Thoughts on faith, culture, and public life.
On reading one of my recent articles on reading Scripture in a climate emergency (Part 1), a friend raised a point many secular bystanders may well be asking: “I would have thought we were way past the point on needing to rely on biblical or ecological hermeneutics to help us understand the dimensions of the …
Continue reading "Why Christians don’t need proof texts for climate action"
Australia has never been a monoculture. Long before European settlement, the continent was home to many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and languages. At the time of colonisation, about 250 distinct Indigenous languages were spoken, many with multiple dialects. Since 1788, successive migrations have added further layers of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. …
Continue reading "Faith, cultural diversity and the common good"
When you hear the phrase, “theologies of happiness,” what comes to mind? We seek happiness in many different ways, and the various approaches can be grouped into three broader categories: Having: pursuit of pleasure, wealth, security, success. Doing: pursuit of achievement, growth, creativity, service. Being: pursuit of virtue, spirituality, wisdom, loving relationships. However, the world's …
News that the world has seen the arrival of its first trillionaire captures public attention because it triggers shock and envy, and pushes familiar questions about wealth into unfamiliar territory. Human societies have always contained rich and poor, merchants and labourers, rulers and subjects. Yet a personal fortune measured in trillions of dollars represents wealth …
Since the dramatic election result in South Australia last weekend, readers of news media, not least the Murdoch press, will have noticed a renewed emphasis on “patriotism.” Former Liberal Party Opposition Leader Alexander Downer was even moved to write an opinion piece provocatively headlined, “Liberals have forgotten patriotism. Now One Nation owns it.”[1] What is …
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