Archive for March, 2010


Facing the final curtain

Filed under: bioethics, euthanasia — Leave a comment
March 19, 2010

They say that death and taxes are the two great inevitables. When it comes to our own death, or the death of a friend or family member, moral dilemmas abound and the ethical choices that confront us may seem overwhelming, or just plain confusing.

This coming Saturday the Centre for Apologetic Scholarship and Education at New College, at the University of NSW, is holding a conference on “Christian perspectives on the end of life.”

Dr Megan Best will talk about euthanasia; Kate Bradford will tackle the equally controversial issue of evangelism with the terminally ill; Dr Frank Brennan will discuss challenges of palliative care; there’s geriatrician Dr Russell Clark on attitudes to ageing; and I’ll be giving the keynote address on a biblical view of death.

Seats are still available, but you’ll have to hurry. You can download registration forms at www.nswchurches.com, or contact New College. I’m Rod Benson.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 21 March 2010.

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Buy Fairtrade chocolate this Easter

Filed under: Easter, food, human rights — Leave a comment
March 16, 2010

When you choose Fairtrade Certified chocolate you’re helping create a better and brighter future for cocoa farmers and their families in developing countries.

To view the range of Fairtrade chocolate choices available, including a range of Easter eggs, visit http://www.fairtrade.com.au/get-involved/campaigns/make-fairtrade-choice-easter

Here’s a Fairtrade locator for Australia and New Zealand:
http://locator.fairtrade.org.nz/locator

For more information about Fairtrade visit the following sites:
http://www.globalpovertyproject.com/howto/buy_fair
http://www.fairtrade.com.au/about-fairtrade/faqs
http://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/trade

I’ve pasted this information from the Fairtrade Facebook page, but I’ll have more to say in my radio comments this Sunday. So as they say, stay tuned.

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The week’s best fare from RN and A&LD

Filed under: ethics — Leave a comment
March 13, 2010

CATHOLIC CHURCH: The Church encourages adolescence in its priests, co-dependency, and a terrible and immature loneliness: http://is.gd/apgk3

GANDHI: How did Gandhi morph from commercial lawyer into a human rights advocate and then into a political strategist? http://is.gd/aph4v

SOCIAL JUSTICE: Tzvetan Todorov argues for an Enlightenment approach to developing an open and just modern society: http://is.gd/apiiw

HISTORY: Richard Allsop assesses the work of octogenarian and prominent historian Geoffrey Blainey: http://is.gd/apiWk

ETHICS – BIBLICAL: Christopher Hitchens fancies he’s up to the job of rewriting the Ten Commandments: http://is.gd/apn2W

WAR: Simple-minded moral posturing on Darfur by celebrities and rights activitsts has made the conflict worse: http://is.gd/aprqk

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Outcomes (by Michael Leunig)

Filed under: management, poetry — Leave a comment
March 13, 2010

The world is full of outcomes

Each day delivers more

At breakfast time there’s only two

By lunchtime there are four.

By dinnertime there will be eight

At bedtime there’s sixteen;

So many, many outcomes and

I don’t know what they mean

And so we live our lives away

With outcomes big and small

Until the final outcome comes

With no outcome at all.

From a cartoon by Michael Leunig, Sydney Morning Herald, 13-14 March 2010, News Review 14.

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Suffering for the faith in Uzbekistan

Filed under: conversion, human rights, religious freedom — Leave a comment
March 12, 2010

Australians take for granted the right to hold religious beliefs and to act on those beliefs.  But for many around the world, such rights are under constant threat.

Authorities in Uzbekistan recently sentenced Tohar Haydarov to ten years in jail on drugs charges, after he allegedly refused to renounce his Christian faith. Local Baptists insist that police planted drugs on him at the time of his arrest, and claim he is “a man with a pure conscience and an honest Christian.” Haydarov remains in detention, and has appealed against his sentence.

Uzbek authorities have long imposed restrictions on religious activity.  The 1991 constitution guarantees freedom of conscience, but it remains illegal to share one’s faith, religious meetings in homes are banned, and there are frequent police raids on churches.

Thank God for the freedom we enjoy, and spare a thought and a prayer for Mr Haydarov and others like him.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 14 March 2010.

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