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Link Highlights | November 2017

Monday, 4 December 2017  | Ethos editor


Link highlights – November 2017

Below is a selection of links to online news and opinion pieces from November 2017. To keep up-to-date with our posts, ‘like’ us on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter.

The articles below are selected by the editor, Armen Gakavian, at his discretion. Neither the editor nor Ethos necessarily endorse the views expressed in these articles.

Addiction

Nils von Kalm writes: When we believe that life is about how much pleasure we can pack into it, we will never be happy. When we instead come to believe that life is found in surrender to a Power greater than ourselves and we then live a life of service for others, we will finally find what our addictions have always been searching for.

https://www.sightmagazine.com.au/columns/sight-seeing/8116-sight-seeing-how-our-culture-breeds-addiction


Asylum seekers, refugees and migration

Geoff Broughton writes: Anger, antipathy or ambivalence toward refugees is a profound suppression of our own past. Like the nation of Israel, this is more than an unmerciful policy; it is the betrayal of national identity.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/08/4761842.htm

Suvendrini Perrera writes: The Turnbull government's summary rejection of the key recommendation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart smacked of "taking out the trash" at the end of a busy news week that included the High Court's decision on the dual citizens in parliament. The image is particularly telling in the context of the historical abjection and devaluation of Aboriginal lives, and the official consignment of so many prior aspirations for recognition and self-determination to the dust heap of expectations.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/06/4760791.htm

Robert Manne writes: A moral history of Australia's asylum-seeker policy would reveal a process whereby we gradually lost the capacity to see the horror of what we were willing to do to fellow human beings.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/06/4760914.htm

Suvendrini Perera writes: Australia's politics of Indigenous recognition and its policies of "border protection" are deeply interconnected. They both represent desperate efforts to establish the legitimacy of the settler state. The spectre that haunts this parliament's refusal of a united Indigenous advisory voice is the spectre of its own illegitimacy.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/06/4760791.htm

Peter Hartcher writes: The Manus Island refugee processing centre in PNG is now closed. Three other Australian-built centres are ready to receive the asylum seekers, but most of the asylum seekers are refusing to move out of the former detention centre. Why are they staying, and what will happen next?

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/what-do-refugee-advocates-hope-to-achieve-on-manus-20171103-gzeeiu.html

Nick McKim argues that Peter Hartcher’s article is incorrect on several points. He explains why the asylum seekers have not moved out of the former detention centre, and explains why he and others offering support to these men.

https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/nick-mckim-a-reply-to-peter-hartcher-on-the-manus-humanitarian-crisis,10908

Mick Pope writes: While governments like Australia close their borders, and the US closes its mind to climate change, Christians are to love our neighbours by linking these justice issues together.

https://sojo.net/articles/christians-rally-support-refugees-need-acknowledge-cause

Mick Pope is a climate change scientist, university lecturer and eco-theologian. The 48-year-old speaks about his hopes for the COP23 talks in Bonn, how the church is engaging with the issue and the message in his latest book, 'A Climate of Justice: Loving Your Neighbour in a Warming World'.

https://www.sightmagazine.com.au/features/8205-the-interview-mick-pope-climate-scientist

The New York Times sent journalists into a contested detention camp in Papua New Guinea to investigate Australia’s refugee policy, and the resistance rising against it. Damien Cave writes.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/18/world/australia/manus-island-australia-detainees.html

Paige Taylor writes: “I found it so difficult to believe anyone would risk their life if their life was not already at risk. But I was finding out that they did. … During 17 assignments to Christmas Island, I learned a lot about liars, opportunists and innocent victims while reporting on the more than 50,000 asylum-seekers who reached Australia by boat and the estimated 1200 who died trying.”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/asylumseekers-risk-all-for-new-life-often-for-most-perverse-reasons/news-story/fa70d9749450ac4eb11ad970842bbe6a

Scott Buchanan writes: None of us receive an unmediated view of what’s occurring on Manus Island. In fact, the entire debate surrounding asylum seekers — particularly as it relates to the state of Australia’s offshore processing regime — has been conducted amidst a thick pall of fog, shrouding the truth from view. But behind the riven nature of these debates lie competing ideological narratives, which shape and constrain one’s interpretation of the broader issue generally, and the Manus Island saga in particular.

https://scottlbuchanan.wordpress.com/2017/11/27/manus-island-narrative-frames-and-the-politics-of-truth/

Andrew Hamilton writes: The refugees on Manus Island are not simply actors in a dramatic poem. They are human beings like us to whom we have a responsibility. They could have enriched us by their ingenuity and bravery had we accepted them. We should continue to listen to their voices and keep them in our hearts.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54390

Ben Doherty and Helen Davidson write: The most dangerous mistruth in current Australian politics is that in order for lives to be saved at sea, other people – accused of no crime – must be indefinitely and arbitrarily punished offshore.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/30/australias-offshore-detention-regime-is-a-brutal-and-obscene-piece-of-self-delusion

Anne Lim writes: Australian Christian leader Jarrod McKenna says he was overwhelmed and humbled by the Christ-like kindness he was shown by detainees in the Manus Island detention centre during a visit this week.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/christian-leader-overwhelmed-by-kindness-of-manus-detainees/

Samuel Escobar writes: If churches in Europe reflect the embrace of Christ rather than the exclusion of a frightened society, they may become better bases for a new evangelisation of Europe. Churches in North America may become the kind of prophetic community that will deliver the church from a cheap form of civil religion. As in the first century, migration will be an avenue and a challenge that God uses for the accomplishment of Christian mission.

https://www.lausanne.org/content/migration-ethnic-conflict

Michael frost writes: As followers of the Prince of Peace we are resolved not only to preach about turning the other cheek, but to practice it. For us, nonviolence shouldn’t simply be a strategy for social change; it should be a way of life.

http://mikefrost.net/nonviolence-strength-bringing-justice-power-together/

Hwvar Knoshnow writes: I also happen to be a refugee. The term refugee has been used to instill fear into people. Yet they are human beings who have asked for our help and instead of welcoming them home we have used cruel policy to detain them. Our prayer is that the hearts of our leaders are softened.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/i-locked-myself-to-the-front-gate-of-kirribilli-house-because-i-too-am-a-refugee/

Nils von Kalm writes: I have long subscribed to the idea that the place where your passion and the world’s need intersects, there lies your calling. But I’m not so sure anymore that following Jesus is about doing what makes you come alive. Jesus calls us to be prophetic, and that, by its very nature, is hardly ever comfortable.

http://soulthoughts.com/what-the-manus-island-refugees-have-taught-me-about-following-jesus

Paul Tyson writes: When the militarized interests of the nation trump the rights of citizens to challenge the actions of our government towards vulnerable ‘Others’, we are moving in a Nazi direction.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-tyson/towards-nazi-australia


Atheism

Michael Jensen writes: I'm disappointed that ‘Reason to Hope’, the third Global Atheist Convention scheduled for Melbourne in February 2018, has been cancelled due of 'lack of interest'. I say that as someone who believes in God. A full and frank discussion of fundamental ideas is healthy and makes us better citizens. And when we don't care about ultimate questions we are really at our worst. Even no faith is better than lazy faith.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/cancellation-of-atheist-shindig-is-a-disappointment-to-me--seriously-20171108-gzh3vh.html


Australia Day

Henry Reynolds writes: ABC Triple J to move the Hottest 100 from January 26 to January 27 has ignited controversy. January 26 marks one of the greatest expropriations in modern history, which took place at Sydney Cove. Why do so many Australians want to commemorate an act of egregious injustice?

https://theconversation.com/henry-reynolds-triple-j-did-the-right-thing-we-need-a-new-australia-day-88249


Child sexual abuse

First of two articles on child abuse in the church:

Philip C. Almond writes: What possible higher good could justify the minimising of child abuse within the Catholic Church, a sin that has now become the ultimate crime? Well, quite simply, it is the City of God that matters, not the City of Man. And that's why I think the Catholic Church - at least, until very recently - has felt both virtuous and justified in its treatment of child abuse victims.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/19/4752487.htm

Second of two articles on child abuse in the church – reply to Philip C. Almond:

Kieran Tapsell writes: There is some truth in Professor Philip C. Almond's claim that the Catholic Church's view of itself as St. Augustine's City of God was one of the reasons why good men in the Church's hierarchy covered up child sexual abuse. But the Church only adopted that as official policy in 1917.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/23/4754231.htm


Cities

Do you long to see revival in your city? Tim Keller draws from his years of experience ministering in the metropolis of New York City to give rich, compelling wisdom on urban contextualisation and catalysing a city-wide movement for the gospel.

https://www.lausanne.org/content/gods-global-urban-mission-contextualization-2

Paul Hildreth writes: Cities are crucially important for the human future and for world mission. So starts the Call to Action in The Cape Town Commitment in its statement on cities. As recently as the 1990s, commentators announced the ‘end of geography’, and ‘a flatter world’, as technological change was meant to increase homogeneity and make cities less important. So why did this not happen?

https://www.lausanne.org/content/lga/2014-03/commitment-to-the-city-responding-to-the-cape-town-commitment-on-cities


Civil society and discourse

Laura D'Olimpio asks: How can we become critical, caring, reasonable citizens who are capable of engaging ethically and democratically with others, both face-to-face and online?

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/14/4749663.htm

Building on the framework we used to shape the 95 new theses, the Jubilee Centre's Reformation2017 project manager Calum Samuelson suggests a biblical approach to disagreement. Through affirming the good, analysing the issue and acting for change, he argues that we can bring true social transformation - and move beyond the phrase, 'let's agree to disagree'.

http://www.jubilee-centre.org/inspiring-dialogue-moving-beyond-agree-disagree/


Domestic violence

Julia Baird and Hayley Gleeson write: Women who were married to abusive priests are for the first time revealing their experiences of sexual assault, control and fear. They say the church has known for decades that some clergy abuse their wives but has done very little to fix the ongoing problem.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-23/clergy-wives-speak-out-domestic-violence/9168096

Robyn J. Whitaker writes: It is time for fundamentalist Christians to examine their own theology and face up to how it has contributed to the abuse of women, intentionally or otherwise. At the heart of this theology is a problematic understanding of power, particularly God’s power.

https://theconversation.com/conservative-christians-need-to-stamp-out-clergy-wife-abuse-starting-with-ending-endemic-sexism-88008

Kate Phelan writes: It is sexuality, not anything else, that is the problem. And it is sexuality that we will need to critique and transform if we want to do what is necessary to end the scourge of sexual violence. If that all seems like too tall an order, then perhaps we need to start asking ourselves a much more fundamental question: What are women worth?

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/21/4769082.htm

Kaley Payne writes: As scrutiny intensifies of the prevalence of domestic violence in the faith community, new resources to help churches and especially church leaders respond well to the issue have been launched, including an online portal by Common Grace and a national campaign by Australian Baptists.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/new-resources-to-help-churches-respond-to-domestic-violence/

A resource to help Churches understand, identify and respond to domestic and family violence.

http://www.saferresource.org.au/

Graham Hill writes: Violence against women grows in an environment of sexism, patriarchy, and unhealthy use of spiritual and religious power. So how do we deal with sexism and oppressive patriarchal systems?

https://theglobalchurchproject.com/eradicate-violence-against-women/

Anne Lim presents the story of ‘Caroline’: “I knew I had to leave, it was not knowing how to do it that was really hard …”

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/in-depth/she-left-an-abusive-marriage-for-the-sake-of-her-children/


Education

Chad Wellmon writes: The purpose of The Academy is to cultivate those activities, practices and virtues whose end is the creation, transmission and legitimation of knowledge, and the education of others to do the same. Yet universities lack the ethical resources to provide ultimate ends or a comprehensive vision of the good, the true and the beautiful. Their goods are proximate.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/06/4760850.htm

Siobhan Hegarty writes: "We're not there to be preaching any one religion or to be teaching the Bible at all. … But as Bible-believing people … that sense of being genuine, compassionate and caring goes into the nature of everything we do as chaplains."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-03/what-role-do-christian-chaplains-play-in-our-public-schools/9108802


End of life

Anastasia Moore writes: Why go to the trouble of gathering all the great minds to discuss the issue of recognition, giving hope to many people, only to determine the idea 'too ambitious'? What right does Turnbull have to predetermine what Australians will or won't accept? This question could be put to Australians in a referendum.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/vic/2017/11/07/palliative-care/

Michael Cook writes: Euthanasia is becoming so popular in the Netherlands that the country’s only dedicated death clinic cannot keep up with the demand. "There is no dispute about the good intentions of the people at the end of life clinic. [But] they may have become too used to doing euthanasia. Yes, they have expertise but they are too experienced. You should never get used to helping someone die.” - Theo Boer

https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/demand-for-euthanasia-surges-in-the-netherlands/12508

It's not all about death. Matthew Grant writes: A palliative care doctor discusses his interactions with his patients: ‘I wouldn't know what I would want were I in their shoes’, he says.

https://theconversation.com/its-not-all-about-death-conversations-with-patients-in-palliative-care-82247

Liz Forbat writes: Here are some tips if you are looking after someone who is nearing the end of their life.

https://theconversation.com/looking-after-a-dying-loved-one-at-home-heres-what-you-need-to-know-83499

What is palliative care? A patient's journey through the system

Matthew Grant, Anna Collins and Jennifer Philip write: When a person has a serious illness, palliative care aims to improve that person's quality of life.

https://theconversation.com/assisted-dying-is-one-thing-but-governments-must-ensure-palliative-care-is-available-to-all-who-need-it-86131

Stephen Duckett writes: One would think governments would do all they could to ensure palliative care is available to all who need it. This is not the case in Australia today.

https://theconversation.com/assisted-dying-is-one-thing-but-governments-must-ensure-palliative-care-is-available-to-all-who-need-it-86131

Anna Collins writes: Our study found people held narrow, often inaccurate and outdated understandings of palliative care.

https://theconversation.com/five-common-myths-about-palliative-care-and-what-the-science-really-says-82248

Anthony Herbert writes: While there are similarities in the general principles of palliative care provided to children and adults, there are also key differences.

https://theconversation.com/palliative-care-for-children-often-involves-treating-the-whole-family-84205

John Sandeman writes: Fear of an expanding number of people being assisted to die drove opposition to the euthanasia bills before the Victorian and NSW parliaments this month.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/decision-time-on-euthanasia/

Scott Higgins writes: ‘As someone with a degenerative illness for which there is no known cure, I have more than a passing interest in the euthanasia debate. … Nonetheless, I am opposed to the legalising of euthanasia’, because ‘it introduces terrible emotional complexities for both the sufferer and their loved ones’.

http://scottjhiggins.com/should-euthanasia-be-legal-a-personal-reflection/

In an Australian first, the Victorian Parliament has passed voluntary euthanasia laws, expected to come into force in 2019. “It represents a momentous social shift, with many doctors concerned about what it means for their profession and their duty to preserve life", said Philip Freier, Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/euthanasia-comes-to-victoria/


Environment

Noel Preece and Penny van Oosterzee write: When you think of devastating deforestation and extinction you usually think of the Amazon, Borneo and the Congo. But the failed attempt to reinstate land clearing regulations in Queensland has prompted 'panic clearing', pushing Australia into the global top-ten deforesters.

https://theconversation.com/australia-is-a-global-top-ten-deforester-and-queensland-is-leading-the-way-87259

Mick Pope writes: While governments like Australia close their borders, and the US closes its mind to climate change, Christians are to love our neighbours by linking these justice issues together.

https://sojo.net/articles/christians-rally-support-refugees-need-acknowledge-cause

Mick Pope is a climate change scientist, university lecturer and eco-theologian. The 48-year-old speaks about his hopes for the COP23 talks in Bonn, how the church is engaging with the issue and the message in his latest book, 'A Climate of Justice: Loving Your Neighbour in a Warming World'.

https://www.sightmagazine.com.au/features/8205-the-interview-mick-pope-climate-scientist

Ben Taub writes: Lake Chad region has become the setting of the world’s most complex humanitarian disaster, devastated by converging scourges of climate change, violent extremism, food insecurity, population explosion, disease, poverty, weak statehood, and corruption.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/04/lake-chad-the-worlds-most-complex-humanitarian-disaster


Indigenous affairs

Last week, the Federal government rejected the Referendum Council’s recommendation for the establishment of an Indigenous ‘Voice to Parliament’. Glenn Loughrey reflects on the need for the recognition of the sharing of what makes us human. Instead of defending ourselves and our version of the story, he writes, we need to cease protecting our rights and our wrongs and work to bring about reconciliation.

https://www.redshoeswalking.net/2017/11/06/the-tragic-imagination-strays-and-the-australian-identity/

Anastasia Moore writes: Why go to the trouble of gathering all the great minds to discuss the issue of recognition, giving hope to many people, only to determine the idea 'too ambitious'? What right does Turnbull have to predetermine what Australians will or won't accept? This question could be put to Australians in a referendum.

https://eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54276

Alana Lentin writes: In Australia, the admiration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage expressed by many comfortably coexists with infantilisation and mistrust. The government doesn't believe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are capable of self-representation; this stems from the liberal-racial conviction that "order and progress" can only be ensured through white rule.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/15/4764889.htm

Fatima Measham writes: Our relationship with our First Nations peoples is Australia's original sin. Reconfiguring and even centralising that relationship would give us the language and impetus to reconfigure everything else, including the way we resolve conflict, think about the environment, and make decisions about vulnerable members of society.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54348

In the aftermath of the government's rejection of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Scott Stephens argues that Australia ‘has moved beyond the cultural accretions of ignorance and forgetfulness that could reasonably be termed “silence”. … For any such cultural silence was broken long ago by indigenous voices’. Instead, he argues, ‘we have now entered the great Australian silencing’.

Stephens then quotes from a range of voices that discuss the implications of this silencing.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/24/4771072.htm

Andrew Hamilton writes: Turnbull has been widely criticised for refusing a recommendation by the Referendum Council to enshrine a national Indigenous representative council, saying it was 'contrary to the principles of equality and citizenship'. A recent book provides a rich perspective for reflecting on his decision.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54327

A new report warns that the rate at which Indigenous children are being removed from their families is rising and will become a national crisis if nothing is done. Angelique Donnellan speaks with Tauto Sansbury, Natalie Lewis and others.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-29/20-years-after-the-bringing-them-home-report,-are/9208808

A new report warns that the rate at which Indigenous children are being removed from their families is rising and will become a national crisis if nothing is done. Angelique Donnellan speaks with Tauto Sansbury, Natalie Lewis and others.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-29/20-years-after-the-bringing-them-home-report,-are/9208808


Human relations

Amanda Jackson writes: Can’t we redeem tender touch as a wonderfully positive experience? There is a big difference between inappropriate touching and touching that is caring and comforting. And, by rejecting the latter because of some destructive actions, we are missing out.

https://amandaadvocates.blog/2017/11/30/the-power-of-a-touch/


Justice

‘The face of the suffering West Papuans is hidden, as is Christ’s. The response to their petition is a slap in their face. But we can refuse to be silent.’

Susan Connelly writes: Last month, a petition of 1.8 million signatures was presented to the UN Decolonisation Committee by the West Papuan independence movement. The Australian media has barely reported it, the UN Decolonisation Committee declined to receive it and the Indonesian government called it a ‘hoax’.

https://www.sosj.org.au/the-resounding-silence-on-west-papua/140531/

COMMENT: And a recent oration entitled ‘Can Democracy Deliver?’ by Marty M. Natalegawa, former Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister, fails to mention Papua. See the full text of the oration at https://johnmenadue.com/marty-natalegawa-the-menadue-oration-can-democracy-deliver/, and a comment in response by Bruce Wearne.


Law, human rights
and free speech

Neil James Foster writes: A recent UK court decision upheld the decision of a University to remove a student, Felix Ngole, from a Social Work course, because of views he had expressed on social media about the Bible’s view on homosexuality. The decision is a shocking breach of both religious freedom and freedom of speech. What are its implications for Australia?

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/11/05/university-student-dismissed-for-expressing-biblical-view-on-homosexuality


Luther 500

Dominic Erdozain writes: Martin Luther energised the Christian tradition, but it was a costly clarity that he found in the Scriptures. Much of the Protestant tradition has consisted of unlearning ideas Luther set down as law. And behind the myth of the unlaboured ‘return’ to the Scriptures is the reality that theology, guided by Luther's master principle of sola fide, steered the ship.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/02/4759190.htm

Alister McGrath writes: Today's experiments in different ways of being 'the church' are to be welcomed as an extension and continuation of the original Protestant vision, rather than its betrayal.

www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/10/31/4758217.htm

The Reformation "X Factor": There aren't many ideas or movements we still find ourselves talking about 500 years on. Life & Faith brings you highlights from a Sydney Ideas/Radio National panel on the perfect storm that was the 16th-century Reformation.

https://www.publicchristianity.org/x-factor-reformation/

500 Years of Reformation: Half a millennium on from the day a German monk nailed his 95 theses to a church door, Life & Faith producer Karen Tong travels to Wittenberg to speak with a Luther impersonator, an artist and others about how that act set off a world-changing chain of events.

https://www.publicchristianity.org/500-years-reformation/


Melbourne Cup

Andrew Hamilton writes: More recently, Mammon has dominated the Melbourne Cup. It has been targeted by wealthy international owners and stables who buy up the most likely stayers in order to buy the result. It has also been used by corporations to fuel their engines of misery that suck money and life out of many Australian families.

https://eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54216


Mission

Do you long to see revival in your city? Tim Keller draws from his years of experience ministering in the metropolis of New York City to give rich, compelling wisdom on urban contextualisation and catalysing a city-wide movement for the gospel.

https://www.lausanne.org/content/gods-global-urban-mission-contextualization-2

Paul Hildreth writes: Cities are crucially important for the human future and for world mission. So starts the Call to Action in The Cape Town Commitment in its statement on cities. As recently as the 1990s, commentators announced the ‘end of geography’, and ‘a flatter world’, as technological change was meant to increase homogeneity and make cities less important. So why did this not happen?

https://www.lausanne.org/content/lga/2014-03/commitment-to-the-city-responding-to-the-cape-town-commitment-on-cities

Samuel Escobar writes: If churches in Europe reflect the embrace of Christ rather than the exclusion of a frightened society, they may become better bases for a new evangelisation of Europe. Churches in North America may become the kind of prophetic community that will deliver the church from a cheap form of civil religion. As in the first century, migration will be an avenue and a challenge that God uses for the accomplishment of Christian mission.

https://www.lausanne.org/content/migration-ethnic-conflict


Politics, society & ideology

Catharine Coleborne writes: The new Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation aims to 'revive' liberal arts and the humanities. Yet the 'civilisation' model of history is now viewed as deeply flawed.

https://theconversation.com/the-concept-of-western-civilisation-is-past-its-use-by-date-in-university-humanities-departments-87750

Colin Wight writes: So where is post-truth located, and how did we get here? Post-truth resides not in the realm of the production, but in the realm of reception. If lies, dissembling, spinning, propaganda and the creation of bullshit have always been part and parcel of politics, then what has changed is how publics respond to them.

https://theconversation.com/a-robert-de-niro-theory-of-post-truth-are-you-talking-to-me-87606


Racism

Tim Soutphommasane writes: If we believe that racism is essentially about belief or doctrine, that it is just about racial superiority or racial hierarchy, we can end up with an incomplete picture.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/02/4759290.htm


Religion in Society

Do you long to see revival in your city? Tim Keller draws from his years of experience ministering in the metropolis of New York City to give rich, compelling wisdom on urban contextualisation and catalysing a city-wide movement for the gospel.

https://www.lausanne.org/content/gods-global-urban-mission-contextualization-2

Siobhan Hegarty writes: "We're not there to be preaching any one religion or to be teaching the Bible at all. … But as Bible-believing people … that sense of being genuine, compassionate and caring goes into the nature of everything we do as chaplains."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-03/what-role-do-christian-chaplains-play-in-our-public-schools/9108802

Lucy Gichuhi writes: Yes, it is possible, but not easy, for a Christian to be a politician. Without the example of our Lord Jesus and his empowerment it would be much harder to be a politician. Yet in some ways we are all politicians called to shape and influence the affairs of the city with our time, treasure and talents for the advancement of his glory and the true welfare of the people of Australia.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/you-are-all-politicians-too/

Will Jones writes: There is an important restriction on the role religion may play in politics, one which explains why Christianity is not like Islam and does not endorse theocracy. However, it is important to characterise this limitation correctly, as otherwise we risk falling into the opposite error, more common today in Western liberal democracies, of unduly limiting the role of religion in public life, and shutting out the Creator from the active role he seeks in his creation.

Religious freedom does not therefore rule out a public role for religion, including significant influence in public law and policy, provided that role is limited in ways which safeguard conscience and the rational foundation of public law. To steer and not to stipulate, to clarify and not dictate – that is the framework which general revelation provides to special revelation for public purposes, for the engagement of religion in politics.

https://www.psephizo.com/life-ministry/where-is-the-boundary-between-religion-and-politics/

Christians should support the idea of a Christian state – by which I mean not a theocracy but a state based on a Christian vision of the human person as bearing the divine image and possessing the dignity, rights, freedoms and responsibilities befitting that status. Such a state would have a special concern for freedom of conscience and religion and for ensuring expression of and support for a Christian culture

In his ‘Dissenting’ political theology of democratic pluralism, Chaplin advocates a ‘cooperationist’ model of church-state relations, in which a multiplicity of religious providers are welcomed in publicly funded education, healthcare and social services. Although he certainly envisages ‘certain minimal legal constraints’ on public religious engagement he is clear that the state must justify any infringements of religious freedom.

https://faith-and-politics.com/2017/10/11/should-christians-support-the-idea-of-a-christian-state/

Will Jones writes: There is a solid reason that non-Christians should support a Christian state, at least for a Christian country, and it is this: out of respect for the transcendent dimension to human existence and the role of religion in relating to it. For the most important point to grasp about religion is that it is that aspect of human culture which addresses itself directly to the transcendent dimension of human life.

https://faith-and-politics.com/2017/10/30/why-should-non-christians-support-a-christian-state/


Safe Schools

Bill Louden writes: One Nation Queensland leader Steve Dickson said the Safe Schools program contained 'highly explicit material' that is being 'directed at young children'. We asked the experts to look at the facts.

https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-the-safe-schools-program-contain-highly-explicit-material-87437


Science

Jeffrey P. Bishop writes: Humans are especially prone to idolatry with our robust scientific depictions of the world. We are prone to thinking that the world is exactly as we have drawn it out in our scientific descriptions.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/30/4773908.htm


Sexual abuse & #MeToo campaign

Jennifer Hudson writes: The mental health outcomes of children raised by same-sex parents are no worse than children raised by opposite-sex parents. Therefore, if Australians are committed to raising a generation of emotionally healthy individuals who are equipped to face life's challenges, then it is imperative that we support marriage equality.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/09/4762525.htm

Amanda Jackson writes: The #metoo deluge of stories show how commonplace it is for women to be demeaned, patronised and propositioned. I must admit that I am reluctant to bring up these issues too often because some people roll their eyes – feminists making a fuss again. And maybe that’s because the instances of tawdry stupidity have been rolled in with much more serious abuse and it leaves some good people feeling confused. Media treatment favours shock exposé over facts and that does not help either. But if our hearts feel wearied by daily revelations of immoral or criminal sexism, we still need to talk about the need for change.

https://amandaadvocates.blog/2017/11/08/crime-or-culture/


Sexuality and same-sex marriage – mainstream / non-Christian perspective

Michael Koziol writes: With the announcement of a ‘resounding yes’, the battle will now begin over how far religious exemptions should go. Lawyers, churches, think tanks and interest groups will clamour for attention in coming weeks as they try to tell politicians what to do.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/samesex-marriage-victory-what-happens-next-20171113-gzkkk6.html

Dennis Shanahan writes: The challenge for Turnbull and the Yes campaign is now not to ignore the real concerns raised by almost 5 million ‘No’ voters and to ensure other rights are not diminished by extending a new right. A partisan ‘winner takes all’ attitude will go against the spirit of the debate, the depth of public interest and engagement on issues of conscience.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/dennis-shanahan/challenge-for-turnbull-is-to-ensure-48-million-no-voters-arent-ignored/news-story/9a8227ff844daef5634b5db090f43387

Amy Maguire writes: Now that the battle for marriage equality has been won, the fight over the legislation to enable it will heat up. The conservative bill is designed to elevate rights fundamental to a liberal worldview – freedoms of thought, conscience and religion – while constraining rights to equality and freedom from discrimination. Yet the latter are essential protections for minority groups more vulnerable to prejudicial treatment in our society.

https://theconversation.com/as-australians-say-yes-to-marriage-equality-the-legal-stoush-over-human-rights-takes-centre-stage-87337

Timothy W. Jones writes: Churches have been exempt from sex discrimination laws for years – now those opposed to same-sex marriage want that exemption to be extended to individuals. But, he suggests, “Arguing that religious sensitivities only need protecting with regard to sexuality, and no other area of religious conviction, suggests that this is not about freedom of religion, but about legitimising homophobia”.

https://theconversation.com/the-marriage-equality-survey-is-won-but-the-battle-against-discrimination-continues-85828

Waleed Aly writes: In this sense, the postal survey changes nothing. Turnbull was always able to get a same-sex marriage bill past the public and through Parliament. What he could never do was get it past his own party. Now it's possible he still can't.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/think-a-yes-vote-will-be-the-end-of-the-matter-dont-be-so-sure-20171109-gzhr4y.html

Peter Robinson writes: When it comes to same-sex marriage, there's a big gap in support between old and young gay men. Older gay men often see marriage as conservative, and fear marriage will create a "gold standard" for gay relationships.

https://theconversation.com/gay-rebels-why-some-older-homosexual-men-dont-support-same-sex-marriage-86205

Neve Mahoney writes: In the ensuing debate, we shouldn't let ourselves forget that this postal vote never should have happened in the first place, and nothing like this should happen again to any minority group. The public voting yes or no on human rights is not what democracy looks like.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54328

Michael McGowan writes: The high proportion of no voters in Labor-held seats in western Sydney shows a “huge disconnect” between the party’s traditional heartland and its more socially progressive agenda, the prominent senator Sam Dastyari says.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/15/dastyari-high-number-of-no-votes-in-labor-seats-shows-huge-disconnect

Gregory Melleuish writes: The same-sex marriage survey results showed up which members of parliament voted in a starkly opposite fashion to those in their electorates. Some voters may think it's the duty of their MP to vote in the way they do. But political theory shows this doesn't work: our mixed model of representation does bind not members to the instructions of their constituents.

https://theconversation.com/its-unrealistic-to-expect-mps-to-follow-the-view-of-the-people-who-elected-them-every-time-87622

The results of the same-sex marriage ballot seem straightforward, but some areas voted overwhelmingly “no” – up to 75 per cent. Andrew Jakubowicz explains there’s a strong correlation between areas voting no and communities made up of more recent migrants.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/religionandethicsreport/same-sex-marriage-ballot-religion-and-cultural-diversity/9153858

Becky Batagol writes: Permitting non-religious, civil marriage celebrants to discriminate goes far beyond protecting religious freedom. It will undermine Australia’s flourishing civil marriage system by sanctioning discrimination against LGTBIQ clients, weakening marriage equality and permitting humiliating, unnecessary discrimination.

https://theconversation.com/why-there-should-be-no-room-in-the-law-for-celebrants-to-discriminate-on-same-sex-marriage-87590

Ben Raue writes: Turnout levels were overall very high for a non-compulsory ballot and, because of this result, almost half of all eligible Australians cast a yes vote, despite more than three million people opting out of the survey. After looking through the results data, the message is clear: Australians have loudly answered yes to the question put to them.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/16/australians-voted-in-massive-numbers-for-marriage-equality-and-a-fair-go

Irfan Yusuf writes: During the month of Muharram, sacred to Shia Muslims, the No message was being handed out at mosques and spoken from the pulpits. Yet many Muslims voted Yes not because we wanted to reinvent the Islamic idea of marriage, but because the scriptures teach that we should stand up for justice even if it goes against our families and ourselves.

https://eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54330

Everald Compton writes: I hope that the 'Christians' who feel that their marriage has been trashed will stop trying to be holy and make an effort to love the human race a little better than they normally do.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19422

Warwick Marsh writes: The introduction of homosexual marriage is a carefully calculated step towards a genderless society.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19418

Carolyne Blyth writes from New Zealand: This is an opportune time for religious institutions, such as the Australian Christian church, to do a spot of navel gazing and reflect on the implications of the religious exemption clauses deemed so important to the success of this bill. These clauses, I suggest, should be regarded by religious institutions less as a welcome safeguard for “religious freedom” than a source of utter shame, which betrays their unrelenting failure to acknowledge the legitimacy and value of LGBTI lives.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@future-learning/2017/11/19/61875/religious-freedom-or-religious-intolerance

Jennifer Oriel writes: The absence of protections for freedom of speech empowers queer radicals to refashion same-sex marriage as a weapon to punish the politically incorrect and drive dissenters from public life. If Turnbull’s Liberals won’t defend freedom of speech and religion in the national interest, who will?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/jennifer-oriel/essential-freedoms-cannot-survive-if-liberals-refuse-to-protect-them/news-story/a06cbc56e1863550a679e937289b41c6

Greg Brown writes: A push to incorporate UN religious protections into the same-sex marriage bill appear doomed following opposition from Labor, the Greens and Liberal moderates. But MP Andrew Hastie said incorporating the international clause into the Marriage Act would protect people’s freedom of conscience, religion, expression and right to educate their children in conformity with their moral and religious education.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/mps-fight-push-for-un-marriage-bill/news-story/de76ba6e465622a1312bdabf0e8701c5

Michelle Grattan writes: What's still missing in the religious freedoms debate is any clarity around what people think they won't be able to do, or where the existing laws are likely to fail to protect them. Wouldn’t there be a danger to bestowing a set of rights that could, if taken to the limit by some minorities, balkanise our community? That would turn the notion of “protections” on its head.

http://theconversation.com/going-overboard-on-religious-protections-could-come-back-to-bite-in-multicultural-australia-87741

Michelle Grattan writes: Former Howard government minister Philip Ruddock has been appointed by Malcolm Turnbull to do a 'stocktake' of Australia's religious freedoms. Protecting religious freedoms is a matter of balance, and ‘proportionality demands an element of compromise’, says Ruddock.

https://theconversation.com/protecting-religious-freedoms-is-a-matter-of-balance-says-head-of-turnbulls-inquiry-87933


Sexuality and same-sex marriage – Christian perspective

Neil James Foster writes: The Draft Marriage Amendment Bill released by Sen. James Paterson, a Liberal Party member who personally supports same sex marriage, is a perfectly reasonable attempt to provide an appropriate balance between effecting change while providing protection for religious freedom, and should be supported.

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/11/14/protecting-religious-freedom-after-yes/

Stephen McAlpine writes: With the same sex marriage matter pretty much signed and sealed, there’s no sense of what pluralism might look like, little grasp of what it means for a country to foster and encourage alternate ethical communities, and next to no understanding of why religion does not content itself with the private sphere.

https://stephenmcalpine.com/2017/11/14/the-hard-work-begins-today/

In the light of the “Yes” vote, Neil James Foster explores at issues for conservative Christian churches to consider. What is the difference between the Smith and Paterson bills in regard to freedom of religion? What are some ways forward?

https://freedomforfaith.org.au/library/religious-freedom-for-churches-after-a-possible-yes-vote

Mark Durie writes: ‘The victory of the “Yes” vote is the beginning of a long and complex journey for Australians. And the church will gradually split into two groups: those who retain theological heteronormativity and those who reject it. … [But] the challenge ahead for churches is not to uphold “traditional marriage”, as if the gospel were some conservative political project, but to offer a radically Biblical understanding of marriage which is divergent from and challenges changeable social norms.’

http://oaktreevicar.blogspot.com.au/2017/11/after-ssm-party-is-over-troubles-and.html

Mark Brolly writes: Australian Anglican leaders have accepted the decisive postal survey result in favour of same-sex marriage, while urging Federal Parliament to ensure the protection of religious freedoms and respect for the rights of those who oppose the change.

http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/news/Anglican-leaders-same-sex-result-urge-MPs-161117

Akos Balogh writes: If Parliament passes same-sex marriage legislation, what will that mean for our country, and for Christian witness here in Australia? We don’t really know; but God’s word assures us of some things that won’t be changing, whatever the decisions of our parliament.

https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/article/reflecting-on-the-postal-survey-1

Charis Chang and Debbie Schipp write: ACL’s Lyle Shelton congratulated the ‘yes’ campaign on their victory, but warned: “Those who seek to place restrictions on freedom of speech or freedom of belief will face tough opposition from millions of Australians who understand how a change in law is used to silence those who disagree. Those who seek to push these ideologies through our schools and institutions will not get away with it so easily.”

http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/how-no-campaign-reacted-to-australias-overwhelming-yes-to-samesex-marriage/news-story/d1d15ae6a242c236951d700562d507eb

Frank Brennan writes: Some ‘No’ advocates have been arguing that all necessary protections for freedom of religion should be inserted in the amended Marriage Act. But the issue of religious freedom goes beyond the marriage bill, and has implications for the Fair Work Act and the Sex Discrimination Act.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54315

Michael Jensen writes: Have we ended up more deeply divided than ever? There are two ways to read the Yes victory: as a victory for a new vision of society; or as an indication that Australians care deeply about marriage, and can see that it is a really valued institution that represents some ideals that most people really want.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-15/same-sex-marriage-survey-yes-and-no-have-one-thing-in-common/9151972

Joel Hodge writes: Arguments are made that to be recognised or not as a specific type of sexual being (with certain rights) is what fundamentally matters to who I am as a person. People on both sides have made this error. This is a dangerous position that subjects human dignity and identity to a false absolute.

https://eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54329

Patrick Parkinson writes: The question now is whether they can rise above their differences to govern for all Australians, including those who haven't voted for same-sex marriage, and navigate through Parliament legislation that will equally protect the human rights of all.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/winners-of-samesex-marriage-vote-must-now-govern-for-all-20171113-gzkmlf.html

One of the consequences of the public degendering of marriage and the family will be that church will become more distinct from the mainstream, and more obviously subversive in relation to society's norms. This will make Christian discipleship more costly, and there is the potential for increasing persecution, which is already apparent to those who care to look.” But “I am more interested in the growing opportunities to present the radical message of Jesus Christ by standing apart from the Groupthink”.

http://oaktreevicar.blogspot.com.au/2017/11/after-ssm-party-is-over-troubles-and.html

Stephen Chavura writes: “What kind of culture must exist among the ‘Yes’ camp for such deeds to be done and such words to be so proudly uttered? Simple. The kind of culture that instils in its rank and file a belief that they are crusading against a hatred and bigotry akin to the spirit of Jim Crow.”

https://www.spectator.com.au/2017/09/dangerous-days-for-liberty/

Julia Baird writes: The 'Yes' vote was a defeat for a certain brand of public, conservative Christianity focused on sexuality, morality and traditional views of men and women. And a triumph for the grassroots, those in the pews who – as polls repeatedly showed – quietly tolerated but did not share the views of their church leaders.

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/samesex-marriage-result-was-a-defeat-for-only-one-type-of-christianity--and-a-triumph-for-the-grassroots-sitting-in-church-pews-20171117-gznf7w.html

In response to Julia Baird, John Dickson writes: Julia Baird has argued that Christian support for same-sex marriage is a triumph over the Pharisees. But grace is the capacity to profoundly disagree with the course of someone's life and still respect and care for them, and most believers will have voted No without any hint that in doing so they were contradicting their Lord's - and their church leaders' - commitment to show love and grace to LGBTIQ persons.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/20/4767472.htm

Murray Campbell writes: According to the updated Victorian School Advisory Policy Guide, school aged children can decide to change their gender, and the school must support this transition and does not need to inform or gain parental consent. In other words, a school cannot let my child attend a fun excursion without my consent, but they can prepare my child to change their gender and identity?

https://murraycampbell.net/2017/11/21/victorian-schools-to-help-children-transition-without-parental-consent/

Stephen McAlpine writes: With the same sex marriage matter pretty much signed and sealed, there’s no sense of what pluralism might look like, little grasp of what it means for a country to foster and encourage alternate ethical communities, and next to no understanding of why religion does not content itself with the private sphere.

https://stephenmcalpine.com/2017/11/16/the-yes-the-no-and-the-maybe/

Mark Jennings writes: It is an enduring injustice that this marginalised group of LGBTIQ Christians continues to experience the consequences of an exclusionary set of ideas.

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/11/16/4765720.htm

ICS Executive Director, Mark Sneddon, responds to the SSM survey results with a discussion about (religious and non-religious) freedom of conscience and the need for legal protections for people and organisations supporting traditional marriage.

http://www.i4cs.com.au/legislating-for-same-sex-marriage-and-protecting-everyones-freedoms/

Michael Frost writes: How should the church respond to the ‘Yes’ vote? Now is the time to do the same thing we did yesterday: loving neighbors, giving thanks, and finding the face of God in everyone we meet.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/admit-it-yes-romped-it-in

Apologies to those Christians who are bakers or florists (or photographers) and who are worried about their freedom of conscience when it comes to gay weddings in Australia. The real issue, the real target, has always been the mediating institutions such as schools.

https://stephenmcalpine.com/2017/11/23/forget-the-bakers-and-florists-its-about-schools/

Lyle Shelton writes: If anyone thought the postal survey would put an end to LGBTIQ political activism, they were naïve. The rainbow political movement is only emboldened.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/lyle-shelton-says-the-postal-vote-has-left-unfinished-business/

James Parker writes: Few people realise that a significant percentage of Australia’s “out and proud” gay men and women are quietly voting No. These same-sex attracted men and women tell me they are voting No because they believe that wherever possible children have the right to know and be cared for by their biological parents in line with Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

https://www.mercatornet.com/conjugality/view/im-same-sex-attracted-and-im-voting-no/20551

Rosaria Champagne Butterfield’s memoir, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, chronicles her difficult journey of conversion to Christ. In this interview, The Gospel Coalition Australia’s Executive Director Akos Balogh chats to her about what caused her to abandon her lesbian identity and what Australian Christians should expect in the wake of the Same-Sex Marriage postal vote.

https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/article/rosaria-butterfield-a-former-lgbtiq-professor-on-living-in-a-post-ssm-society

Tess Holgate writes: A majority of Australians voted ‘Yes’ in the same sex-marriage postal survey, and some Christians and conservative politicians wish to protect wedding suppliers (such as cake makers) from having to take part in the same-sex marriage process. But when Eternity last year asked mostly conservative Christians if they would back a cake for a gay wedding, the majority said that they would.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/in-depth/would-you-bake-a-cake-for-a-gay-wedding/

ln light of last week’s postal vote result, TGCA asked three Christian leaders a number of questions: What did we get the strong ‘yes’ result? What does it tell us about our culture? What challenges do you see ahead for Christians? How should Christians respond to some of those challenges? In today’s video, we hear from Steph Judd, the Women’s Ministry Director at City on a Hill Church, in Melbourne.

https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/article/tgca-plebiscite-interviews-1

Anja Hilkemeijer and Amy Maguire write: Labor has announced it will not support any amendments to the Dean Smith same-sex marriage bill, including an amendment proposed by George Brandis.

https://theconversation.com/labor-is-right-to-block-religious-freedom-amendments-to-protect-same-sex-marriage-bill-88235

Neil James Foster writes: The word "discrimination" is a notoriously slippery one, and I would like to challenge the view that recognising religion freedom in changing marriage laws amounts to unjustified discrimination. Australia already has a long tradition of balancing the right not to be discriminated against with rights of religious freedom.

https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2017/11/27/balancing-religious-freedom-rights-is-not-discrimination/

Slavery

Ben McEachen writes: Perpetrators of modern-day slavery continue to operate because they think no one cares about what they do and that they can get away with it. And it is easy to get apathetic. But organisations like International Justice Mission are making headway in freeing slaves around the world, according to Caroly Houmes.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/world/i-really-believe-we-can-end-slavery-in-this-generation/


Social media

Colin Wight writes: So where is post-truth located, and how did we get here? Post-truth resides not in the realm of the production, but in the realm of reception. If lies, dissembling, spinning, propaganda and the creation of bullshit have always been part and parcel of politics, then what has changed is how publics respond to them.

https://theconversation.com/a-robert-de-niro-theory-of-post-truth-are-you-talking-to-me-87606


Spirituality

Andrew Williams writes: The theology and practice of lament is often neglected in congregations, despite its prominence in the biblical text, depriving the church of a pastoral resource and diminishing its capacity for prophetic critique and political activism.

http://www.jubilee-centre.org/biblical-lament-political-protest-andrew-williams/


Terrorism

Rachel Woodlock writes: Lone-wolf terrorists are more like miners' canaries. Whether it is a paranoid loner, an enraged ideologue, a jihadist or a white supremacist, they are screaming out at the top of their lungs that something is terribly wrong.

https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=54325

Raffaello Pantucci explains what lone-actor terrorism is, why it's effective and why we seem to be seeing more attacks that aren't clearly connected to terror networks in this long-form comic explainer. Wes Mountain writes.

https://theconversation.com/comic-explainer-what-is-lone-actor-terrorism-86774


US politics

Michelle Goldberg writes on one year of Donald Trump: ‘This nightmare year has upended assumptions about the durability of the rules, formal and informal, governing our politics. There’s a metaphysical whiplash in how quickly alarm turns into acceptance and then into forgetfulness ... How can America ever return from this level of systematic derangement and corruption? I wish there was someone I could ask, but we know more about how countries slide into autocracy than how they might climb out of it. It’s been a year, and sometimes I’m still poleaxed by grief at the destruction of our civic inheritance.’

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/opinion/anniversary-trump-clinton-election.html

Election 2016 ended a year ago, but its effects on American culture, including the American church, persist. Many are still asking how Donald Trump became president, and what part evangelical Christians played in making that happen. Samuel D. James spoke with author Stephen Mansfield about what the events of last year mean for Christians and how a divided American church can heal.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/november/trump-stephen-mansfield-why-so-many-conservative-christians.html


War, peace & nonviolence

Michael frost writes: As followers of the Prince of Peace we are resolved not only to preach about turning the other cheek, but to practice it. For us, nonviolence shouldn’t simply be a strategy for social change; it should be a way of life.

http://mikefrost.net/nonviolence-strength-bringing-justice-power-together/


Young people

Millennials and baby boomers in Australia feel they are represented better by the media than by advertising, according to new YouGov Omnibus research.

https://au.yougov.com/news/2017/11/07/millennials-and-boomers-represented-by-media-vs-ad/

Alex McKinnon writes: ‘I learned very little about millennials at Millennial 20/20, save that a great many people are working very hard to turn us upside down by our ankles and shake us until money comes out. Being part of a generation bent under neoliberalism’s deadening legacy, from housing affordability to climate change, is exhausting enough; to see the companies that profit off our exploitation rhapsodise about their self-appointed status as “change makers” and “thought leaders” just adds salt to the wound.’

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/16/monetising-millennials-what-the-corporate-world-thinks-it-knows-about-young-people

Saskia Sarginson writes: They are of the generation labelled entitled, narcissistic and lazy, but my kids are none of those things. Instead, they are angry about the state of the planet and committed to change. And none of them plans to procreate. “It’s not a morally right decision”, Jake says. “I couldn’t bring a baby into a world that’s so fucked up.”'

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/nov/25/my-children-are-millennials-but-are-far-from-the-stereotypes-society-pokes-fun-at

Simon Smart writes: With so much on offer for the modern Western person, we become haunted by the lives we are unable to live. We need to cultivate the art of missing out: moderation, restraint, gratitude for what you have and being fully present, and serving others more than yourself. These virtues may be their own reward for those navigating the complexities of modern life in search of deep satisfaction and joy. It's about losing your life in order to find it, as Jesus would say.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-01/the-art-of-missing-out-a-fomo-tale/9211204


Zimbabwe

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra writes: As politicians and media debate coup, evangelicals see 'opportunity for the birth of a new nation.

Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe joined other church leaders in releasing a joint statement explaining how the current crisis is actually a kairos (opportunity)

http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/november/zimbabwe-church-leaders-explain-mugabe-army-coup-crisis.html



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