Who speaks for the church on social issues?

Here’s an account of my twitter exchange on Sunday night (20 March 2011) with Dean Tregenza, whose Twitter bio identifies him as a librarian and “a tenderer of sacred spaces”: @rod_benson For NSW tweeps, I’ll be talking with Kel Richards on 2CH at 10.40pm on what the churches see as key policy issues ahead of …

What causes adultery?

Freelance writer Katrina Fox, in her article on same sex marriage published on Wednesday, suggests that "monogamy may not be natural to humans," and "the proliferation of adultery websites offering extramarital dating services is one indicator that the expectation of lifelong sexual bonding to one person ‘till death do us part’ may well be unrealistic …

Multiculturalism not past its use-by date

Debates about multiculturalism never seem to go away.  I suppose that's because our world today is teeming with diversity and we're all rubbing shoulders and trying to get on with each other as best we can. Well, almost all of us.  This week Chuck Colson, from Prison Fellowship in the U.S., described multiculturalism as "the …

Marriage is a public good

In the U.S., President Obama has dismayed many Christians by declining to defend his country’s Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as only between a man and a woman.  Gay rights groups have welcomed the decision, while critics have called it the road to moral and legal chaos. In Australia too, bills calling for …

Pressure for gambling reform

One of the principle moral challenges facing NSW politicians during this election campaign is how to balance the need for gambling reform against pressure from cashed-up pubs and clubs who donate to political parties and demand relaxing rather than tightening the law. Both the Premier, Kristina Keneally, and Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell have indicated they …