Tag: western society

Obama, ethics and the Christian Right

(November 7, 2012)

So Obama has won, more convincingly than many expected. Many christians will be worried by this, yet there seems to be a number of christians taking a different line.

After Christendom

(October 10, 2012)

I am looking at some of the core convictions of the Anabaptists, not because I am an Anabaptist, but because I think we learn from them. Today: the relationship of the church and the world.

When countries are in turmoil or their people are impoverished, many choose, or are forced, to look for a better life, and so become refugees. Australia is an attractive place to seek refuge. Because we are an island nation, many refugees make the often dangerous journey by boat, and increasingly, many perish in the attempt. […]

Just because you know something doesn't mean you have to say it!

(August 6, 2012)

Mike has questioned the point of my last post (Christians and Chick-fil-a), about when and how christians should speak out in the public arena, and when and how we shouldn’t. So I thought I would clarify in a new post.

Christians and Chick-fil-a

(August 4, 2012)

Chick-fil-a is apparently a chain of about 1600 chicken fast food stores in the US. Being an Aussie, I wouldn’t know. But apparently the chain has been in the news recently because of an allegedly anti-gay stance, mainly, as far as I can tell, seen through large donations to christian anti-gay causes. Recently protests by […]

Olympic glory?

(July 27, 2012)

With the London Olympic Games about to begin, now is a good time to remember one of my ‘heroes’. He was probably Australia’s greatest male sprint athlete, a silver medallist at the 1968 Games in Mexico City. This is the best an Australian male sprinter has ever finished, and in a time that, amazingly, is […]

A small victory in the fight against child slavery

(July 18, 2012)

There has been a long campaign for chocolate companies to only source their cocoa from farms that don’t use trafficked child labour, and who pay the workers a fair wage. And progress has been slow. I have previously reported how I have joined many others in writing to chocolate companies here in Australia asking them […]

Make your life extraordinary

(July 2, 2012)

“Make your life extraordinary” is the advice school teacher John Keating gives his class in Dead Poets Society. Otis Clark seemed to achieve this without really trying. Otis died recently at the age of 109. He had a long and eventful life.

Don't think twice, it's alright?

(June 27, 2012)

What is the future of the church as we know it in the western world? I have written about this many times (see The future for the church), believing that much needs to change. It is like the tide is coming in, the island the churches are sitting on is shrinking, our feet are wet, […]

1 billion hungry: the global food crisis

(June 26, 2012)

Almost one billion people, an eighth of the world’s population, are hungry as you read this. Why?