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Section: Religion

  • RELIGION

    Church statements could be overrated

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 12 September 2007
    1 Comment

    Whenever a moral issue swims into public view, people will call for church leaders to make a statement about it. The call should be weighed carefully – such statements have their place but are not normally all that helpful.

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  • RELIGION

    Hiding weakness no way to answer sex abuse charges

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 05 September 2007
    10 Comments

    A church that recognises its struggle to follow the way of Christ has no need to defend its reputation. 'Chaste prostitute' was one of many images the early church had to describe the tension between its high calling and broken response.

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  • RELIGION

    Bishop John Shelby Spong and consumer-friendly religion

    • Scott Stephens
    • 05 September 2007
    4 Comments

    Western Buddhism and Pentecostalism are sometimes criticised as self-indulgent forms of religion. Is Bishop Spong's Christian humanism any different?

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  • RELIGION

    Politicians need capacity to imagine heaven

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 22 August 2007
    2 Comments

    It is surprising how little the political parties have to offer in the lead up to the Federal Election. They do not present themselves as nation builders with visions of a prosperous and happy society, but as technicians with a bare promise that we will be better off financially.

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  • RELIGION

    Hip-pocket implications of real jobs in remote communities

    • Frank Brennan
    • 22 August 2007
    13 Comments

    We are now entering a new phase in Aboriginal policy. It is not just about protecting the children, and the latter phase will challenge taxpayers. Real jobs and real services don't come cheap in remote Australia, regardless of the community's racial identity.

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  • RELIGION

    Hiroshima insider's imprint on Jesuit sensibility

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 08 August 2007
    2 Comments

    This year marks the centenary of the birth of Pedro Arrupe, the Basque Jesuit who worked in Japan and later became the Jesuits' Superior General. He was present at Hiroshima on 6 August 6 1945, the day on which the atomic bomb was dropped.

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  • RELIGION

    Ecumenical roads no longer lead to Rome

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 25 July 2007
    24 Comments

    Contrary to what Catholics would once have said, ecumenism does not seek the return of other churches to Rome. The priority for each church is to reflect seriously on what Christ demands of it and its members.

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  • RELIGION

    Gentle Benedict concedes papal roadshow must go on

    • Paul Collins
    • 11 July 2007
    14 Comments

    Following earlier scepticism, Pope Benedict XVI last week confirmed that he is coming to Sydney for World Youth Day next July. Unlike his predecessor, he doesn't see himself as ‘bishop of the world’. Instead he has reasserted the traditional pastoral role of the pope as Bishop of Rome.

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  • RELIGION

    Dialogue threatened with extinction

    • James McEvoy
    • 27 June 2007

    A strong theme of 20th century philosophy and social science is humans as 'dialogical' beings. Our sense of self is defined only in relationship with others, and the other is understood on his or her own terms. But in recent years, this view of the world has been contested.

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  • RELIGION

    Suspect motivations behind stark Government rhetoric

    • Frank Brennan
    • 27 June 2007
    45 Comments

    The Prime Minister has said, “We are dealing with children of the tenderest age who have been exposed to the most terrible abuse”. He asks, “What matters more: the constitutional niceties, or the care and protection of young children?" It is not a choice of one or the other.

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  • RELIGION

    'See, judge, act' more than truth by consensus

    • Stefan Gigacz
    • 27 June 2007
    5 Comments

    The See Judge Act method has been used by church and other groups for many years, as a means of putting social justice principles into practice. Conservative critics have recently described it as the manufacturing of truth by consensus, but it has more to do with a common search for truth.

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  • RELIGION

    Was Judas just misunderstood?

    • Kylie Crabbe
    • 20 June 2007
    4 Comments

    As the archetypal betrayer, Judas is the one we love to hate, and we don’t go into it too much. He’s the slightly two-dimensional necessary bad-guy who we allow to move the plot along in the story of Jesus’ death.

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