Church
At the entrance to Sacred Heart Parish Primary School, on the corner of Lane and Sulphide Streets, Broken Hill, stands a life-size statue of Jesus Christ, his arms outstretched in front of him, palms turned upwards in welcome to all His children. Beneath his feet are inscribed the words: “Faith, Truth, Love”.
There is no question that faith and love are here, but the truth is a little harder to come by. The school headmaster, Trevor Rynne, is locked in his office and won’t come out, directing all calls to a Catholic media liaison officer who dwells in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta, over 1,000 kilometers away. She’s not answering calls, either.
Last night, the story broke that the school had denied an education to a local girl on the grounds that her parents were lesbians. Though the parents, a private couple, aren’t talking to the media either, word around town today is that the matter has been resolved, the school offering the child a place in 2012 on the advice of Bishop Kevin Manning, who lords over the Broken Hill Parish and was “absolutely appalled” when the girl’s case was brought to his attention by the media yesterday.
Continue reading "The Hill ain’t broken, but the Catholics are cracked" »
Thank God census night has come and gone. Thank God literally. I’ve been bored witless by insecure atheists prattling on in the last few weeks and days about questions on religion.
For two things are sure. The census will show that a clear majority of Australians believe in a god. And religion is a clear force for good in our society.
“I wonder how many people still believe in God?” my 55 going on 15 year old DJ and artist brother in law Driller (that’s his real name) wrote on his Facebook page recently. “I certainly don’t. Do you?”
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Jim says:
Anne, I’m not a evolutionary scientist but I use logic to work out that the knowlege we build on in science is based on accepting methods that have been tried and tested many times with the same result. This is accepted as evidence. Therefore, I don’t think scientists are just… Read more »
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Anne Stocks says:
Jim in all the time I have been posting on Punch even when using a Pen name, not one of you have given any evidence to support Evolution except that which also confirms Creation ...I have supported written evidence which I have shared with you and others many times….. need… Read more »
Politics. Religion. Combine the two and the result can be very nasty indeed. Think about a short list: the Crusades, the Inquisition, New York and the twin towers, the Holocaust, massacre of the Huguenots. It appears that when Church and State are combined into one, horrific things can happen.
Democracies usually separate religion and politics. The 1st Amendment to the American Constitution is absolutely clear: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. This has been interpreted firmly by the Supreme Court, including banning prayers in public schools and state aid to religious schools.
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Alison says:
Dear Reg, In case you have never thought about it, atheists do not represent “all” Australians, atheists are not the only ones who pay taxes, atheists are not the only ones who have children, atheists are not the only ones who attend public schools, atheists are not the only ones… Read more »
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Alison says:
Australia has no formal “separation of church and state” and we are a country “under the blessings of almighty God”. We are not America, or France, or the UK. Dean Jaensch should have finished the quote from our Constitution which continues “or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion”. … Read more »
Brendan Brown writes “Hey God, reveal thyself!” and puts forward his case of “noisy atheism”.
He candidly speaks about the lack of evidence with regard to the divine and light-heartedly takes religion to task for the holes in their belief systems.
It’s a given that no evidence is currently available that supports the existence (or non existence) of god. Yet both atheists and theists continue to taunt each other for evidence.
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Anne Stocks says:
Another one you seem to have lost Moderator Paul Murray says…When religious people capitalise a word that isn’t a proper noun, it’s a clue that they are not using the word with its usual meaning. So True Paul, instead we are referring to God’s Truth or His Love, Joy, Compassion… Read more »
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Paul Murray says:
I love the random capitalisation. When religious people capitalise a word that isn’t a proper noun, it’s a clue that they are not using the word with its usual meaning. Rather like Scientologists using the word “ethics”, which does not mean “being ethical” in the usual sense, but means “promoting… Read more »
Mathematicians have released a study that made for great headlines, including:
(A fairly tenuous link but a mention of religious songs, and I’ll take any excuse to listen to Tim Minchin)
Faith no more! From New Zealand to Canada, religion ``to become extinct’’ in nine countries.
Study Finds Religion May Be Heading for Extinction in Parts of World.
Researchers Predict the End of Religion.
Continue reading "Reports of religion’s death greatly exaggerated" »
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Anne Stocks says:
Very True what you shared True Believer and I agree ... Man-made religion is certainly emptying denominational buildings. Too much of man, not enough of the good Lord - where He is, people flock, when He withdraws denominations become dry and without life. But Tory the Living God will never… Read more »
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Antoine says:
Vous avez de bons points il, c’est pourquoi j’aime toujours verifier votre blog, Il semble que vous etes un expert dans ce domaine. maintenir le bon travail, Mon ami recommander votre blog. Mon francais n’est pas tres bon, je suis de l’Allemagne. Mon blog: Credit immobilier ou solution Rachat de… Read more »
The floods have caused great devastation and have presented fundamental challenges to our society and lives.
This kind of crisis poses challenges to us on a number of levels – social, physical, emotional and existential.
Tory Shepherd’s article “Digging a hole while trying to find God” outlines the existential challenges provoked by the flood.
Continue reading "A response: Disasters do not negate the existence of God" »
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In other states, you ought to be prepared to discover a bookie and to put a bet, you’ve got to be previous the age of twenty-1. They scour all of the data that could be observed to them and obtain a winning formula to forecast winners in sports betting at… Read more »
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Church leaders faced with a national disaster are struggling to find relevance and avoid hypocrisy. In the wake of the floods, people with religious convictions face an age-old question:
Where was God?
It’s a classic case of cognitive dissonance, where holding two conflicting thoughts causes the brain to implode. God is good, all-knowing and all-powerful and yet bad stuff happens.
Continue reading "Digging a hole while trying to find God" »
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Stu says:
@ True Believer: “I ‘believe’ you exist, but I do not ‘know’ you exist. I am replying to you on the basis of my belief you are there. There is a difference. :0)” Explains even more. Do you know I’m is responding to you on the Punch, or do you… Read more »
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True Believer says:
@Stu: “Interesting you think you can respond to someone who does not exist. Explains a lot. “ I ‘believe’ you exist, but I do not ‘know’ you exist. I am replying to you on the basis of my belief you are there. There is a difference. :0) Read more »
When I was young Catholic, I remember being struck by the contrast between two different approaches to spreading the Gospel – that of the conquistador Hernan Cortes, who did so by the sword and cannon, and that of Francis Xavier, who did so by word and example.
In the lives of the saints, Xavier was a hero to me. It appears the Churches in NSW follow in the steps of Cortes when it comes to evangelical ‘realpolitik’. Not for their state the freedom to choose a faith or citizenship tradition.
They will simply not tolerate neutral ethics classes in competition with Christian scripture classes. The Government must ban alternative perspectives and prohibit parental choice.
Continue reading "Intolerant Churches punishing non-believers" »
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MelTheCatEthiticist says:
I just had to shout out for “Reg says: 09:56pm | 25/11/10” I rofl’ed all the way to volunteering to be an ethics teacher. ..... I think cats should run the ethics classes - actually I think the bible would be safer in my cats hands as well! Read more »
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Greg Kasarik says:
Why would a student be sent out for not “believing” in gay marriage? Most obviously, the student would be simply channelling his parents views at that age. A grade 5,or 6 student is clearly not in a position to understand marriage. Heck, they still don’t like the opposite sex. A… Read more »
Everyone has the human right to freedom of religion and belief. But often religion and belief can be used as grounds for discrimination and as weapons of division and hate. As a nation, we need to make sure that this does not happen.
Over the next three weeks there are two very different religious conferences being held in Australia. One is the Parliament of the World’s Religions conference in Melbourne, with the theme, ‘Making a world of difference: Hearing each other, Healing the Earth’. The other, this weekend, is the National Conference for all Concerned Christians in Sydney, themed ‘Australia’s Future and Global Jihad’.
Australia is a nation of many religions and beliefs. Some people say we are a Christian nation. More often than not, we are described as a secular nation. But which is true? And why, if at all, does it matter?
Continue reading "Are we really the secular nation we think we are" »
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Sam says:
@Dan, Islam opposes self-examination. It says “if the Quran says it, then that’s what the prophet meant, and if it doesn’t say it then it’s not part of Islam”. Nowhere does Islam encourage interpritation in the context of the day. However, with regards to Judaism, interpritation and contextual understanding is… Read more »
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Adam says:
Amber, as an atheist and a secuarlist I completely agree with you that Islam is not a religion like Christianity, Hinduism etc. Islam and its followers are the biggest threat to our secularism in the long-term, not Christianity. I think honest and rational opposition to Islam is something that the… Read more »
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