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Hundreds of Australian Tamil people gathered outside Kirribilli to protest the attacks on Tamil civilians in northern Sri Lanka. Not wanting to wake the neighbours, they kept their voices down. But the message was clear: 'Please listen.'
We need to be on our guard against laws and policies enacted in the name of the public interest but with insufficient consideration for the human rights of the minority.
Catholic and Anglican Churches are relatively recent converts to religious environmentalism. The rhetoric of the Catholic Church on Creation-care remains largely an optional extra for its organisations; economic and institutional gains take precedence.
The medical pledge to do no harm no matter what the cost effective benefits, and the conscience of the doctor are still key elements in any law which promotes good medicine. –Frank Brennan, addressing the Medico Legal Society of Victoria
Professor Martha Nussbaum's recent book Liberty of Conscience provides a rich textured treatment of the place of religion in the public square. If God is taken out of the picture, it may be difficult to maintain a human rights commitment to the weakest and most despised in society.
Memories of the Gaza war are likely to focus on the human rights aspects of Israel's military conduct. Demographics could constitute a greater threat to Israel than rockets or terrorism, and may be the wrench that breaks the cycle of death and destruction.
'For me, talk of the death penalty evoked the young, frightened faces of Scott and Emmanuel, as well as the laughing, haughty faces of Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra.' Full text from Frank Brennan's session on 'Killing People for Killing People', Ubud Writers Festival, 17 October 2008.
Conventional wisdom tells us democracies are inherently stable, yet an extremist spirit has emerged in mainstream Indian politics. The silence among Australian Christians about the suffering of Indian Christians is as deafening as that of Australian Muslims towards Muslims in Darfur.
The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne has said Catholic Hospitals will not abide by Victorian legislation that compels health professionals to participate in abortions. Civil libertarians are well advised to support this stand, regardless of their moral views.
There was good reason for keeping the message simple. We wanted our cards to get past the censors. There is a time for advocacy, and a time for simple words of support. Together they make up the 'human' and the 'rights' in human rights.
Provocation by the US and the Saakashvili government has realigned the balance of power between Russia and the West. The Georgia conflict is the most important event in East-West relations since the fall of Soviet Communism.
The text is from Professor Frank Brennan's 2008 Institute of Justice Studies Oration from 22 May 2008.
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