggs' of Ireland's abuse scandal

    • Frank O'Shea
    • 05 June 2009
    24 Comments

    After a lifetime in schools run by religious orders, I am appalled to think abuse against children in institutions in Ireland was 'endemic'. I try to persuade myself that 'Brendan', the saintliest man I ever knew, cancels out the bad eggs.

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  • RELIGION

    Confronting economic monsters

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 15 May 2009

    The public's interest in the Budget has been mild, and its disengagement notable. In the shadow of the economic crisis, there is space for deeper reflection on the human condition, which will help us understand why greed and fear so dominate in human affairs.

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  • RELIGION

    On blaming God for swine flu

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 06 May 2009
    15 Comments

    An American priest reportedly claimed that swine flu was God's punishment for sin. The idea that God might use natural disasters to punish people is repugnant. But at first glance the Scriptures do seem to represent God as doing just that.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Uganda's aggressive peace

    • Ben Fraser
    • 14 October 2008
    1 Comment

    'Supernatural' rebel leader Alice Lakwena told her fighters that bullets would bounce off them and stones would become grenades when pitched at the enemy. For many Ugandans, religion was ballast against violence. For others it was an instrument of war.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Laziness wrong target for welfare reforms

    • Susie Byers
    • 04 March 2008
    2 Comments

    Reforms need to be proposed with an eye to compassion, providing real skills and training, and dealing with the underlying issues of racism, mental health, poverty, and education. These have a far greater impact on workforce participation than bone laziness.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    War on terror fosters US anti-immigrant hysteria

    • David Rosen
    • 13 December 2007
    4 Comments

    A recent series of raids by the US Department of Homeland Security signals a new era of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country. This is rationalised by a false association of undocumented immigrants with the 'war on terror'.

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  • RELIGION

    Lawyers' role in a democracy

    • Frank Brennan
    • 29 November 2007

    The power of the State can be exercised capriciously and unaccountably when the “Don’t ask; don’t tell” approach to government is immune from parliamentary, judicial or public scrutiny. It is the task of lawyers to make it more difficult for politicians to take this approach.

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