By Rod Benson If you live in the city of Sydney, you have a woman Head of State, a woman Governor-General, a woman Governor, a woman Premier and a woman Mayor. And we all now have our first woman Prime Minister in Julia Gillard, elected unopposed by her Labor colleagues on Thursday. In her first …
The centenary of Edinburgh 1910
By Rod Benson Most of us like an anniversary, and a centenary is about as good as it gets. This week saw the centenary of the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference, when Christians of many nations and traditions gathered in Scotland’s capital under the bold theme of “evangelizing the world in this generation.” Edinburgh 1910 is …
Economics and morality
By Rod Benson It seems that through good fortune, or good judgment, or perhaps a bit of both, the Australian economy has weathered the global financial crisis better than most. But what is the purpose of an economy? The Church of Scotland has just launched a Commission on the Purposes of Economic Activity, which will …
Art and spirituality
By Rod Benson In one of his many public addresses, Anglican Bishop of Durham N.T. Wright laments the fact that much of our art reflects either the sentimental or the brutal that lies around and within us. But genuine art, he said, takes seriously the fact that the world is full of the glory of …
Why we should not ban the burqa
By Rod Benson Last week Senator Cory Bernardi called for a ban on the burqa, the full-face Muslim head covering, as a security hazard, a symbol of “the repressive domination of women,” something that compromises “important aspects of human communication,” and is downright “un-Australian.” Many will agree. Even journalist Elizabeth Farrelly argued that the burqa …
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