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There are more than 200 results, only the first 200 are displayed here.
After two years, the attack on Ukraine by Russia on February 24 has left half-a-million dead, traumatised a generation, and promises little in the way of a halt to hostilities. The unpalatable reality to this conflict is that some diplomatic solution will have to be found in this war of murderous attrition.
February marks 15 years since the Black Saturday fires in Victoria when some 400 fires raced through 78 locations, taking 173 lives, injuring hundreds more, destroying more than 2,020 homes and the entire township of Marysville. In a warming climate, that reality of loss is likely to be repeated ad infinitum.
The illusion of warfare as a contest between professionals should have disappeared forever as the twentieth century brought numerous examples of barbarous armies butchering civilians. And unfortunately, the pattern now is that some 90 per cent war casualties are civilians.
‘The loss of memory by a nation is also a loss of its conscience.’ As the loss of conscience grows with each succeeding generation, one day righting the boat on the sea of forgetfulness will become impossible. In the end, what people don’t know, they won’t miss.
In an individualistic culture, Lent could be seen as an individual practice of self-betterment. Historically, however, it was a communal activity designed to make the community more attentive and aware of those around them and of their world.
Lent is a time of asking what matters and on commitment. It is a time of grounding, on awareness of the ground and the ash on which we stand, and of focusing on what is important. That being grounded underlies the idea of humility, of being earthed with one’s bare feet on the soil.
In a world grappling with war, inequality, and environmental devastation, can a celebration of sacrifice offer hope? For a secular Australia, the relevance of Lent may lie in bridging the gap between a seemingly dehumanizing act and the profound belief in the preciousness of human life. Can this paradoxical notion inspire action to heal the wounds of our world?
In a hierarchical society, we routinely celebrate and reward various dominating and competitive behaviour. When children and young people replicate this in the playground, we call it bullying. Anti-bullying measures may be more effective shifting the focus away from perpetrators and on the social and institutional context.
The referendum result was a disaster for the country and a tragedy for First Australians and there has been little appetite for public discussion about lessons to be learnt from this abject failure. If we are to move forward, it’s time to begin the conversation about past mistakes.
With large moral and ethical questions, I find myself slipping and sliding along a continuum of 'always yes' to 'definitely no', and never fully landing on either. Am I kidding myself? Is this inability to take a side lack of moral clarity or fibre? Or should I make a decision and stick to it?
What links the debate about the conduct of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the detention of children in a crowded and under-resourced Cairns watch house, and British legislation to send asylum seekers to Rwanda?
This rush to the missile age is part of a broader escalation of the arms race in previously peaceful regions, distancing countries like Australia and New Zealand from their roles as honest brokers in a nuclear-free Pacific.
25-36 out of 200 results.