Archive for February, 2010


News comment with Rod Benson

Filed under: asylum seekers, gambling, literature, social justice — Leave a comment
February 4, 2010

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 8 November 2009

9.00 am – Bringing them home

Human Rights Commissioner Catherine Branson has demanded the Rudd Government stop detaining “boat people” on Christmas Island, arguing they should not be penalised because of their method of arrival.  Former federal treasurer Peter Costello has echoed the Howard Government’s line, insisting that all claims for refugee status be made offshore, through the normal channels.

Who is right?  As Jesus reminds us in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the most unlikely people can become our neighbours, and challenge our values and our virtues.

The tension between justice and mercy, in this case, needs to err in favour of compassion.  I hope the Rudd Government will extend both its compassion, and its vague commitment to social inclusion, to genuine asylum seekers arriving by boat, in the full knowledge that they bring their baggage with them – literally, culturally and psychologically. 

Mr Rudd, champion of faith in politics, who is your neighbour?  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com


12.00 pm – Melbourne Cup after the dust settles

The Productivity Commission recently published an interim report on gambling, receiving the usual support from independent MPs and the churches, and criticism from clubs and pubs, while the state government looked the other way.  The report makes many useful recommendations, especially on management of poker machines.  But pokies are only part of the problem. 

Now the dust has settled on Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, and the once-a-year punters have gone home, reality bites.  For 364 days of the year, as Anthony Sharwood observed recently, racing is no more glamorous or less monotonous than the pokies.  And, like the pokies, it’s primarily a solo pursuit.  And with 24/7 borderless online access, it’s a deadly trap. 

Sharwood believes “internet gambling is dangerous in ways we haven’t even begun to imagine … the new frontier of chain-you-to-the-chair gambling.”

We must hold our state government accountable for its failure to act to curb problem gambling.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com


5.00 pm – Margo Lanagan’s new novel

A novel by Australian author Margo Lanagan has won the World Fantasy award for best novel.  Tender Morsels has been described as “funny, tragic, wise, tender and beautifully written,” but also dismissed as “sordid wretchedness.”  It’s a young adult novel that reworks the classic fairy tale of Snow White and Rose Red.

Its dark and disturbing themes are bound to attract criticism.  The author has responded by questioning the assumption that children have the luxury of an innocent childhood.  Her aim, she says, was to equip readers for life by showing them “the sorts of issues other people encounter.”

One of the tragedies of 21st century life is the loss of juvenile innocence we once took for granted.  A discerning reader once said, “Some books are not for me, and some are not for me now.”  Margo Lanagan’s Tender Morsels is a case in point.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

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News comment with Rod Benson

Filed under: climate change — Leave a comment
February 4, 2010

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 1 November 2009

9.00 am – Climate change hard hitters

This week two articles on climate change grabbed my attention. 

One was a piece by Janet Albrechtsen commenting on a YouTube video of Lord Monckton, former adviser to Margaret Thatcher, warning that the draft Copenhagen agreement is a cover for the establishment of a new world government under the authority of the boffins over at the United Nations.

What the world needs at Copenhagen is consensus on appropriate measures to mitigate dangerous climate change.  What we don’t need is a whole lot of other agendas slipping into the room which would never get a tick at the ballot box.

Let’s hope we are not all locked into a legal strait jacket with the promise of paradise when in fact what is delivered is a living hell.  Over to you, Mr Rudd.

The other piece was by my colleague David Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University.  More on that at midday. 

I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

 

12.00 pm – Creation care and sluggish thinking

David Gushee is professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, in the U.S.  This week he proposed five paradigm shifts he believes will help Christians become more ecologically aware.

First, the gospel is not just about me, but about the whole of God’s creation.  What we see around us is more than scenery.

Second, we often focus on sin and redemption, forgetting that the context of the gospel story is a tangible creation.

Third, the focus on personal salvation must leave room for a sustaining and redemptive relationship between God and the entire world.

Fourth, our emphasis on other-worldly salvation must take into account the biblical teaching on the reign of God and the renewal of creation.

Finally, we should move from an ethic that is internal and interpersonal to an ethic that is social, structural and global.

Gushee calls us to challenge our presuppositions and enlarge our vision.  Many will disagree, but that’s his point.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

5.00 pm – Hillsong cuts ties with Mercy Ministries

Sydney Anglicans might be reeling from their investment woes, and the negative PR that brings, but Sydney’s Hillsong Church is having troubles of its own.  For months its counselling agency, Mercy Ministries, has been a poisoned chalice for Hillsong, which moved this week to shut it down.

According to its website, Mercy Ministries helps young women suffering from eating disorders, self-harm, addiction and unwanted pregnancy.  But according to disgruntled former clients, it engaged in cult-like activities such as control of clients’ money and movement, and instead of clinical intervention imposed Bible study and exorcism – the latter denied by management.

Christian organisations have a duty of care to their clients.  Hillsong Church must take responsibility for what happens on its watch. 

The negative fallout affects not only Hillsong but every church, and church-based counselling service, and brings disrepute on the gospel, which is all about truth and freedom and wholeness.  We can all do better.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

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News comment with Rod Benson

Filed under: church history, gambling, population — Leave a comment
February 4, 2010

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 25 October 2009

9.00 am – Reformation Day 31 October

We take religious freedom for granted today, but it was not always so.  In the 1370s, John Wycliffe suffered intense persecution for his commitment to biblical truth.  In 1415, John Hus was burnt at the stake in Prague for the same.  On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther risked his life for what he believed, and launched the Protestant Reformation.

Saturday 31 October is Reformation Day.  This year the thoughts of many Christians will turn to the proposed human rights act, which ironically threatens religious freedom.

Last week church leaders met with the Federal Attorney-General to voice their concerns, in particular the proposal to give judges the power to shape laws on issues such as abortion and gay marriage, and the freedom to hire people of faith in churches and church agencies. 

Religious freedom is a fundamental human right, not a subsidiary right that can be set aside for political gain.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

 

12.00 pm – A population explosion for Australia

Treasury head Ken Henry speaks of a “golden age” for Australia lasting to 2050 and beyond, underpinned by a sustained surge of global investment, strong demand in Asia for Australian resources, and population growth of 60 per cent.

That sounds exciting, and strengthens consumer sentiment, but it puts our governments under pressure to show how we can sustain an additional 13 million people.

I’m confident we will find good solutions.   We will also face significant social change, and we owe it to future generations to preserve our cherished national values and cultural heritage.

Australia is a great place to raise a family, to do business, and to celebrate the best that Western civilization has to offer.  But we will need to embrace sacrifice and a stronger commitment to regional development, housing innovation, public transport, renewable energy, and citizenship education, if Australia is to remain the best country in the world.  And who wouldn’t want that?  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

 

5.00 pm – Push to limit gambling

The Productivity Commission has released a draft report on gambling, noting that Australians spend $18 billion per year on gambling, $12 billion of it on poker machines. There are about 125,000 problem gamblers in Australia, responsible for 40 per cent of the money lost on pokies.

The report recommends restricting bet limits to $1 per button push; helping gamblers to “pre-commit” by setting limits to the time and money they spend; and forcing gaming rooms in hotels and clubs to close earlier and for longer.

State governments depend on problem gambling, taking $4 billion each year in pokies taxes.  And then there’s unregulated overseas internet gambling, estimated at $700 million a year – money lost forever.

A ban on poker machines is impractical.  But the state government must resist the gaming lobby and reform the industry.  Every one of those problem gamblers is a person with a face, a family, and a future.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

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News comment with Rod Benson

Filed under: human rights, law, peace — Leave a comment
February 4, 2010

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 18 October 2009

9.00 am – A Human Rights Act for Australia

It comes as no surprise that the report of the consultation committee on a charter of rights for Australia has recommended the enactment of a national Human Rights Act.  The report makes 31 recommendations which will now be subject to political debate.  Many lawyers and human rights lobbyists support the moves, but many others do not. 

The committee recommends that such an Act include the right to life, protection from torture, freedom from slavery and servitude, and freedom from coercion or restraint in relation to religion and belief.  There’s also a nod to responsibilities as well as rights.

But as shadow Attorney General George Brandis put it, “Any statutory charter of rights would bring about the most important de facto alteration to Australia’s system of government in our history, by transferring the ultimate decision-making power on a wide range of politically controversial issues from elected Parliaments to unelected judges.”  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

12.00 pm – The problem with Brennan’s report

Do Australians really want a national Human Rights Act, as proposed by the Brennan committee report?  The committee was instructed to determine what the Australian community thinks on the issue.  They received over 35,000 submissions – far more than any previous federal inquiry – and heard from more than 6,000 people at hearings around the country.

Of those submissions, 29,153 were in favour.  But more than 25,000 were from the pro-rights activist groups GetUp! and Amnesty.  Some submissions apparently consisted of postcards with a person’s name and the words, “I want everything.”  Hardly admissible, and hardly representative of national opinion. 

No one can legitimately claim that the submissions represent a fair cross-section of the Australian population.  Frank Brennan and his committee know that.  If the federal government is serious about enacting a national Human Rights Act, it should put the question to the Australian people in a referendum.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

 

5.00 pm – Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize

It has been a long time since a sitting U.S. President won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Teddy Roosevelt received it in 1905, and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.  Jimmy Carter won the Prize in 2002, but he was long out of office.

President Barack Obama received the award for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.”  He received polite congratulations from Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull, and ridicule from many others.

Bill Muehlenberg, for example, claims Obama “has not been around long enough to contribute to peace in any meaningful way.  So all this award does is demonstrate the paucity of judgment and political correctness of the Nobel Prize Committee.”

I applaud the decision.  No one else comes close.  But for the rest of this term, and an inevitable second term, President Obama must devote himself to the elusive prize of international peace, and seeking long term solutions to Islamist terrorism.  He needs our support, and our prayers.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

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News comment with Rod Benson

Filed under: abortion, climate change, drugs — 1 Comment
February 4, 2010

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 11 October 2009

9.00 am – The right to obtain an abortion

According to a poll conducted in 2007, 57 per cent of Australians support the right of women to obtain an abortion “readily when they want one.”  One-third of those surveyed support abortion “in special circumstances,” and 4 per cent oppose abortion outright.  According to Adele Horin, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, our liberal views on abortion are not reflected in law because politicians fear the power of “small religious minorities” opposed to abortion law reform. 

Are our politicians cowards, or do they see a bigger picture?  If the people surveyed were asked whether 100,000 abortions a year was too high for Australia, or whether couples should consider abortion as an alternative to contraception, how would they respond?  How would you respond?

We cannot afford to regard children as an inconvenience, no matter how inconvenient their conception, no matter how they alter our lifestyle.  To do so would diminish us all.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

 

12.00 pm – Responding to climate change skeptics

Many Australians remain skeptical about climate change.  But now Dr Brett Parris, chief economist with World Vision, has put together compelling responses to 21 objections to the need for climate change action.  You’ll find them on the Council of Churches website.

“Science is driven,” he says, “by genuine inquiry and genuine skepticism. But continued denial of overwhelming evidence from multiple sources is not genuine scepticism…

“Like those who continued to deny the links between smoking and cancer … long after the evidence was in, those continuing to deny the links between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are using specious arguments that have been repeatedly shown to be false, weak or irrelevant in the peer-reviewed scientific literature in order to try to thwart action…

“It is time,” says Dr Parris, “to listen to the warnings of the scientists and to pull together to prevent a catastrophe unparalleled in human history.”  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

 

5.00 pm – Should drug use be decriminalised?

The use and abuse of mind-altering drugs is back in the headlines.  Vince Cakic, a researcher from the University of Sydney’s school of psychology, claims that students are increasingly using psycho-stimulants – drugs usually prescribed for neuro-psychiatric disorders and sleep disorders – to enhance their academic performance.  Athletes are accused of doing the same. 

And last weekend, retired Seattle police chief Norm Stamper told a Sydney audience that the war on drugs has been lost, and has proved a disaster for police forces around the world.  He believes drugs should be decriminalised and regulated in the same way we treat alcohol.

Prohibition is certainly a blunt instrument, one part of a complex response to the problem.  But the common good is arguably better served by restricting dangerous substances.  At the same time, we need better education, better alternatives, and a culture where solutions to problems don’t lie in a pill, or a syringe, or in the bottom of a glass.  I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

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