It seems that the major parties are leading us into a time of turning our backs upon our global neighbours. We are witnessing a race to the bottom on asylum seekers, both parties are pulling back on their previous commitments to increasing aid, and there is fading resolve to lead on combating climate change. Given both major parties are led by committed Christians this is tragic. In the Gospels...
We’re a cat family. Neighbours on either side have dogs, but we have a cat, a white and ginger cat named Mittens. Earlier this week Mittens disappeared. Three days later we found her, lying weak and helpless in a section of our garden, one of her hind legs dislocated. The vet concluded she had been run over. Run over! Someone had run over her and then left her wounded. Why didn’t they...
[quote]For god’s sake, don’t glorify Gallipoli – it was a terrible fiasco, a total failure and best forgotten’. Last survivng Anzac, Alec Campbell[/quote] I have always struggled with Anzac Day. On the one hand, I do want to remember the horror that is war and the sacrifice our soldiers made, but on the other, I can’t shake the feeling that eulogising our fallen...
The Times once invited famous authors to answer the question “What’s wrong with the world?” GK Chesterton gave the shortest reply [quote]Dear sir, What’s wrong with the world? I am[/quote] We like to think that the world’s problems are of someone else’s making…hate-filled terrorists, greedy CEOs, cynical politicians – we all have someone to blame...
I like to think of Australians as a generous people, the sort of people who help out those in need. When bushfires hit we seem eager to give to those who have lost their homes. Every summer the Sydney cricket test turns pink on Jane McGrath day as money is raised for cancer nurses. When schoolkids accost us with boxes of fundraising chocolates we always buy some. And it shouldn’t surprise us that...
When I was in Cambodia recently I heard about a place called Diamond Island. Filled with luxury apartments and houses, it is a world away from the poverty that marks the country. My first inclination is to ask “how can the residents of Diamond Island live like that when there are so many poor in their country?” But on reflection I realise that I should also ask the question of myself...
Ethics can be confusing. Christians debate gender roles, sexuality, abortion, euthanasia and much more, and despite having the same Scriptures before us, still manage to disagree. What’s more, the bible we open contains some weird and wonderful teaching. Try these on for size: If my brother dies without having produced a son, I am to marry his wife and we are to have a child who takes my...
Australia currently ranks as the second most developed country in the world according to the United Nations Human Development Index. Cambodia, from where I write this, ranks 139th. With its high levels of poverty, underdeveloped infrastructure, and corrupt government, Cambodia is often described as a “developing” country. Australia by contrast is described as “developed”...
I hate wearing T-shirts with messaging all over them, even more so when the messaging is nothing more than branding. But I write this post wearing a T that features an image of Martin Luther King and his comment that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” To purchase the T I traveled from the relatively developed centre of Phnom Penh to slum ridden periphery. Here a...
The Lausanne movement is a movement of evangelical Christians focussed on global mission. At a consultation earlier this month the movement issued a call to action on the environment. The full text is reproduced below. What do you think? Introduction The Lausanne Global Consultation on Creation Care and the Gospelmet from 29 Oct – 2 Nov 2012 in St. Ann, Jamaica to build on the creation care...