A short history of the NSW Baptist Social Issues Committee

An address to the Baptist Historical Society of NSW by Rev. Rod Benson, 4 November 2010. Part of the large crowd gathered to listen to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's historic apology speech to members of the Stolen Generations in Canberra, 14 February 2008. Introduction The year is 1968, the year of my birth. There are …

Racism and reconciliation

NOTE: I preached this sermon at the Murri Evangelical Church (a Baptist church) in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, on the first anniversary of the 1996 Australian federal election which swept Pauline Hanson onto the national political stage. Ms Hansonโ€™s seat of Oxley, since renamed Blair following electoral boundary changes in 1998, included most of the city …

Corrupting technology

Corrupting technology: An integrity check on the organ transplant industry Abstract This paper discusses aspects of organ donation and transplantation (ODT) as an example of technology delivering significant health and longevity benefits to patients, but fraught with ethical challenges and open to incidental or systematic corruption. The paper outlines the main features of current ethical …

Rock the boats

Address at a forum on asylum seeker policy, Lake Joondalup Baptist Church, Perth, 21 September 2014 The Bible and refugees In debates about asylum seekers, Christians are often caught up in the groundswell of public opinion, and face the danger of allowing popular fears or political allegiances, rather than biblical principles, to shape their perspective. …