http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/churches/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rich-men-in-the-tax-free-kingdom-of-god/ Every time you pay tax or rates you are subsidising other people’s religion. These include mainstream religions, and cult-like groups opposed to the values of normal Australian life. Put simply, less than 20 per cent of Australians are seriously religious and the rest of us subsidise their religious organisations. There are a lot of wonderful people who do good work in the name of their particular belief, but do we need taxpayer-funded bureaucracies for them to be effective? Australia is one of the few nations that make all investment earnings by religious bodies tax free, regardless of whether these are spent on charitable activities. And all the property they own is free of rates and land tax.  If they sell these assets for a profit they pay no capital gains tax. And often these are properties that were gifted to them many years ago by government. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rich-men-in-the-tax-free-kingdom-of-god/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rich-men-in-the-tax-free-kingdom-of-god/#item5618 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Go on , be a good Christian, sign the petition to stop parental choice about ethics classes for kids in public schools. That’s the message of Christian and Catholic lobbyists in NSW at the moment (I separate the two because I wouldn’t want to offend all those evangelical Christians in Sydney who don’t believe Catholics are real Christians). Just last Sunday a family member asked what the story was about ethics in schools because an announcement had been made in the morning service about signing the petition. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/churches-need-an-ethics-lesson-of-their-own/ Go on , be a good Christian, sign the petition to stop parental choice about ethics classes for kids in public schools. That’s the message of Christian and Catholic lobbyists in NSW at the moment (I separate the two because I wouldn’t want to offend all those evangelical Christians in Sydney who don’t believe Catholics are real Christians). Just last Sunday a family member asked what the story was about ethics in schools because an announcement had been made in the morning service about signing the petition. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/churches-need-an-ethics-lesson-of-their-own/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/churches-need-an-ethics-lesson-of-their-own/#item3277 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Go on , be a good Christian, sign the petition to stop parental choice about ethics classes for kids in public schools. That’s the message of Christian and Catholic lobbyists in NSW at the moment (I separate the two because I wouldn’t want to offend all those evangelical Christians in Sydney who don’t believe Catholics are real Christians). Just last Sunday a family member asked what the story was about ethics in schools because an announcement had been made in the morning service about signing the petition. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-hearted-church-thats-crumbling-around-the-edges/ The Wayside Chapel in Sydney’s King Cross has always been something of an “edgy” place. In the 1960s when Australia was very different, The Wayside Chapel was about the only place in Australia where a Protestant could easily marry a Catholic, Hindu or Atheist without much fuss or where you could get a cup of coffee at 3am. It was a place you could wait for some poet to walk in the door and address a ready crowd with some words that reached beyond the confines of a high structured, fairly unimaginative world; and you never had to wait for long. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-hearted-church-thats-crumbling-around-the-edges/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-hearted-church-thats-crumbling-around-the-edges/#item1674 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Go on , be a good Christian, sign the petition to stop parental choice about ethics classes for kids in public schools. That’s the message of Christian and Catholic lobbyists in NSW at the moment (I separate the two because I wouldn’t want to offend all those evangelical Christians in Sydney who don’t believe Catholics are real Christians). Just last Sunday a family member asked what the story was about ethics in schools because an announcement had been made in the morning service about signing the petition. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/heaven-help-us-if-churches-dont-speak-about-politics/ Writing on The Punch yesterday David Gazard bemoaned the left-winged over-righteousness of some parts of the Christian church, who get all hot under the collar about political stuff rather than sticking to the spiritual. This is, I suppose, a change from the attacks on the right-winged over-righteousness of the other parts of the Christian church. Of course, problems emerge when God and the Church are captured by just one side of politics. The Church may be vulnerable to such temptations in the wildernesses of power, but any God worth his name surely isn’t. It’s a lesson the followers are still learning. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/heaven-help-us-if-churches-dont-speak-about-politics/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/heaven-help-us-if-churches-dont-speak-about-politics/#item681 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Go on , be a good Christian, sign the petition to stop parental choice about ethics classes for kids in public schools. That’s the message of Christian and Catholic lobbyists in NSW at the moment (I separate the two because I wouldn’t want to offend all those evangelical Christians in Sydney who don’t believe Catholics are real Christians). Just last Sunday a family member asked what the story was about ethics in schools because an announcement had been made in the morning service about signing the petition. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prayers-for-the-taliban-but-not-for-a-businessman/ I keep waiting for the traditional church to launch its campaign against the government’s treatment of boat people. After all, boats carrying asylum seekers keep entering Australian waters in greater numbers, there are allegations that boats are left to drift and, worst of all, some have perished along the way. I glance skyward in Melbourne, looking for the immense banner hanging from the spire St Paul’s Cathedral, like there was a few years ago. Instead of “Justice for David Hicks”, it will read “Justice for SIEV 624”. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prayers-for-the-taliban-but-not-for-a-businessman/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prayers-for-the-taliban-but-not-for-a-businessman/#item639 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Go on , be a good Christian, sign the petition to stop parental choice about ethics classes for kids in public schools. That’s the message of Christian and Catholic lobbyists in NSW at the moment (I separate the two because I wouldn’t want to offend all those evangelical Christians in Sydney who don’t believe Catholics are real Christians). Just last Sunday a family member asked what the story was about ethics in schools because an announcement had been made in the morning service about signing the petition.