The decision by Father Chris Riley to support Clubs Australia in its fight against the federal government’s poker machine reforms has prompted a strong response from the newly formed NSW Churches Gambling Taskforce. Rev Bill Crews, chair of the NSW Taskforce, said that counselling was an important part of helping people overcome addiction to poker …
Australian Christian Lobby comes under fire
The Victorian Council of Churches has complained at what it sees as the one-sided view of Christianity portrayed in the Australian media. General Secretary Theo Mackaay said there was “growing concern amongst member churches that their voices are not heard or considered because of the media’s reliance on groups like [the Australian Christian Lobby].” Let’s …
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Melinda Tankard Reist and the feminism debate
You may have heard/read comments, many of them hostile, about Australian anti-porn campaigner Melinda Tankard Reist flying thick and fast in recent days. This attention was generated in the wake of her "outing" as a pro-life feminist with alleged connections to Canberra's Belconnen Baptist Church, which to atheist bloggers and tweeters appeared to indicate MTR …
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Human Centipede crushed
In a win for decency and sanity, the federal Classification Review Board has unanimously decided to classify the “torture porn” film The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) as Refused Classification, meaning the film cannot be sold, hired or advertised in Australia. Earlier this year, the board gave the film an R18+ classification, despite the fact …
The pressures teens face
As the father of a teenager, I was very interested in the findings of a new survey published this week, which highlight the intensifying pressures teenagers face, and who’s there to help when things go wrong. Mission Australia’s 10th National Survey of Young Australians asked 46,000 young people to rank 15 issues according to which …
