Five years ago we attended a service of lament and support for indigenous christians who cannot celebrate Australia Day with the rest of the country. The service highlighted issues that I think we all wish weren’t there, or would go away. Last night we watched an online prayer service conducted by Aboriginal christians seeking to […]
This is a post about what christians believe, how we should express our belief and how cultures can clash. This is a post about an unfortunate episode in Australian sport and culture, from which no-one is likely to emerge a winner. And hopefully this is a post that won’t add, even in a small way, […]
It hasn’t always been comfortable being a man during these #metoo days. Men we might have thought could be trusted have been accused, and often admitted to, all manner of unacceptable, sexually predatory and abusive behaviour, mostly against women. For me, it became most pointed when this last weekend I read a long article in […]
I went on a political demonstration today. Well, it was called a vigil, and it was quiet, peaceful and non-confrontational, but it was a protest. It was expressing concern about Australia’s treatment of asylum-seekers, specifically several hundred man on an island in Papua New Guinea, Australia’s northern neighbour. Realistically, there is very little prospect, right […]
Truth and love are both basic virtues for christians. The Bible tells us God is love, and Jesus is the truth (1 John 4:8, John 14:6). But sometimes truth and love seem to get in each other’s way. Or maybe it is what we think is the truth and what we think is loving. But […]
Guest post by Shane Claiborne (taken from his Facebook page – see note below) Last month, I was arrested, along with 17 other people, as we held a banner on the steps of the Supreme Court that said: “STOP EXECUTIONS.” We were not blocking doors or disturbing the peace. We were not unruly or disruptive. […]
The dictionary defines an extremist as “a person who holds extreme political or religious views, especially one who advocates illegal, violent, or other extreme action.” Search for photos tagged as “extremist” (as I did for this post) and the majority of the photos are of Americans protesting against their government, especially their President. The one […]
This last week has been a disturbing one for many Australians. A hostage siege in Sydney, that left two hostages and the gunman dead, made a deep impression. Of course other countries have experienced far worse senseless killing and atrocities. This week has also seen the shooting of about 140 people, mostly school children, in […]
I think most christians are ambivalent, or even a little wary, about interfaith dialogue. It seems to compromise the truth of the gospel somehow. But it needn’t.
Here I go again – writing another blog post on Australia’s treatment of asylum-seekers. What can I say that I haven’t said already? Why bother? And yet, the situation keeps getting worse and Australia’s reaction keeps getting more and more callous.