Welcome to Eureka Street

back to site

Keywords: Pragmatism

  • RELIGION

    Making friends not foes of rights and religion

    • Frank Brennan
    • 13 September 2011
    5 Comments

    The Church of the 21st century should be the exemplar of due process, natural justice and transparency. While there can be little useful critique of the final decision of Pope Benedict to force the early retirement of Bishop Bill Morris, there is plenty of scope to review the processes leading up to it.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Doubting democracy in Muslim Turkey

    • William Gourlay
    • 22 June 2011
    7 Comments

    Much has been made of Turkey as a model for reform and democratisation in the Muslim world. If the Turkish experience is indicative, then the process of establishing robust and viable democracies in the Middle East will be long and slow.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Students in sex work

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 16 June 2011
    4 Comments

    In May a German study revealed that one in three students in Berlin would consider sex work as a means of paying for their education. We've seen similar phenomena in Australia. In Sleeping Beauty, Lucy is a university student who finds herself drawn into working a bizarre niche in the sex industry.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Demonising the Greens

    • 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.

    READ MORE
  • MEDIA

    Celebrating the carbon tax

    • Tony Kevin
    • 28 February 2011
    32 Comments

    At last, an Australian government has presented for public consideration an intelligently conceived framework for a national carbon emissions plan. Has Gillard broken her pre-election 'no carbon tax' promise? Does it matter?

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    WikiLeaks and artistic freedom in China

    • Tony Smith
    • 14 December 2010
    6 Comments

    While WikiLeaks' exposures of US government secrets have created a media storm, the case of Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei, which reveals much about the authorities in China, has attracted little comment. China has moved towards capitalism but not democracy.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    One day at Villawood

    • Ben Coleridge
    • 16 November 2010
    8 Comments

    Soon enough there was a group of children in the yard and a soccer game was about to begin. First we had to decide the teams. I asked one small boy, whose family was from Sri Lanka, which country he wanted his team to be. 'Australia,' he yelled back.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Kristina Keneally's rational Catholic conscience

    • Tony Smith
    • 15 October 2010
    39 Comments

    Traditionally, Catholic-Labor links have been so strong that wits described the Church as 'the Labor Party at prayer'. NSW Labor Premier Kristina Keneally represents a growingly assertive Catholicism which might be described as progressive, rational and independent.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Utopianism could fix politics

    • Colin Long
    • 06 September 2010
    7 Comments

    On the most important issues facing the nation, indeed the world — climate change — we have had a Prime Minister who vaguely recognises the problem but resists doing anything about it, and an opposition leader who trivialises it to a question of tax.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Hype undermines atheists' mission

    • Tim Roberts
    • 12 March 2010
    31 Comments

    An ego-driven, take-no-prisoners approach dooms atheism to remain an exclusive club. Only by forming alliances with the moderate religious community will atheists be able to preserve the elements of society they value most, such as freedom of enquiry and the separation of Church and State.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    To catch a bully

    • Luke Williams
    • 08 March 2010
    13 Comments

    The growing awareness and legislation around bullying has had an unintended consequence: many workplace bullies have simply become sneaky. As the debate about this issue starts to swing, perhaps it's time bullies started to lie awake and worry.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Why people power won't reform Iran

    • Shahram Akbarzadeh
    • 23 June 2009
    3 Comments

    The disappointment of Iran's youths at the obviously rigged election results is now being played out in the streets in open defiance of the regime. Unfortunately the Islamic regime is in no mood to compromise.

    READ MORE