Keywords: Australian Christian Lobby
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 10 September 2012
9 Comments
Lobbies such as the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce are frustrated but doing the right thing by attempting to appeal to the sense of compassion in our politicians. We can only trust in human nature that this will ultimately prevail. Unfortunately other groups such as the Australian Christian Lobby think in terms of the 'Christian vote' and play on politicians fear of electoral oblivion.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 07 September 2012
18 Comments
Church groups in Australia have vigorously campaigned to protect themselves from particular equal opportunity laws. While there is agreement about a faith community's right to employ practising believers, there is plenty of room for disagreement as to how most prudently and charitably to exercise that right.
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EDUCATION
- John Warhurst
- 09 July 2012
10 Comments
Labor speechwriter Graham Freudenberg observed that ‘the oldest, deepest, most poisonous debate in Australia has been about government aid to church schools’. The most dramatic episode in the history of church state relations in Australia was the Goulburn schools strike, which took place 50 years ago this month.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 02 December 2011
43 Comments
Any parliamentary debate on same-sex marriage will highlight the human experiences of MPs, who will reflect, often painfully, on questions of sexuality within their family and among friends. Should same-sex marriage ultimately win out, such stories will play a crucial role.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 23 November 2011
Fr Frank Brennan SJ's address at the 'Ethics in a Multi Faith Society: Muslims and Christians in Dialogue' Conference, Conference under the auspices of the Fethullah Gulen Chair in the Study of Islam and Muslim-Catholic Relations, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, 23 November 2011.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 21 November 2011
16 Comments
If large numbers of Australians are worried about the threat to Australia's sovereignty posed by a few thousand asylum seekers arriving by boat each year, surely they would have wanted to be consulted on the use of Australia's territory in a potentially game changing US posturing exercise against China.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 17 October 2011
10 Comments
Gillard's atheism puts her in stark contrast to her immediate predecessors Kevin Rudd and John Howard. We consider several implications of Gillard's position, including her relations with church-state issues and community attitudes towards gay marriage and euthanasia.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 02 August 2011
13 Comments
In the midst of debates about same sex marriage that will test and probably break relations between the Gillard Government and some Christian communities, the chaplaincy program is seen by both camps as a win-win. A challenge to be considered by the High Court this month could change all that.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 18 July 2011
Speech given by Fr Frank Brennan SJ at the 'Law and Religion: Legal Regulation of Religious Groups, Organisations and Communities' Conference Dinner in Melbourne on 15 July 2011.
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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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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 28 March 2011
21 Comments
Currently the churches and the Greens have a mostly dysfunctional relationship. More than a few Greens owe their passion for social justice to a strong Christian upbringing. But while they both want values to triumph over pragmatism in government, they regard each other as the enemy.
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INFORMATION
- June Factor
- 18 March 2011
8 Comments
A Sydney Morning Herald editorial 71 years ago declared that to persecute refugees 'is stupid from the purely practical point of view'. The practical and humanitarian reasons it outlines for welcoming refugees remain relevant today.
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