Keywords: Remembrance Day
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Philip Harvey
- 15 May 2013
7 Comments
On the eve of the violent overthrow of the elected government of Chile 40 years ago, Pablo Neruda wrote a cycle of cantos that came to be called The Book of Questions. Twelve days after the coups the poet was dead. It is hard to miss the military and political connotations of some of Neruda's 'questions'.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Peter Gebhardt
- 29 May 2012
3 Comments
Never hoards it, for he has new urns to make, for us to admire and, sometimes, to love.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Philip Harvey
- 25 April 2012
16 Comments
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.
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RELIGION
- Benedict Coleridge
- 23 April 2012
10 Comments
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.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 11 November 2011
5 Comments
Asked 'How are you?', John would caress his scalp, straighten his hat, adjust his cuffs, massage his moustache, purse his lips, and answer, 'I'm headed for Grand Central. But I don't know when this service is due to arrive.' He never did meet Stalin, but thought he had met just about everyone else of significance on the planet.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Alison Sampson
- 02 November 2011
22 Comments
'Did I have a brother once?' asks a little boy, no longer sure. His mother's eyes fill with tears. 'Yes, darling. A long time ago, you had a baby brother of your own.' He shouts triumphantly, 'I did have a brother!' and runs off. We mothers glance at each other, then look away. There are no words.
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AUSTRALIA
- Vince Chadwick
- 12 October 2011
1 Comment
Six years ago an inner city fountain was transformed into a memorial for the victims of the Bali bombings. Today, skateboarders leap onto the ledge and glide on their back wheels. Skateboarding is a rebellious culture, yet it seems fitting that a monument to peoples' lives be filled with life.
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AUSTRALIA
- Binoy Kampmark
- 26 May 2011
6 Comments
Often the reconciliation debate is framed around matters of the perpetrator's reaction, rather than that of the victim, who holds a superior moral currency. Could it be ever feasible for Australia's Indigenous community to countenance unconditional forgiveness?
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RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilon
- 21 April 2011
10 Comments
Good intentions are not sufficient to give life meaning. Easter's significance comes not from Jesus' choice to die, but in God's gift of raising him from the dead. In the Anzac story, it may be comforting to say young soldiers died that others may live, but the comfort is too easy.
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AUSTRALIA
- Luke Walladge
- 17 March 2011
20 Comments
The NRL and national soccer competition already play matches on Good Friday, a move which they made without input from church groups. Now is the time for churches to collaborate with the AFL on a Good Friday match, or else it will be left behind again.
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RELIGION
- Katharine Massam
- 11 January 2011
1 Comment
Mary MacKillop's face is on the Sydney Habour Bridge, at least temporarily. Is she becoming one of the clichés for Australia, alongside bushmen and Hills Hoist mums in our catalogue of national identity?
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Mark Chou
- 27 October 2010
6 Comments
Epicurus makes clear that food is pleasurable to the extent that it satiates a need. My dad's longing for the foods of childhood has nothing to do with bodily hunger, and everything to do with remembrance of his childhood in Taiwan and of his parents.
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