Blog
Hypocritical heirarchy
(02 February 12)by Greg Spearritt
The Age religion journalist Barney Zwartz has delivered a blistering attack on the processes and people involved in the sacking of Toowoomba’s Bishop Morris. This is in the wake of two independent assessments of the Vatican's action which found that the decision flouted both natural justice and the Church’s own canon law.
Zwartz rightly complains of the Catholic authorities that “[t]heir medieval attitudes to authority seem very distant from the biblical teachings of Christ.” Indeed, there’s a great deal about the Catholic Church (and other churches one might name) that fails to measure up to the teachings of the earthly Jesus…
- What might the biblical Jesus have to say about the immense wealth of such institutions in the face of enormous human need?
- What of their oppressive rules and strictures – man made for the Sabbath – which they themselves observe only when it suits?
- What of their hypocrisy in sacking/retiring bishops with the integrity of William Morris and Bob Maguire while they shuffle pedophile priests from parish to parish?
- What of their failure to observe decent contemporary societal standards in discriminating against women and gays while expecting society to provide the Church with the privilege of exemption from rates and taxes?
I hasten to make a distinction here between the institution and hierarchy of the Catholic Church and the many thoughtful Catholics who find these inconsistencies as appalling as I do.
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Religion v Society in Oz
(26 January 12)by Greg Spearritt
It seems to me there are only four points on which contemporary religion in Australia clashes in any significant way with the general Oz culture:
- the access of women to the full range of roles within the religion;
- the legitimacy of homosexuality and the rights of gay people to equal treatment;
- attitudes to how religious groups deal with abusive miscreants within their ranks; and
- the level of influence religion should have on the society and on public education in particular.
Interestingly, all four relate to the question of human rights.
There are of course other points of contention, but these seldom rise to public attention. They’d include the acceptability of cohabitation before marriage, public subsidy of religious groups (i.e. their tax-free and rates-free status) and treatment of asylum-seekers.
It should be noted that there are exceptions to most of these, with some individual religious groups pretty much matching society in general (for good or for ill) in their attitudes.
Have I missed any major points of contention?
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Is God necessary for meaning?
(25 December 11)by Greg Spearritt
For Christian apologist Alister McGrath (in a recent post on ABC's The Drum website) science is about explaining the world, but religion is where meaning comes into the picture. He seems to follow the traditional demarcation of science tackling the ‘how’ and religion the ‘why’.
In his argument, McGrath makes the extraordinary claim that God is “someone who makes sense of the puzzles and enigmas of life”.
Now perhaps a God could be posited who does do that – but it wouldn’t be the Christian God. Would an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God (and the God of Christian tradition must be all of these) create a world in which it is populations that matter, not individuals? From baby turtles to human sperm, it’s a numbers game, pure and simple: the species survives at the expense of huge numbers of individuals. The vast majority of creatures, to boot, die of starvation or of being eaten alive. Until very recently this included humans, and starvation still accounts for millions of human lives, especially young lives.
There’s much more. I recall a Larsen cartoon in which God as a kid tries to make a chicken in his room. 99% of all life forms which have ever existed on Earth are now extinct – were they the failed experiments of the (perfect) Christian God?
God does no better in accounting for the vicissitudes of human life. Virtue, as Job discovered and Ecclesiastes laments, is no guide at all as to who does well in this life and who suffers horrible misfortune. Hence the need to posit a future life of reward/punishment. Who can we blame, for instance, for children born with two heads, or no brain, or other serious congenital disorders (an estimated 3% of those born in the US alone, meaning on current figures around 120,000 a year)?
The God of the Christians simply does not make sense of any of this. A capricious God, or at least an indifferent one – now that might do the job. Even there, however, Laplace had it right: we have no need even of that hypothesis.
McGrath cites Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s view that science takes things apart to see how they work, and religion puts them back together again to see what they mean. But when Christianity is faced with the problem of theodicy, it baulks every time for fear of coming up with a theologically unacceptable conclusion. The mystery of God and His Will is invoked time and time again – hardly a satisfactory way of ‘making sense of the puzzles and enigmas of life’.
McGrath is right to suggest that science is about explaining and understanding, not about meaning as such. Meaning is something humans bring to any situation: it’s a cultural product. And it’s not just about ‘why’. Indeed, plenty of humans have concluded that there is no reason behind particular pieces of good or ill fortune or behind the adventure of life as a whole, yet they haven’t given up in despair as if life’s not worth living. Meaning that sustains life can be just as much about family and friends, about projects and passions, as about cosmic superannuation or a grand narrative dictating our place in the scheme of things.
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Ethics, Christian and Secular
(30 November 11)by Greg Spearritt
We have two very recent examples of religious bodies and individuals revealing how ethically inferior they are compared to the standards of contemporary secular society.
First, there’s the Civil Partnerships Bill passed last night by the Queensland Parliament. To their credit, a few Church leaders – notably Anglicans and Catholics – supported the principle of equity behind the legislation, as did the Brisbane Anglican Church’s Social Responsibilities Committee. Most of the opposition to the Bill, however, was religiously inspired, as my local member Kerry Shine (a Catholic) ruefully noted:
I believe the argument in favour of equality of rights is superior to whatever arguments have been used or put up against it. Most of the latter, if not all, relate to a religious prohibition. For my part, I believe that where the rights of others are unaffected, then the state should not legislate as to who can or should not cohabit or enter into a relationship. That is not to say that religious denominations and their followers cannot declare what is right or wrong for their followers. That is a matter for individual choice. It should not in the 21st century, with the benefits of the lessons of 500 years of religious differences including 100 years war (sic), be the subject of civil or state concern.
Indeed, the Member for Nicklin, independent MP Peter Wellington spoke of intimidation by conservative religious groups attempting to influence his vote on the issue. The Brisbane Catholic Diocese was against the proposal, and (of course) Australia’s most eminent Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, is on the record as supporting intervention to overturn civil unions legislation elsewhere in Australia. Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen is also, predictably, against the idea of equity on this issue. Thank goodness for the increasingly-outnumbered progressive Catholics and Anglicans out there.
A second example also involves our notorious Cardinal Pell. A report by Barney Zwartz in The Age tells the story:
A LEADING Catholic priest has criticised Cardinal George Pell for reserving a "grand apartment" for himself at the Australian church's new guest house in Rome, saying "the ethics of our secular state are higher than those of our church".
Father Eric Hodgens, of Melbourne, an elder statesman among the clergy, also savaged Australia's Catholic bishops for what he regards as an abject performance during their five-yearly visit to Rome last month, particularly in failing to stand up for Bill Morris, sacked earlier this year as bishop of Toowoomba.
"They eat their own when fingered by Rome," Father Hodgens wrote of the bishops in The Swag, the national journal of Catholic priests. "How can you trust them?
''They are reckless with our patrimony. They seem incapable of protecting their own rights, let alone ours, in a system which is corrupt by today's secular standards.”
This all lends support to the view expressed by Don Cupitt in his 2008 book, The Meaning of the West. Western secular humanitarianism is directly derived, says Cupitt, from Christian ethics. But what we see in society nowadays is definitely not the old Church-Christianity at work:
The Church clings to its old inefficiencies, discriminations and injustices, and repeatedly demands for itself opt-outs from legislation that would require it to get its treatment of its own employees, women, gays and other groups up to decent contemporary secular standards. (Meaning of the West, 34)
Organised Christian religion, always intended as a stop-gap measure, cannot let go of influence and power and deliver the final redemption from itself that it promised:
[I]n the traditional language of theology, Christ has returned and the Church is obsolete (though, as Dostoyevsky foresaw, the Grand Inquisitor is far from pleased; he loves the Church and spiritual power much more than he ever loved Christ). (Meaning of the West, 10)
No, says Cupitt, we have now what a dying Christian tradition has bequeathed: the secular West, vibrant, post-metaphysical, non-theistic and with a radical, ethical vision of the Kingdom of God.
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What Aussies believe about religion
(12 November 11)by Greg Spearritt
Christian organisation Olive Tree Media has recently released the results of a study into Australian attitudes to religion and to Christianity in particular. It intends to use the data for apologetics purposes. The results are indeed interesting; they include the following titbits:
· Overall, 1 in 2 Australians do not identify with a religion
· Over 30% of respondents did not identify with any religion or spiritual belief
· Almost 20% considered themselves ‘spiritual’ but had no main religion
· 34% of people who identify as ‘religious’ are significantly involved in group religious practice
· The top ten reasons “blocking” people from belief in Christianity were:
1. Church abuse
2. Hypocrisy
3. Judging others
4. Religious views
5. Suffering
6. Issues around money
7. Outdated
8. Hell & condemnation
9. Homosexuality
10. Exclusivity
A summary of the study can be found here.
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Scientific heresy
(03 November 11)by Scott McKenzie
Matt Ridley gave a lecture in Edinburgh recently in which he examined science/pseudoscience dichotomy. There are many examples currently active in our communities, and many more of historic interest. He spends quite a deal of time examining climate change checking its credentials as science or pseudo science. And he makes the point that sceptics are regarded as heretics in the same way as they have in other cases in our past.
This is quite an interesting piece – perhaps a controversial one.
It’s the End again – what to do?
(19 October 11)by Greg Spearritt
With the world about to end again tomorrow, what are your options? Here are a few to (quickly) consider.
· Drop Harold Camping an email to thank him for the heads-up.
· Follow Douglas Adams’s advice (i.e. don’t bother with the paper bag).
· Do something really, really nice for someone (on the off-chance it’ll go down well if there really is a Judgment looming).
· Dance like nobody’s watching, even if they’re watching.
· Do that Terrible Thing you’ve fantasised about (finally sort out the neighbour’s cat etc).
· Spend up big at the local liquor barn, hire a band and throw a party.
· Read the Bible/Koran/Rg Veda/Diamond Sutra/Karma Sutra. Probably forget the Form Guide.
· Send me all your money, since you won’t be needing it.
Of course, what you do will depend on how likely you think it is that you’re among the elite who’ll be raptured away from the carnage on the streets.
If it happens to be after October 21, 2011 and you’re reading this, there may be a few things in the above list you’ll wish you hadn’t done. Just thought I should warn you.
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Giving spirituality the chop
(01 October 11)by Greg Spearritt
John McDonald’s recent piece in the SMH on the Blake Prize is compelling. He says of the competition:
Instead of addressing ''religion'', which implies a structured set of beliefs; a collection of stories, rules and codes; a series of moral and spiritual disciplines that determine how people live their lives; it now celebrates the New Age self-indulgence of ''spirituality''.
McDonald goes on to make the point that ‘spirituality’ means anything from a walk in the bush to sitting cross-legged for hours on a mat to attending the footy (though he acknowledges footy can also be a religion).
A few of us came to the same conclusion at the recent SoFiA Conference in Brisbane on ‘Spirituality and the Arts’. A lively presentation about the Blake Prize at that event raised this very question: if this is ‘spiritual’ art, what on earth does ‘spirituality’ mean? Perhaps it does mean something, vaguely, but no-one seems able to explain quite what.
If instead we use words such as ‘aesthetics’, ‘emotion’ and ‘ethics’ (and for some, ‘supernaturalism’) we appear to cover the territory pretty well, and all these terms actually mean something.
Is it time to give ‘spirituality’ the chop?
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School funding and equity
(02 September 11)by Greg Spearritt
Chris Bonner (a fellow of the Centre for Policy Development) has a forthright piece on school funding in the SMH. SoFiA member Nigel Sinnott writes: I think the freethought movement has to be involved in the knotty question of school funding because the vast majority of private schools in Australia are either run by religious bodies or foundations, or else have a strong religious agenda. Non-sectarian private schools are rare, perhaps very rare, and the principles of secular education are already being badly eroded (by socially conservative politicians) in state schools. ………..
Is there a God?
(31 August 11)by Greg Spearritt
Here’s one to watch for: a debate between Peter Singer (Princeton bio-ethicist and atheist) and John Lennox (Oxford Maths Professor and Christian) on the grandest of the topics… Is there a God?
Big Ideas, ABC 1, Tues (6 Sept) or Wed (7 Sept) at 11am.
An agnostic viewpoint
(31 August 11)by Greg Spearritt
A comment from David Miller as a prelude to an upcoming Melbourne Sea of Faith discussion titled ‘Secular Atheism contra New Age Religion’:
Some New Age gurus tell me that the way to ascertain Truth is to meditate, stop thinking and ‘go within’. The originating alpha seers of the traditional religions used this, and other methods, to ascertain their Truths. And the rest of us, sheep-like, have followed the seers' visions. Secular religions have fared no better. Our Nationalist patriots tell us that our nation embodies Truth and Virtue and is therefore superior. The Communists tell us the same about our class. And the Fascists say the same about our race. Where have all these competing imaginary truth-claims got humanity? Into constant war and bloodshed!
Those amongst my Atheist colleagues who suffer from a bad dose of Scientism tell me that science answers everything. Science, they believe, is building the ‘rock of certainty’ on which they can securely stand. ‘We will soon know everything’, they intone.
My preferred stance is that of the Agnosticism. From the Agnostic viewpoint, Truth, Absolute Knowledge and Ultimate Reality are unattainable ideals. Nevertheless, the quest for these ideals is perpetrated by the 'agnostic' methodology of science. Out of our imagination, our fantasies, our intuitions, our hunches, our guesses and our speculation, together with observation and measurement, we hone hypotheses that can be put to the test. If these tests and experiments are successful, and can be replicated, they may in time achieve the status of becoming ‘scientific theories’. However, these theories are open to analysis, to challenge, to modification and to refutation, as well as to new discoveries.
Truth, as an ideal, may be unattainable. But the quest goes on.
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The passing of an evangelical stalwart
(06 August 11)by Greg Spearritt
Evangelical Christianity has lost one its most influential exponents.
John Stott’s Basic Christianity, among other writings, typifies for me the hubris behind the conservative-evangelical position: Christianity is rigidly defined along the narrow lines of the sin-redemption model, thus excluding many of the varied and subtle flavours of the faith that have existed from the days of the early church. It’s a message still being peddled by conservative churches and Alpha courses across the world.
Some argue, however, that love or loathe Stott’s theology/christology, there were in fact (if you’ll pardon the pun) some significant redeeming features in his contribution to evangelical Christianity. It seems he did genuinely ‘walk the walk’.
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Near Death Experiences
(04 August 11)by Scott McKenzie
It's one of life's biggest questions: What happens when you die?
An increasing number of near death experiences, or NDEs, are being reported thanks to advances in medical science and increased resuscitations of the dead.
And several survivors have come forward to share their glimpses of what they believe is a realm beyond this life.
Have a look at this report from Mail Online (US) that includes video-clips of NDE survivors
Faith by numbers: why religion still matters
(28 July 11)by Scott McKenzie
In the latest edition of IPSOS MORI's research journal, Understanding Society, Tony Blair talks about the central and growing importance of religion to global society. The reasoning is compelling. In a world that may seem increasingly secular to many of us, it is easy to forget that religious belief is a central part of life for hundreds of millions of people. MORI's study in 24 countries showed that 69 per cent say they have a religion -- and of these, 40 per cent say it is very important to them.
The end of evil?
(16 July 11)by Greg Spearritt
Is it time we consigned the idea of evil to the scrap-heap of confusing and unnecessary concepts? (A place some would see as the true home of the term ‘God’.)
No doubt most of those attending the biennial meeting of exorcists in Poland would demur. However, Simon Baron-Cohen has an interesting take on evil in his 2011 book Zero Degrees of Empathy: he says that empathy can usefully replace evil as a concept. The behaviour of someone who performs a cruel or repulsive act can be explained so much better in terms of lack of empathy than by simply calling them ‘evil’: there are hormonal, genetic and environmental factors at play which can be investigated and – who knows? – maybe even corrected.
Of course this doesn’t account for ‘natural evil’, the calamity and suffering wrought by Mother Nature. Even there, though, the term isn’t in common use. Natural disasters like the Christchurch or Japanese earthquakes are discussed in terms of ‘evil’ only by the far-right religious fringe.
Has ‘evil’ has its day?
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Extremism and atheists
(03 July 11)by Greg Spearritt
If Christians have to shoulder the burden of the Crusades and witch-burnings and Muslims are held to account for awful doings in places like Iran and Saudi Arabia, should atheists be expected to take some responsibility for the terrible deeds associated with Pol Pot and Chairman Mao?
Prominent atheist Dick Gross thinks so…
Christian v secular standards
(29 June 11)by Greg Spearritt
Modern secular standards in Australia seem to be so much more in line with the Jesus of the gospels than do many of those tagged as ‘Christian’.
For instance, can you imagine Jesus advocating that children be caned for misbehaviour? The little we see of his interaction with children shows anything but the Old Testament ‘spare-the-rod-spoil-the-child’ mentality. Yet here it is, still, in Queensland – and only in Christian schools.
Jesus accepted women and Samaritans as people of value. Which 21st-century employers are clamouring to exclude people based on their gender, sexual orientation or religious belief? Why, it’s the religious ones. Victoria, for example, has just passed laws allowing faith-based organisations the right to discriminate in their hiring of staff.
And while we’re on exclusivity, back to schools… many of the faith-based private schools in my town are well-known for their devotion to core Christian values such as privilege and status. World-class facilities are on offer, facilities not available to the also-rans at State Schools. Take all comers? Well, yes, provided you can pay and we’re happy that you’re the right sort of person. I hasten to add that these Christian principles don’t apply to all faith-based schooling locally: there are Catholic and other low-fee religious schools with values and practices far more genuinely compatible with those espoused by Jesus. And then, of course, there are the secular State Schools who take inclusivity seriously, regardless of economic circumstances and social background.
It’s probably true that Jesus was no democrat, however he does seem to have been able to tolerate significant variation on the received truths of his own faith, such as that the Sabbath laws were absolute. The imposition of hierarchically-ordained ‘orthodox’ views, of course, is a problem faced by many organisations, including secular ones. But which organisation has recently disgraced itself in spectacular fashion by forcing the resignation of a respected leader who simply pleaded for allowing ideas counter to current practice to be considered? (Not adopted, mind, just entertained.) Yes, it’s the good old Catholic Church. Any recourse to fair secular practices here, like due process? With Ratzinger as Pope and Pell pre-eminent in the Australian hierarchy it’s a rhetorical question.
And there’s much, much more. The Presbyterian Church precipitously sacks the board of a well-run local hospital (and installs yes-men with little experience) because they won’t toe the line on fundamentalist anti-abortion policies. It’s the rules, you see: forget compassion and individual circumstances. Enclaves of extreme minority religious belief are tax-payer funded through rate exemptions; they’re happy to accept a regular public hand-out from those they consider ‘unclean’ and destined for hell. Church leaders lobby against allowing students who opt out of religious instruction to be given lessons in ethics.
Of course Jesus had no intention of founding the Church. At least (arguably*) Christendom eventually self-secularised to produce modern secular humanism, so some genuine semblance of Jesus’ principles remains with us.
* This is Don Cupitt’s thesis in The Meaning of the West.
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Events of interest
(09 June 11)by Greg Spearritt
Our list of general-interest events related to religion, faith and meaning has (finally!) been updated. The events are mostly public lectures and conferences, on topics ranging from the Shroud of Turin to corporate ethics. Check out the list at www.sof-in-australia.org/general-interest-events.php Of course, don’t forget our own conference in Brisbane in September: Head, Heart, Body and Soul: Religion, Spirituality and the Arts …….
Hard-wired for God?
(24 May 11)by Scott McKenzie
Here's a report in the Sydney Morning Herald that asks "Are we hard-wired for God?" or at least for believing.
It comes from a global study "Explaining Religion" based in Oxford. This piece reports on three aspects of the report: (i) evolution of belief in the supernatural, (ii) the religious instinct, and (iii) the cognitive appeal of faith.
And there's more to come from this study next week (in the SMH) and perhaps here.
(Note that this report was referred to in the previous blog)
Religious belief is human nature
(14 May 11)by Scott McKenzie
Religion comes naturally, even instinctively, to human beings, a massive new study of cultures all around the world suggests.
"We tend to see purpose in the world," Oxford University professor Roger Trigg said Thursday. "We see agency. We think that something is there even if you can't see it. ... All this tends to build up to a religious way of thinking."
This is a quote from a piece reporting on a global study of human nature. It is a short report and I look forward to more details of the study.
So if you're religious you will probably say: "Of course, God made humans like that."
And if you're an atheist you'll likely say: "Well we'd better get over it."
What's your response?
Women are dangerous
(08 May 11)by Greg Spearritt
Paul Sheehan, writing in the SMH, claims (credibly in my view) that “repressing women is sharia's raison d'etre”. Toowoomba’s Catholic Bishop Bill Morris is shown the door for suggesting that the notion of female clergy should be considered – not necessarily adopted, mind, just considered.
And now the Israeli Hasidic newspaper Der Tzitung edits the only two women out of the famous White House Situation Room photo showing the President and advisors watching the raid on bin Laden’s compound. Too sexually provocative. Ah… come again? Hillary Clinton and counter-terrorism analyst Audrey Tomasen sexually provocative? We’re not talking bikinis here: Tomasen’s barely visible in the background and Clinton is wearing a long-sleeved coat.
What is it with hard-line religion on the subject of women?
It all makes Tamas Pataki’s take on religion the more credible: in his view there’s an unhealthy dose of narcissism involved. Keeping women in their place is a punishment and a safeguard, a way of dealing with deep-seated frustration and anxiety about mother who is needed and desirable yet ultimately unattainable.
Is there a better explanation for conservative religion’s need to repress women?
Toe the line... or hoof it
(05 May 11)by Greg Spearritt
The Catholic Church is up to its old tricks. No quarter given: toe the official line or else. So Toowoomba’s Bishop Morris must give up his position, apparently for some very tame comments some years ago in which he urges parishioners to “reflect carefully” on options for increasing the pool of available priests, including allowing married and female clergy.
We live in an era where many churches, including all the other ‘mainstream’ varieties, tolerate a good deal of progressive speculation from clergy regarding both doctrine and ecclesiology.
Perhaps this is the genius of the hard-line position held by the Vatican. In the marketplace, the Catholic brand is distinctive: it has come to be associated with authoritarian, black-and-white religion. It seems there is no shortage of takers.
The saddest part of the Toowoomba saga is that Catholics, up to now, have been amongst the town’s most thoughtful and even progressive Christians. Their choices are stark: toe the line or hoof it. The possibility of change from within seems as far away as it ever was before Vatican II.
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Why we don't change our minds in arguments
(21 April 11)by Scott McKenzie
How often have you gone into an ‘argument’ with someone holding other views saying to yourself “I’ve got the facts and I’ll convince him/her by the weight of my argument”?
And how often did this not work out that way?
Climate science is the example of this par excellence these days. People on both sides shake their heads that others can’t see the ‘truth’ as they see it. And they vilify the other side as money-wasters or planet destroyers.
We’ve read about how strong pre-existing views are held by others and how hard it is to get them to change their minds. Turns out it is almost impossible. And this even in the sciences where objective truth is supposed to be the norm.
In this piece the literature on psychology, neuroscience and related disciplines is mined deeply to show us what’s going on. Some fascinating experiments are reported.
What I’m now waiting for is a report on how we get to be as bloody-minded as we seem to end up. Is it genetic or cultural? How much of each? But that's another story. For the moment just how one-eyed we are in arguments or discussions.
Conservatives & liberals
(13 April 11)by Greg Spearritt
Why are some people religious conservatives and others liberal?
In his small book Against Religion, Tamas Pataki argues – persuasively, in my view – that narcissism may well be at the root of much religious fundamentalism. But there are plenty of people who can usefully be thought of as ‘conservative’ without being extreme when it comes to religious outlook. And there are religious liberals, too. Attitudes to authority, to scripture and to other faiths are among the issues that separate the two camps.
What if the difference is actually biological?
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A secular bible
(04 April 11)by Scott McKenzie
A.C.Grayling has finally finished a book he’s been working on for most of his life. What A.C. Grayling has written is a secular bible. The Good Book mirrors the Bible in both form and language, and is, as its author says, “ambitious and hubristic—a distillation of the best that has been thought and said by people who’ve really experienced life, and thought about it.” Drawing on classical secular texts from east and west, Grayling has done just what the Bible makers did with the sacred texts, reworking them into a great treasury of insight and consolation and inspiration and uplift and understanding in the great non-religious traditions of the world.
Religion in schools
(27 March 11)by Greg Spearritt
By 1895 all Australian colonies had adopted a system of primary education that was 'free, compulsory and secular'. The clout of the Catholic Church ensured not only the continuance of church-based schooling in parallel with the state system, but also access by churches to the ‘secular’ schools for the purpose of religious instruction.
116 years later, religion in schools is still a live issue. Last week was no exception…
- Yarralinda School in Mooroolbark, Victoria, which uses Applied Scholastics teaching materials based on the works of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, is accused of using slabs of government funding to pay debt related to the Church of Scientology headquarters in Ascot Vale.
- Concern in Bass Hill, NSW, has arisen about a costly government land deal involving allegations of religious prejudice over thwarted plans for a private Islamic school.
- Government funding for private schools – including some wealthy church schools – is yet again in the national spotlight.
- And in Victoria a claim has been lodged with the Equal Opportunity Commission concerning religious instruction as a form of systemic discrimination in state schools… see here, here and here.
There’s now a Humanist Society website specifically on the issue of religion in schools.
A number of commentators have pointed out that given the small proportion of families at state schools who attend church weekly (around 8%), those parents with a desire to have their children instructed in religion should look to their local Sunday school rather than a secular state school.
I suppose it would be a different matter if the religion classes were truly about education...
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God and natural disasters
(25 March 11)by Scott McKenzie
A new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute (US) taken just a week after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan reveals some astounding beliefs held by Americans (at least astounding to me).
Does God cause these events to occur to send messages to us? 38% say yes.
Does God allow these events to occur to send such messages? 60% of evangelicals think so.
One wonders about the conception of God held by such people, and how this is possible among people in the most developed country in the world.
Atheists vs. the US Military
(21 March 11)by Scott McKenzie
You would probably expect that the US Military is tough, rough-talking, almost take-no-prisoners both collectively and in personal styles. That’s what I thought; they always seem to be in wars around the world, almost looking for the next one. Certainly sometimes they come to the aid of the marginalised and oppressed and we cheer – Afghanistan under the Taliban for example. Other times it’s not so clear e.g. Vietnam, Iraq.
But you don’t expect them to be an evangelical outfit, working towards making their members ‘born-again’.
Check this story out. And it’s by no means unique.
Respect and science
(04 March 11)by Greg Spearritt
I was discussing cross-cultural issues recently with a Murri. She was pointing out that Aboriginal people had lived sustainably in Australia before European settlement (let’s not mince words – invasion). I made the point that while that seemed to have been true for many thousands of years, there was some evidence for the idea that when people first came to this land a significant ecological adjustment took place. It’s understood, for example, that the megafauna died out around this time, and a link between the two events is not at all implausible.
My interlocutor’s response was to say that many Murri folk believe they’ve always been here.
Which brings me to the question of respect. It’s a touchy subject. Some of our assumptions regarding the first Australians (and people of other cultures too) are wrong, and sometimes offensively so. We should indeed strive to respect others, and being informed about their customs and beliefs, and about what they find acceptable, is part of that. As an Australian of European descent (a ‘Migaloo’, in Murri terms) it’s an especially tricky business, given the unarguable history of oppression visited by my mob on theirs.
What can I say, then, to claims that Murris have always been here? I want to insist that as much as I wish to respect cultural difference and the beliefs of others, it’s important to consider the evidence in a case like this. But is the scientific method with its reliance on evidence merely another (European) cultural belief, and (to boot) a tool with which the powerful continue to put the powerless in their place?
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Sam Harris replies...
(25 February 11)by Scott McKenzie
Sam Harris has written a book The Moral landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values, which has received considerable negative attention. After all his is a big claim and the book is quite a bit turgid in places. But its an interesting idea: that "we can, in principle, think about moral truth in the context of science".
He replies to his critics in this piece.
Lent and the Age of Excess
(12 February 11)by Greg Spearritt
Self-denial is not in vogue these days. In an age of excess, does religion still have a role to play in helping us achieve a measure of self-control?
The season of Lent is fast approaching (March 9 – April 23, in fact). As with every other year, however, it will be completely ignored by most Australians, trivialised by any tiny bit of mainstream media attention it attracts, noticed but not considered by many church-attenders and devoutly observed by a few.
Is it time – even for the atheists among us – to reappraise Lenten discipline?
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Belief in numbers
(31 January 11)by Greg Spearritt
Dick Gross, author of the ‘Godless Gross’ column in the SMH, raises an interesting question in a recent post. How is a census (such as the one approaching) to frame a question that gives us any useful information on the status of religion in Oz? What does it mean, for example, to claim (as many atheists do) that religion has declined? Do the numbers tell the story? As Gross points out, even if the number of adherents doesn’t change much the content and intensity of their beliefs might have changed radically.
To be sure, both the Atheist Foundation of Australia and the Australian Christian Lobby will see huge significance in the numbers; expect them to come out spinning the moment new stats on religion are available.
What would be interesting also would be a question that somehow captures the extent of what many of us (blithely) call ‘fringe’ beliefs.
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Sorcery, demons, curses and angels… it’s all still happening, apparently, in 21st century Australia.
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And Jesus wept ......
(27 January 11)by Scott McKenzie
Gart Everson sent this piece to me. It seemed so significant that I've posted it to our blog.
Is this the modern day equivalent of Luther posting his 95 (?) theses to the door?
When will the Catholic Church come out of the 15th century?
Scott McK.
Am I my brother’s keeper?
(22 January 11)by Greg Spearritt
Owen Ronalds poses this question in relation to some of the religion he sees coming from the U.S.A.
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Trauma and comfort
(17 January 11)by Greg Spearritt
“It's just comfort,” says one lady attending a church service in the wake of the terrible floods in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley. No doubt her feelings are shared by many.
Why comfort, though? How does that work?
Is it the sense that a compassionate God shares your sorrow? Or the solidarity of fellow worshippers? Perhaps the two can’t be disentangled. And what of God’s omnipotence? Plenty of the faithful would want to avow that God could have acted to prevent disaster if He so chose. Or did God find Himself between a rock and a hard place?
Or is it that somehow, in the mysterious ways of the Lord, it all makes sense and serves a purpose? Though none but the loony fringe would baldly suggest at times of human trauma that ‘God did it’ the idea of a Plan is widely touted as comforting. How could anyone believe, however, that the End, however noble, truly justifies such horrifying means?
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USA - a most religious nation?
(09 January 11)by Scott McKenzie
When we take a good look at the way people live in the United States it's hard to believe that 90% believe in God, over half go to church regularly and most pray quite often
Why hard to believe? Have a look at the score-card of emeritus professor Bernard Starr of City University of New York.
Talk about practising what you preach?
The Once and Future Bible
(06 January 11)by Greg Spearritt
A new must-have for the bookshelves of anyone serious about the Bible is about to appear. Details below.
___________
Gregory C. Jenks
The Once and Future Bible
An introduction to the Bible for religious progressives.
Foreword by J. Harold Ellens
Wipf & Stock Publishers, January 2011.
ISBN 13: 978-1-60899-961-3
xxii + 246 pages (includes Indexes)
Early endorsements for The Once & Future Bible
Greg Jenks knows his Bible as “ancient texts that come from another world and another time,” wholly human in origin, sometimes mad, sometimes magnificent. He buries the notion of a supernatural “word of God,” only to affirm the continuing relevance of these words of yesterday’s men for today’s “religious progressives who live the questions, not dodge them.” A wonderful demonstration of how we might still find ways of singing the Lord’s song in the strange and brave new land of secular modernity.
—David Boulton
author Who on Earth was Jesus? and The Trouble with God.
I have read your book and find it superb. It is a volume that the market of lay persons of all religious persuasions, and those who do not have a significant religious perspective, urgently needs. It fills an obvious current vacuum, is highly readable, entertaining, and immensely informative.
—J. Harold Ellens
author Honest Faith for Our Time, The Healing Power of Spirituality and Miracles.
Greg Jenks takes his readers on a new journey through the Holy Scriptures, reclaiming them with keen scholarship for our post-religious world. After reading the work of this emerging progressive religious thinker, the Bible will shine with a new luster.
—John Shelby Spong
author Eternal Hope: A New Vision and Jesus for the Non-Religious.
Ordering information
The book is due to be released in late January 2011, at a list price of $29.00 (US dollars).
Once published the book can be ordered direct from Wipf & Stock Publishers or via online retailers such as Amazon.com
Wipf and Stock offer publisher discounts for orders placed directly with them:
- For orders of 1 to 4 copies, there will be 20% discount off the retail price.
- For 5 or more copies, there will be a 40% discount.
Australian and New Zealand customers
Orders from Australia and New Zealand may also be placed direct with the author, trading as FAITHFUTURES (ABN 66 595 705 410). The publisher's discount will be matched for all orders placed directly with FAITHFUTURES. Local ordering will also provide significant savings on postage charges as well as offering shorter delivery times.
- For orders of 1 to 4 copies, there will be 20% discount off the retail price.
- For 5 or more copies, there will be a 40% discount.
- For early bird orders (placed before 31 January 2011) there will be a 25% discount on orders for 1 to 4 copies, while orders for 5 or more copies will get free postage in addition to the 40% discount.
Order online via PayPal :: http://www.faithfutures.org/support.html#OFB
Download order form for postal orders :: http://www.faithfutures.org/OrderForm.pdf
Happy New Year!
(30 December 10)by Scott McKenzie
Happy New Year! As we greet family and friends with this seasonal blessing, what a joy it can be to know we are part of a global tradition both ancient and ongoing. The history of humankind reveals a basic need to celebrate the changing of the seasons. For many cultures, the “return” of the sun at the Winter Solstice has marked the beginning of the New Year. With the gradual increase of daylight comes the promise of new life—both plant life and the animal and human life that depend on it. For millennia, people all over the globe have ritually rejoiced in this reassuring cosmic phenomenon.
First intelligent design now intelligent falling (gravity)!
(25 December 10)by Scott McKenzie
If you thought intelligent design as the evangelical/fundamentalist alternative to evolution by natural selection was a bit contrived, have a look at intelligent falling as the alternative to the theory of gravity (Newton and Einstein). I wasn’t sure when I first read this if it was satire. What do you think?
Room at the Inn?
(18 December 10)by Greg Spearritt
Malcolm Farr’s analysis of the asylum-seeker issue in Australia, as given to Geraldine Doogue on Radio National, is superb. The problem, he says, is overwhelmingly political; the cultural, demographic or employment consequences of so-called “illegal” boat arrivals are negligible.
Hugh Mackay calls it a moral issue that’s been politicised.
It’s about Australians who begrudge generosity where they feel it’s unwarranted (despite us proudly singing “we’ve boundless plains to share”), and politicians taking advantage of that miserly mood.
Has One Nation small-mindedness become mainstream? Is there room at the inn this Christmas?
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Why religion makes people happier
(11 December 10)by Scott McKenzie
Religious people are more satisfied with their lives than nonbelievers, but a new study finds it's not a relationship with God that makes the devout happy. Instead, the satisfaction boost may come from closer ties to earthly neighbors.
….. the satisfaction couldn't be attributed to factors like individual prayer, strength of belief, or subjective feelings of God's love or presence. Instead, satisfaction was tied to the number of close friends people said they had in their religious congregation. People with more than 10 friends in their congregation were almost twice as satisfied with life as people with no friends in their congregation.
Perhaps belonging to a secular friend group that engages in meaningful activities and shares a social identity might also boost life satisfaction?
A new deity ariseth in the land
(10 December 10)by Greg Spearritt
Is this the pathetic result of the decline in organised religion? The crowd, including our own PM, went bananas for Oprah in Melbourne yesterday. The pseudo-science-peddling small-screen queen bestows mystical experience upon the faithful: ''The universe is bringing her to me,'' one adoring fan is quoted as saying.
Perhaps GK Chesterton is right after all: when people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing. They believe in anything.
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WikiLeaks and faith in government
(07 December 10)by Greg Spearritt
SoFiA is about openly exploring religion, faith and meaning. WikiLeaks has enhanced our ability to openly explore the faith we place (and are urged to place) in governments, chiefly that of the USA but also our own. The reaction of some politicians and commentators as the hornet’s nest is stirred is further evidence that trust in these governments is barely warranted.
Adding a comment to the open letter which appeared yesterday on The Drum (thank the gods for Aunty!) is one way to show support for openness and to affirm access to information (where’s that report on the NBN, Julia?) as a key plank in the ever-leaky raft we call democracy.
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How Should Religion Behave in Public?
(03 December 10)by Scott McKenzie
This piece from The Huffington Post (28 November 2010) considers mainly the question of “being good without God”. Where does our morality come from if we don’t believe in God? As well it makes reference to people whose religious beliefs impact social and/or political decisions, referring to the case of the US Congressman now appointed to chair a committee on energy use who believes that God will decide what happens to the world not whether we introduce more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere!
Atheists and the Sublime
(16 November 10)by Greg Spearritt
David Miller writes:
When the conversation between the ABC 'Encounter' presenter Florence Spurling and Professor Donna Orwin on Leo Tolstoy reached the point at which they were discussing the relationship between atheism, nihilism and despair, I had to fight off the desire to switch them off. I did not know whether to laugh, cry or vomit. Yet I desperately wanted to respond. So I continued listening in fascinated horror, waiting for a peg on which to hang my response. Suddenly they presented it to me. They began discussing Hadji Murad and the 'Sublime'. Amazingly, they were doing it in a non-supernaturalist way. And I agreed with them. I had found my peg!
Let me start by asserting that everyone of us, believer as well as non-believer, yearns for the Sublime. If that is too wild an assertion, then let me merely say that most of us are often overwhelmed by the Sublime.
The Sublime comprises our highest values (truth, beauty and goodness), our loftiest ideals (love, compassion, mercy, perfection, justice, freedom, creativity, etc), our peak experiences (wonder, awe, mystery, gratitude, uniqueness, oneness, interconnectedness, etc) and our areas of ultimate concern (self, family, community, nation, humanity, nature, planet, universe, etc).
We place the Sublime above and beyond ourselves. It is 'out there'. We give it allegiance. We serve it. We are subservient to it. It is our lord and master. We are its slave. If necessary we are prepared to die for it. We will even kill for it. In return it gives us meaning and purpose. It gives us something with which to identify. It takes us out of ourselves, beyond ourselves, to a greater purpose.
Unfortunately, most people throughout history have preferred to symbolise the Sublime in the form of a supernatural metaphorical personification. I say 'unfortunately' because, for me as an Atheist, the symbolising of the Sublime as gods, tooth fairies and imaginary friends is an infantile besmirching and befouling of the Sublime. It is the Sublime that makes us human. I am angered and frightened by the constant assumption by believers in the supernatural that we non-believers do not have a Sublime dimension.
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With God on Our Side
(12 November 10)by Scott McKenzie
A new documentary from the United States throws some light on the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East, illustrating the role of a large percentage of the Christian Right’s involvement in supporting the Israeli side. They do this as they support Biblical injunctions about the people and land of Israel in what only can be described as blind arrogance.
Frank Schaeffer gives a comprehensive review of the documentary and some important background information about this disgraceful act of “un-Christian” behaviour on the part of those involved.
Have you heard the good news?
(08 November 10)by Scott McKenzie
This is a YouTube piece that quite cleverly reminds us of the absurdity of the central tenets of traditional Christianity.
I don't believe in agnostics
(06 November 10)by Greg Spearritt
Atheist Malcolm Knox gives 10 reasons why he has his children involved in religion. They’re well worth considering.
Along the way, Knox makes the claim that
If you're unsure whether there's a God or not, it means either you are not living with belief in God, which means you are an atheist, or that you fear that there might be a God and want to leave that option open, in which case what you really are is a believer. There's no neutral position.
I’m inclined to agree. Agnosticism, in my view, is the only respectable philosophical position. In practice, however, either you are a fool (like me) who says in his heart that there is no God or your heart tells you there may indeed be God. If you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor, it’s a matter of what ‘rings true’ where the rubber hits the road. Deep down, away from the armchair musings, we believe or we don’t. (And it’s clearly not a matter of choice, as though you could decide at breakfast to be a believer or an atheist.)
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Religion and the Liberal State
(05 November 10)by Scott McKenzie
The age of colonial imperialism is over: taking your laws somewhere else and imposing them on those already there and those who come thereafter is gone. More relevantly these days is the question of migrants asking that their home laws be applied in their new country of residence, for example sharia law among Turks in Germany, and other Muslims in Britain and France.
Stanley Fish has written an interesting piece in the New York Times "Religion and the Liberal State Once Again". We will see more and more of this debate I believe.
A science of morality?
(21 October 10)by Scott McKenzie
Frans de Waal, the famous primatologist writes about human behaviour and primate behaviour in the New York Times, exploring the idea that humans ‘can be good without God’. The way the primate brain shades slowly over (evolutionary) time into the human brain supports the general idea that while we are special we aren’t all that unique. However de Waal stops short of suggesting that his science is able, or will ever be able, to provide a basis for morality i.e. establish moral laws from a scientific investigation of human beings.
This is Sam Harris’ project in his latest book ‘The Moral Landscape”. You can get some idea of his viewpoint by reading some reviews on Amazon.
Evolving morality
(18 October 10)by Greg Spearritt
Emeritus Professor Lloyd Geering’s address to the 2010 National Conference of SoFiA is now on the SoFiA website: ‘The Changing Moral Imperative: From gods to God to Gaia’.
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In defence of secularism
(09 October 10)by Scott McKenzie
The visit of Benedict XVI has not only highlighted the role of religion in British society, but also displayed how a secular society is far healthier in terms of debating controversial issues, argues Michele Monni.
Climate change and morality
(08 October 10)by Greg Spearritt
John Birmingham has just reviewed two new additions to the climate debate, both of which take seriously Kevin Rudd’s grand statement that the issue is the “greatest moral challenge” of our time.
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Business as usual?
(08 October 10)by Greg Spearritt
Is organised religion really on the decline? The Age reports on a new study (more here) which seems to suggest it’s business as usual in Australia, with Gen Y (born 1982 – 2000) pretty much on a par with the Baby Boomers:
The research finds that 42.6 per cent had prayed in the preceding month - little different to the 43.6 per cent of Baby Boomers. It also finds 29.6 per cent attended a place of worship and 21.3 per cent read spiritual books, while 13.9 per cent had practised yoga and 12 per cent meditation - little different from the older generations.
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In the know… or not
(02 October 10)by Greg Spearritt
Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.
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So says the summary from the latest Pew Forum research project, the US Religious Knowledge Survey.
How would Australian atheists and religious folk fare, I wonder?
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Dangerous ideas
(02 October 10)by Greg Spearritt
Dangerous ideas are so important there’s a festival dedicated to them, a two-day event at the Sydney Opera House this weekend. The point, say the organisers, is not to push particular ideas, but to broaden our minds and to make us think.
Openness… it’s what SoFiA stands for.
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Euthanasia in the Netherlands
(24 September 10)by Scott McKenzie
The recent SoFiA National conference on the Sunshine Coast featured Marshall Perron, former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, talking about voluntary euthanasia as a solution to the dilemma of ‘dying with dignity’. Ian Mavor wrote about palliative care as another solution to this dilemma in the July 2010 edition of SoFiA Bulletin.
Brian Wilder has sent a link to a study in the Netherlands of a couple of decades of dealing with voluntary euthanasia including the more recent legislation that gave certainty.
As we Baby Boomers get older (not forgetting also an earlier generation!) this becomes a more significant issue – a dilemma for all of us.
More information is available from Exit International and Dying with Dignity.
Mystery and evidence
(10 September 10)by Scott McKenzie
Laurel Sommerfield drew this piece to my attention, a piece by Professor Tim Crane of Cambridge University, posted to the New York Times Online on September 5.
Professor Crane looks at the difference between evidence in science and that in religion, making the very valid point that we don't need to hold religion to the same epistemological standards as we do science.
That's OK - but what about the idiotic and infantile claims made in some religions?
Surely there's a role for common-sense here.
Do we need religions that make such extraordinary claims as: given that humankind is so sinful God needs to send his son to Earth to die an agonizing death so that he (God) can forgive them for their sins?
And this happened at a particular time in history: what about the humans who lived for a couple of hundred thousand years before this?
And so on.
Beats me.
I think Professor Crane has more thinking to do in this matter.
Hawking on God (Part 2)
(06 September 10)by Scott McKenzie
Stephen Hawking will launch his new book The Grand Design on Thursday (September 9). It’s already received quite a deal of publicity (as he hoped I’m sure) as it calls the existence of God into question. For many this seems a turn-about for Hawking as he seemed to support the idea of God in his 1988 best-seller A Brief History of Time.
Here’s a piece from the Economist about the book and also Roger Penrose’s review in the Financial Times.
School chaplaincy – a challenge
(04 September 10)by Greg Spearritt
School chaplains, in my own experience as a parent and a teacher, can make a positive difference to a school community. That experience is limited to one school, however, where the chaplain is willing to follow the guidelines about proselytism and happens to have some positive personal qualities that seem to allow him to fulfil his task well.
That doesn’t appear to be the case everywhere; indeed, the concern is such in some schools, by some parents, that a constitutional challenge [direct link here] to the school chaplaincy program is shortly to come before the High Court. The Australian Psychological Society, apparently, also has serious concerns about the lack of requirement for chaplains to have any kind of qualifications relating to counselling or mental health.
Chrys Stevenson on her blog (Gladly the Cross-eyed Bear) puts a forthright view as to why the school chaplaincy program is a very bad thing. She makes some good points.
I have a question, however, which goes to the core of the status of religion in our society. At least in primary schools in Queensland (and I’ve worked in a good many), atheism just isn’t considered polite to mention. It’s as if it would frighten the children. The official line, if there is one, emanating from the school administration is mildly pro-religion. Religious instruction and school chaplaincy are encouraged; talk about God and occasional prayers on school assemblies and at camps are not uncommon. Never once have I heard atheism alluded to, let alone directly mentioned except in private conversations among staff or parents.
By virtue of this residual respect for religion in schools – which remains, despite the multitude of scandals involving clergy – a chaplain has immediate and largely unquestioned esteem in the school community. If chaplains were replaced by qualified counsellors I expect those counsellors would blend into the mix of professionals – teachers, support staff, guidance officers – and have a very hard job attaining the same status and visibility as the much less-qualified chaplains currently do. Perceived motivation is surely part of this mix: the ‘chappie’ is seen as having a deep personal commitment to the kids and parents (even if ultimately it’s about subtle evangelism) rather than being there chiefly for the promise of a regular pay-packet.
Given this, is there a way to adequately replace chaplains with someone non-religious and qualified who can be seen as worthwhile and effective to do the job of ‘being there’ to support students and parents? It wouldn’t be very financially rewarding; would there be enough takers to want to do it (in the absence of some religious motivation)? Would humanists step up to the plate?
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Faith and false festivals
(04 September 10)by Greg Spearritt
Finally, some sanity on the “false festival” of Fathers’ Day. Philosopher Damon Young has a thought-provoking take on the issue in today’s SMH:
The problem inherent in mass modern festivals is irrelevance. In many cases, they're unrelated to the cadence of ordinary life. As a nation, we're not close-knit villagers, united by faith, overcooked mutton and the scent of dung. We don't have common rhythms or rituals.
Festivals like Father's Day become superimposed, abstract ideals, commandeered by retailers. The vacuum left by lost religion or secular intimacy is filled by what now comes naturally at every major event: buying crap.
Does the declining popularity of our once-potent Father in Heaven help explain why we’ve become such dedicated and consummate consumers?
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Why is there something?
(02 September 10)by Greg Spearritt
The old question has a new answer. Why is there something rather than nothing? According to Stephen Hawking’s new book, the answer is… gravity. He may as well as have said ‘42’. Scientists – even eminent ones – don’t seem to be especially good at distinguishing ‘how’ questions from ‘why’ ones. Even if the spontaneous arising of the universe can be explained by gravity, it still doesn’t (and can’t) address whether some incorporeal Designer intended it or created the law of gravity. The why question is about purpose and meaning, not about mechanism. (The answer, of course, may be: ‘no reason, that’s just the way it is’.) ……..
Those devilish Greens
(28 August 10)by Greg Spearritt
Archbishop Pell’s advice to avoid voting for the Greens ("sweet camouflaged poison", as he described them) doesn’t seem to have had much effect on the national election results. Or maybe it has… they won their first ever Lower House seat, scored a record 11+% of the vote nationally and will now hold the balance of power in the Senate.
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Youth & religion in the US
(13 August 10)by Scott McKenzie
Only about one in four teens now participate in church youth groups, considered the hallmark of involvement; numbers have been flat since 1999. Other measures of religiosity — prayer, Bible reading and going to church — lag as well, according to Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif., evangelical research company. This all has churches canceling their summer teen camps and youth pastors looking worriedly toward the fall, when school-year youth groups kick in.
72% say they are more spiritual than religious
Churches have responded with internet sites that are fully interactive, with a dedicated Internet pastor, live chat in an online "lobby," Bible study, one-on-one prayer through IM and communion, according to this report.
What does this mean for the church in the US in the long term?
Sign of the times?
(12 August 10)by Greg Spearritt
When it hits commercial TV, is it confirmation (so to speak) of religious decline? Are christenings a thing of the past?
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The Crusades again - in Africa this time.
(23 July 10)by Scott McKenzie
Ralph Peters writing in the New York Post outlines a case for the next Crusades. Again Christians vs. Moslems, but this time in Africa.
We hear a bit about the rise of Christianity in Africa, particularly of the Anglicans in Nigeria and their threat to leave the Anglican Communion.
But this piece gives some overall views of religion in Africa, and of a coming clash between the two: Christianity and Islam. There is an inevitability about it.
Faith and facts
(21 July 10)by Greg Spearritt
It seems that contradicting firmly-held beliefs with facts may be less than effective. In fact, it can be counter-productive, resulting in those beliefs being held even more strongly. That’s the conclusion of researchers at the University of Michigan. This finding has implications for the political process as Julia and Tony struggle to shape public opinion in the lead to Australia’s polls on August 21. It also rings true, surely, for religious belief... ……………
Our explanation of reality challenged
(21 July 10)by Scott McKenzie
We tend to think that we can explain our reality by using scientific models, theories and laws - that is until we begin to talk about 'subjective experience' and 'consciousness'. What brain scientists call 'the hard problem of consciousness', that is how we can explain our thoughts and our subjective experience as a result of physical processes in the brain, has failed to submit to satisfactory explanation.
And at the atomic level and below that level, quantum mechanics is also finding it difficult to use known physical processes to explain the behaviour of matter.
And then there's the question of where the laws came from, and how matter 'knows' to follow these laws.
Todd Duncan writing for The Global Spiral, a publication of the Metanexus Institute tries to untangle this problem. Worth a look.
Terrible sins: paedophilia & priesting women
(17 July 10)by Greg Spearritt
It takes your breath away. The ordination of women, apparently, is on some kind of a par with child abuse by clergy.
Is it any wonder the Catholic Church is both on the nose and increasingly irrelevant in the 21st century? It’s truly unfortunate, because there are very many forward-thinking Catholics who become more and more marginalised and demoralised as Rome (with Sydney in tow) continues its long-term lurch to the right.
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Gays and marriage
(17 July 10)by Greg Spearritt
Wow – here’s one out of left-field from a commentator known for his reactionary views… It was wrong of me to oppose gay marriage.
He makes some good points, including about our current (soon to be erstwhile?) atheistic Prime Minister’s views.
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The Church of England - a benign relic?
(10 July 10)by Scott McKenzie
England's state religion is an accident sustained by apathy: lacking any logical existence at the heart of the nation, it survives because it is already there. No one would campaign to create an official Church of England, if we had not inherited one; other parts of the country do without it. Non-believers, when they think of the English church at all, tend to see a benign relic, the keeper of country churchyards, a modest, often helpful and mostly inoffensive part of the national fabric. Its rituals involve a declining number of citizens and its tortured internal politics are a mystery, but it is still an important – and often profound – part of many English lives. The fact that the monarch is also its supreme governor, that some of its bishops sit in parliament, and that its senior clerics are appointed by the prime minister is both indefensible and profoundly unexciting. This tolerant indulgence, though, is being strained.
What now for religion in politics?
(26 June 10)by Greg Spearritt
Faith in politics may not be dead under non-practising Baptist Julia Gillard but it is certain to take on an altogether different meaning. So says Joel Gibson, writing in the SMH. Let’s hope the change is for the better.
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Science and bunkum
(26 June 10)by Greg Spearritt
The New Scientist website features a review of Massimo Pigliucci’s book Nonsense on Stilts: How to tell science from bunk. (Thanks to Nigel Sinnot for the heads up on this.)
The review (and, one assumes, the book itself) is well worth a look. Some interesting questions are tackled, such as why quantum mysticism is in the ‘bunk’ category and string theory is considered ‘science’ (or ‘almost science’).
Reviewer Amanda Gefter says at one point:
The idea that science can't tell us anything about the objective world just because it is a human activity fraught with human flaws and biases is easily refuted the minute that planes fly or atomic bombs explode. Scientists, meanwhile, do us a disservice when they promote scientism - the idea that science can answer every meaningful question we might ask about the world.
I’d have to agree with this in principle, though the idea of science as a cultural activity is more complex and nuanced than Gefter allows here. Philosophers (Don Cupitt, for one) have no illusions about the usefulness of science, but they raise genuine epistemological issues that should force us to question the all-too-common assumption that we can grasp ‘reality itself’ in some magically unmediated way through science. The fact that we just can’t get a handle on the logic behind aspects of quantum physics is, I’d suggest, an illustration of this: our language-derived tools are indeed useful, but they don’t allow a seamless one-to-one mapping of what’s actually going on. In some sense, we are always ‘making it up’ or creating the reality we claim to ‘find’.
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Religion 'fading fast' in the US?
(26 June 10)by Scott McKenzie
Only 15 percent of emerging adults (between 18 and 29) in the USA have a strong personal faith and practise it regularly, a new poll shows. About 30 percent are engaged inconsistently or only loosely affiliated with a religious tradition. One in four is indifferent toward religion, while 15 percent are open to spiritual or religious matters but haven't made a personal commitment. The remaining 15 percent have little or no connection to religion, or hold negative attitudes toward it.
(Newsline is a newsletter of the National Secular Society [UK])
Religion still matters
(24 June 10)by Greg Spearritt
Religion still matters, says Gerard Henderson. The evidence? Unlike the “sneering secularists” who “frequent taxpayer subsidised literary festivals”, our erstwhile PM and the Opposition Leader thought religion important enough to speak to a recent gathering of Christian leaders, an event which was also apparently webcast to “thousands of Christians at hundreds of churches”. (What Gerard meant to say was “taxpayer subsidised churches”, but he’s a busy man.)
Religion does still matter. In some cases it’s a force for progressive thought and worthwhile social action. In others – arguably the majority, and typified by the organiser of the event just mentioned, the Australian Christian Lobby – it’s a force for conservatism which would rather see asylum seekers turned away or locked up on Nauru than given a fair go.
I expect compassion for asylum-seekers and refugees didn’t feature too prominently in either K. Rudd’s or A. Abbott’s visions of the values that should define Australia after the election.
One wonders what J. Gillard would have to say on the matter… and whether she’d bother attending such a function. Time will tell.
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Would you believe it?
(19 June 10)by Scott McKenzie
Some religious laws are so strange, so stupid and lead to such ridiculous outcomes that you would think that they'd change the laws.
Try this one from Saudi Arabia.
And it's the 21st century remember.
(I know we in SoFiA want to be tolerant of religious beliefs and customs, but really ... you judge for yourself if I'm being intolerant).
Why the Catholic Church must be destroyed
(18 June 10)by Scott McKenzie
Gregory Paul is an independent researcher interested in informing the public about little known yet important aspects of the complex interactions between religion, secularism, culture, economics, politics and societal conditions. In this article he argues for the destruction of the Catholic Church, saying:
“The Roman Church keeps getting away with its endless transgressions because most of their allies and even many critics take each failing in isolation, limiting their understanding of the pervasive scope of the corruption. The international press has been perpetually slack in putting the string of problems into its broader and damning context. As a result too few comprehend that the Catholic problem is so chronic and deep set that it is incurable.”
There are four pages to this lengthy but enlightening account.
Religious tolerance endangered by ethics trials?
(05 June 10)by Greg Spearritt
Moore College theology lecturer Michael Jensen (son of Archbishop Peter – in case the Moore College reference doesn’t place him well enough) has been continuing the campaign by conservative Christians against ethics classes in NSW State Schools.
The trial of ethics classes, he says, is diminishing the role for Special Religious Education and therefore endangering religious tolerance:
[I]f the option for SRE is diluted, or even removed, religious people will continue to withdraw their children from government schools and seek to educate their children in religious schools where they will only interact with children of their own faith.
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Jensen goes on to claim that
Government schools are a unique opportunity for our society to inculcate our values of diversity, tolerance and friendship across cultural and religious divides. SRE facilitates these objectives wonderfully well.
Could this be true? Would ethics classes spell the end of SRE? And does SRE thus enhance religious tolerance?
Jensen could be right on the first question, if enough parents opt to send their children to the ethics classes instead of RE. (And if they do, then that’s what they want for their children, even if it’s not what the churches want. Who should have the greater say?) SRE might wither away for lack of patronage… though it sounds unlikely. There’s no proposal to remove it. And, unlike the case of the ethics trials, there are no wealthy, highly-organized groups campaigning to get rid of it.
So would the fervent faithful then take their children to faith-based schools, depriving them of interaction with children of other faiths and none? These will be the church/mosque/synagogue-attending families whose kids already get extended sessions of instruction, worship and socialising with their faith community in the evenings or at weekends. Would half an hour of (often poorly-organised) SRE really make that much difference? If so, surely these families will already have jumped ship.
On the second question: the actual SRE classes, if anything, are working against tolerance of religious diversity. The largely conservative-evangelical material commonly used (much of it emanating from Sydney Anglicanism) is not exactly big on affirming other religious points of view. The Bible, meaning a conservative Christian interpretation of it, is right, and that’s that. It’s hard to see how RE lessons – as opposed to secular ethics classes – can be promoting religious tolerance.
Jensen’s curious argument is another indication of how desperate the churches are in an increasingly secular era to retain their historical privileges.
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It makes you wonder ....
(28 May 10)by Scott McKenzie
Nicholas Kristoff writing in the New York Times of 28 May tells the story of Sister Margaret of St Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.
Sister Margaret was described by many as 'saintly' and 'close to God'.
But she took a decision that led to her automatic excommunication by a local bishop of the Roman Cathlolic Church. Much to the outrage of most who knew her and her decision.
Read Sister Margaret's story here. I makes me wonder - what about you?
New articles online
(24 May 10)by Greg Spearritt
You might like to view some items recently added to the SoFiA website…
- A Debate on Dawkins
- What is Spiritualism?
- If Only… (a reflection on prayer)
- A review of Adrian Cooper’s Places of Pilgrimage and Healing
- A review of A.C. Grayling’s Towards the Light: The Struggle for Liberty and Rights that Made the Modern West
- A Sporting Chance of Being Religious
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Why atheism will replace religion.
(22 May 10)by Scott McKenzie
Quite a provocative title.
Nigel Barber Ph.D. writing in a recent edition of Psychology Today argues that people in developed countries tend to believe that they have more control over their lives and are therefore less in need of religion.
Barber also argues that sport fulfils a role something akin to religion in many developed countries with sporting events becoming quite ritualistic. It’s interesting that Western Europe provides an environment in which both factors are very strong, and that it’s in such countries that atheism is at its highest eg Sweden 64% nonbelievers.
Synthetic life - threat or blessing?
(22 May 10)by Greg Spearritt
The creation by scientists of synthetic life is certainly a milestone, and probably more than just a scientific one.
Enter the Italian bishops. While they’re apparently worried about man ‘playing God’, it’s good to see they’re not just following a knee-jerk oppositional line.
The argument that we don’t know where this will lead is a valid one: I, for one, regret that we were ever able to discover the secret power of atoms.
However, any complaint that humanity may use its new-found powers of creating life for dastardly ends doesn’t stack up if it’s assumed we’re usurping the powers of an almighty, beneficent Creator. God, after all, has given us Ebola virus, Loa loa and Pol Pot. Not to mention John Howard and Kevin Rudd.
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The Catholic Church - today and tomorrow
(09 May 10)by Scott McKenzie
For centuries, the Catholic Church was unquestionably strongest in Europe. In 1900, the continent accounted for perhaps two-thirds of the Church's nearly 270 million members. Latin America had another 70 million believers, while Africa barely appeared on the map, with about two million followers. As Anglo-French sage Hilaire Belloc proclaimed in 1920, “The Faith is Europe and Europe is the Faith.”
Since then, and especially since the 1960s, Catholicism has been moving south. Partly, this is due to evangelism sponsored by the Church and its religious orders; new conversions, for instance, have surged in Africa. But shifting demographics have also played its part: While populations have increased modestly in Europe, they have boomed across the global south—and Catholic numbers have grown apace. Today, the world has 900 million more Catholics than it did in 1900, but only 100 hundred million of those new additions are Europeans.
So reports Philip Jenkins in a recent report for The New Republic. This is an insightful analysis of the condition of the global Catholic Church of today – and of tomorrow.
An ethical choice
(08 May 10)by Greg Spearritt
The ethics classes being trialed in ten NSW state schools are apparently proving popular; so much so that the Sydney Anglicans are squealing again.
The classes are being offered for those who don’t attend Scripture lessons, but it’s claimed there’s been a drain on Scripture classes of almost 50%.
Many of those protesting the ethics classes trial would be amongst the first to join the Howard-era chant of personal choice in any other sphere: indeed, in education itself, where they argue for government funding of wealthy private schools that have no obligation to take all comers.
When it comes to learning about the Church-version of Jesus, however, parents apparently should have no right to choose.
Clearly, parents want that right.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that interest would be sustained at high levels if ethics classes became an ongoing weekly event: as Neil Ormerod points out, over time there would repetition and recycling of material and the novelty element would fade.
Nonetheless, it’s the principle of the thing: by all means have Scripture classes as an option, but in secular 21st-century Australia how can it be the only real option?
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A cult in Brisbane
(01 May 10)by Scott McKenzie
Just in case you think there aren’t any really vile religious cults in Australia here’s a case study of one. It was written by Chrys Stevenson an active members of Brisbane Atheists.
It’s really sad to think that human beings could be so stupid as to behave as do the leaders of this Brisbane cult.
Isn’t there something we in SoFiA can do to let our voices be heard against this inhuman behaviour?
“A Path to Sustainable Energy.”
(29 April 10)by Scott McKenzie
Many of us are struggling to work out our positions in relation to global warming as well as to how we replace energy generated at present by coal-fired power stations. A couple of US professors wrote a paper for Scientific American in November last year called “A Path to Sustainable Energy” in which they claimed that the science and engineering suggested that it was possible “to re-power America with 100 percent carbon-free electricity within 10 years.” It was duly published and read by millions. How many woke up to the fact that it was a spoof is not clear, but Howard Hayden, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Connecticut did. It’s worth reading his report here.
I’ve never known a problem in science or technology on which the “truth” was so difficult to ascertain.
Not with a bang...
(29 April 10)by Greg Spearritt
Is this the end of religion-as-we-know-it? What about in Oz? Is it why Peter Jensen is so afraid that NSW parents will jump ship and send their children to secular ethics classes if they’re given a choice?
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Ethics: religious or secular?
(29 April 10)by Greg Spearritt
Neil Ormerod has argued in Eureka Street for the superiority of religious as opposed to secular ethics. To derive an ‘ought’ from ‘what is’ (that is, to use reason as the basis for ethics), he says there must be purpose:
The question is, do human beings have a purpose? Is there a point to being human, some goal towards which we 'ought' to move? Richard Dawkins repeatedly proclaims that there is no purpose beyond what we ourselves might create. Evolution is blind and purposeless and even morality can be reduced to this blind watchmaker implanting something within us.
But if the only purpose is the purpose I create for myself then ethics is irreducibly individualistic. You have yours and I have mine. Our ethics then boils down to a set of arbitrary (and hence non-rational) personal preferences.
It seems to me Ormerod is reading way too much Christian individualism into the issue. Christianity is very much a ‘me’ religion, where the essential ingredient is the individual’s relationship with God and assent to His gratuitous offer of pardon/forgiveness. Each person must make their own decision for the Lord.
A secular ethics, by contrast, does not have to be about “personal preferences” at all. Humans are social beings. Living as we do in community, our determination of what ought to be can be determined on such well-known and rational principles as the common-wealth, or what is good for the community/society. That is a genuine purpose: the well-being and betterment of the human group.
I suggest it may be better for our society - a la the NSW ethics classes trials in schools - to have children learn to genuinely listen to other views and rationally evaluate and discuss them than to teach an absolute ethic based on an ancient scripture (the ethics embodied in which are in any case morally suspect by any enlightened contemporary standards). This will teach, if nothing else, respect for diversity, an ethically attractive attitude which is missing from much of the religious instruction/indoctrination that masquerades in NSW schools as religious ‘education’.
(Thanks to Nigel Sinnott for alerting us to the article mentioned here.)
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Hans Kung’s open letter to the bishops
(24 April 10)by Scott McKenzie
The Catholic Church has reverted to type so slowly since the Second Vatican Council over 40 years ago that it’s not easy to see it happening. But this reversion has speeded up under the new Pope, and he has come under huge scrutiny for his action/inactions as a bishop and cardinal.
Hans Kung has written this open letter to the bishops. It draws out the reversions since the Second Council and Ratzinger’s own hastening of this process as well as his behaviour in the face of reports of child abuse by his priests.
Well worth a look – could be the epitaph for the Catholic Church.
It’s those women again
(19 April 10)by Greg Spearritt
When they’re naughty, they make the earth move. So says Iranian cleric
Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The exact link between leading innocent young men astray and earthquakes isn’t spelled out in the article. One is left to assume it’s Allah, blessed be His name, punishing everyone for the misdemeanours of a few.
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The ethics of ethics trials
(12 April 10)by Greg Spearritt
The unseemly and breathtaking hypocrisy of Sydney Anglicanism is currently on display over the trial of ethics classes in NSW schools.
Archbishop Peter Jensen – who reportedly refused to meet in the initial consultation phase with those from the St James Ethics Centre who will conduct the trial – complains that if the course continues after the trial, it will “jeopardise religious education in public schools.'' ''Without such a religious component, public schools will cease to be inclusive of all children,'' he says.
There are three problems with Dr Jensen’s one-eyed and immoderate views.
First, it’s not ‘religious education’ and never has been. Education would expose children to a range of faiths and deal with facts, not doctrines. It’s actually religious instruction, ‘RI’, aka religious indoctrination, delivered largely by fervent faithful who wouldn’t know the first thing about the true history of the ‘scripture’ they’re ‘teaching’.
Second, if religion is so foundational and valuable to our society, why is the Arch concerned that a secular alternative to religion classes would spell the end of RI? Aren’t there enough parents who would want it to continue? I don’t hear those arguing for ethics classes baying for the complete demise of choice – which is what Dr Jensen is doing.
Which brings us to the third point: public schools are not inclusive now. What currently happens to children whose parents don’t want their children learning church doctrine from uninformed volunteers? There’s no genuine alternative.
So, Dr Jensen: do you want choice, or don’t you? Is it fair – or ‘Christian’ – to force everyone to fit the religious model or ‘sit out’ for those lessons? Is it, indeed, ethical?
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O sinner man
(11 April 10)by Greg Spearritt
Looks like the sinners have indeed been running to the Lord, or at least to places of worship, in recent times – and not necessarily to repent. According to the Daily Telegraph, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has released data showing that almost eight times as many people were charged with offences in churches, synagogues and the like as in strip clubs, brothels and gaming establishments in 2008.
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It's only right
(11 April 10)by Greg Spearritt
The counter-attack of the conservative religious and faux-religious right is apparently underway. Its mission? To save us from uncertainty, immorality and utter dissolution. Imagine it: George Pell, Geoffrey Blainey, John Howard, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Hugh Morgan, Donald McGauchie and more under the emceeship of Mr Right himself, Andrew Bolt.
The message from this august event was reportedly that we mustn’t let godless secularism hold sway: that way lies the pit of meaninglessness. What, then, would prevent “lies, cheating, harm and swindling”?
It’s not clear whether Australian Christian Lobby managing director Jim Wallace got an invite, but he’s obviously on song. Secular ethics classes in schools? It’s an oxymoron for Jim. How can you have love for neighbour, self-sacrifice and help for the poor without the Bible?
Clearly, we need to rewind to a more certain, Christian, pre-post-modern Australia. Reverence for the authority of bishops and bible is the answer. There may of course be the reinstatement of the White Australia policy and chinamen again swinging in the breeze, there may be rampant sexual abuse of children by clergy, harassment of gays, the uprooting and relegation of aborigines to reserves and women would have to relearn their way to the kitchen. But at least there wouldn’t be any “lies, cheating, harm and swindling” going on. Would there?
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This makes my blood boil
(01 April 10)by Scott McKenzie
All of us will have come across reports in recent times (and for years also in the past), of Catholic priests who molested (I’m too disgusted to use stronger and more appropriate terms) boys and girls, young and old, for years and years.
But we might not have read of the depth of this problem, of the significance of the sacraments that were abused in the process, and of the current Pope’s complicity in this sorry matter.
Three news reports have come to light that address these matters:
Christopher Hitchens writing in Slate clearly shows the complicity of the Pope in his piece The Pope is Not above the Law.
Michael Murphy asks in The Independent How could Catholics do Such a Thing? in an insightful and heart-rending analysis of “he who is in a state of grace” as the perpetrator of such evil.
And finally India Knight, long-time Catholic (of sorts), writes in TimesOnline from a personal perspective Holy Father I can no longer stay in this Church of Disgust.
Probably not the end of the Catholic Church (it’s proved remarkably resilient) but another nail in the coffin – as a mass movement at least.
Peas in a pod: authority and abuse
(31 March 10)by Greg Spearritt
Pope Benedict says he won’t be intimidated “by the chatter of dominant opinions”, in clear reference to the matter of child sex abuse by Catholic clergy.
More realistic assessments of the situation, however, abound. According to NY Times writer Maureen Dowd, for example, the Catholic Church gave up its credibility for Lent. Retired Aussie Bishop Geoffrey Robinson foresees a significantly diminished Church at least in the West largely as a result of the abuse crisis.
Surely, what it boils down to – the abuse itself, that is, together with the morally bankrupt response to it – is the issue of authority. Bishops and popes are not in fact gracious, excellent or reverent any more than your local ‘Honorable Member’ is honorable. Nor, in the case of (most) Catholic clergy, are they fathers. They’re fallible human beings with egos and libidos who have no right to be put on a pedestal or given special pseudo-family relationship rights – other than by dint of their character.
Maybe ditching the ludicrous titles would be a starting place for churches to regain some credibility.
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My tribe, your tribe
(26 March 10)by Greg Spearritt
If religion is not, at base, tribalism writ large, it is at least one of the handiest tools in the box for reinforcing group identity. The vigorous assertion of identity through religious violence seems to be characteristic of our age, and now even the Buddhists are at it.
If Australia is not so beset by these religious ructions, perhaps that underlines the connection between religion and tribalism. The bitter sectarianism of an earlier, more religious Australia - with Catholics and Protestants energetically harassing and excluding each other everywhere from the schoolyard to big business - should not be forgotten. Our growing secularism has largely put paid to that reprehensible phase of our national life.
Maybe our innate need to form groups and protect them from outsiders has found new expressions. It’s doubtful, however, that there are many mechanisms more powerful for indulging that propensity than religion.
I have sincere respect for the enlightened thought and ritual that goes on in some liberal and progressive religious communities. This is what some people mean when they use the term ‘religion’ (or ‘true religion’), but it seems to me that it’s very much a minority expression. It’s laudable, but is it enough to save ‘religion’ from the dark side?
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What the devil is going on?
(21 March 10)by Greg Spearritt
We expect to hear the ‘D’ word from the likes of Pat Robertson whenever something goes wrong in the world. (Haiti, we’re told, had sworn a "pact to the devil" and thus brought the recent earthquake upon itself.)
Not that we in Oz can mock. We have our own Pastor Danny and his 2009 mass exorcism of Canberra. (Did it work?... hard to tell… Oh, of course, Peter Costello’s gone…)
Serious talk of the Devil is nothing new in Catholicism either: the Vatican, as you’d expect, sets the pace. But we now have the home-grown spectacle of the Sydney Catholic Diocese appointing a new exorcist, who warns that Harry Potter and vampire stories may be trojan horses for the world of demons.
What’s really been demonising our children, though, is not some metaphysical boogie man. It turns out to have been men in frocks. But it’s not really their fault, don’t you see? Satan did it.
Could it be, in fact, that the real monster is religion? Or is it society itself?
I’m damned if I know.
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Global atheism in the news
(20 March 10)by Greg Spearritt
What the newspapers say about the recent Global Atheist Convention…
By their fruit shall ye know them (The Age, Melbourne)
Mar 9 – (Barney Zwartz) The jury is coming in on the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne last December: it has produced some good fruit, and may produce more.
Dawkins derides sainthood as Pythonesque (Sydney Morning Herald)
Mar 15 – (Jacqueline Maley) THE creation of saints is "pure Monty Python" and the Family First senator Steve Fielding is more stupid than an earthworm, says the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.
Mysterious rituals of the atheists (The Age, Melbourne)
Mar 15 – (Stephen Bullivant And Lois Lee) Those declaring themselves godless provide a fascinating study for sociologists.
Celebrating life beyond belief (The Australian)
Mar 15 – (Miriam Cosic) THEY came from everywhere, the true unbelievers: from Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, New Zealand and beyond.
Atheists’ ridicule won’t win friends and influence people (The Age, Melbourne)
Mar 16 – (Barney Zwartz) If the meek really do inherit the earth, it won’t be the atheists who turned out in force in Melbourne at the weekend for what organisers believe to be the world’s biggest atheist conference.
Dawkins preaches to the deluded against the divine (The Australian)
Mar 16 – (Melanie Phillips) LIKE revivalists from an alternative universe, 2500 hardcore believers in the absence of religion packed into the Global Atheists Convention in Melbourne last weekend to give a hero's welcome to the high priest of belief in unbelief, Richard Dawkins.
Atheism is a broad church (Sydney Morning Herald)
Mar 17 – (Catherine Deveny) WHAT were we going to talk about all weekend? Nothing? Could we scientifically prove the existence of Richard Dawkins?
The atheist delusion (ABC News)
Mar 19 – (Phillip Adams) When I was a child I was the only person who didn't believe in God that I knew.
Atheism: the good, the bad and the ugly (The Age, Melbourne)
Mar 21 – (Michael Coulter) There's more to the meaning of life than proving God does (or doesn't) exist.
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Cult survivor relives history of servitude
(20 March 10)by Scott McKenzie
'Helen Pomery and David Lowe remember a former life of servitude. "I had to submit and be obedient to my husband," Ms Pomery, a 60-year-old Brisbane mother, claims. "I had to submit and be obedient to the church elders and I had to cut off my daughter." This, she was assured, was key to her eternal salvation. "We lived at Samford on acreage. We were ordinary. We just happened to go to an extraordinary church..."
The church - the Brisbane Christian Fellowship (BCF) - nestled in the Samford Valley in Brisbane's north, has a loyal following. Church elders preach sacrifice, submission and obedience, she claimed. To the church faithful, they are God's messengers. But beyond the public face of the church, strategically hidden from the congregation, is human devastation.' (Brisbane Times, 19 March 2010)
This is unbelievable in this day and age. Read more of the story.
Global Atheism, Melbourne-style
(16 March 10)by Greg Spearritt
Cordelia Hull gives us a view on the recent Global Atheist Convention held in Melbourne. I was there also, and though I’d diverge from Cordelia’s assessment on a few points, in general I reckon she’s got it about right.
The 2,500-strong crowd was ready for some anti-religion mass-think and even some hero-worship (with Mr Dawkins on the bill), but to the credit of the organisers and several speakers (notably Phillip Adams and Richard Dawkins himself) the event wasn’t allowed to become an unthinking anti-religion rally.
Some speakers were terrific, some were ordinary and the odd one awful – but such variation is an unavoidable risk in these kinds of events. There were more than 25 speakers in all, so lots of perspectives were presented.
My only real criticism (apart from frustration at the Convention Centre staff who didn’t seem to know that those on stage needed some simple audio foldback to hear questions from the audience) is that there was no direction or overall theme to the Convention. This is perhaps understandable for the first event of its type in Oz; hopefully the next one (which I’ll be trying to attend) will be a tad more focused.
Overall, congratulations to the Atheist Foundation of Australia and Atheist Alliance International for a stimulating weekend.
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The GAC – harbinger of balance?
(10 March 10)by Greg Spearritt
I’m one of a number of SoFers who are tripping off to the Melbourne Convention Centre this weekend for the Global Atheist Convention.
I expect the fears of those like Barney Zwartz will be realised: there is bound to be some triumphalist, fundamentalist atheism on display. Apparently blind adherence to the doctrine that religion is baaad and atheism good, with no shades of grey – a la (for the most part) Richard Dawkins and Tamas Pataki, who are both on the bill – is no better than its polar opposite in the many conservative churches and mosques around Australia.
I doubt, though, that the event as a whole will be able to be easily dismissed. There are some incisive thinkers there (A.C. Grayling, for one) and they have a genuine point to make.
Being ‘religious’ (whatever that means!) is the default mode in our society. Belief in God is socially acceptable; atheism is somehow dangerous, and will frighten the children. We’ll all fall apart morally if atheism gets a proper look in, so best not to mention it let alone have Global Conventions about it.
Yet the evidence is clear: religion, for all that it is lauded in every way (including through generous tax exemptions) has been implicit in pretty bad stuff even in Oz in very recent times, whether that’s intolerance and injustice toward GBLT folk or sexual abuse of children. The small-minded racism that can be encountered even within your bland, apparently inoffensive local Anglican congregation (as I know from 40 years’ experience) exists just as surely as true compassion and a passion for justice.
The Global Atheist Convention, as I see it, is a small, long-overdue measure towards achieving some balance. Religion needs to earn its place. It should not be allowed to maintain its present position of privilege by divine right.
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Did Jesus really exist?
(27 February 10)by Scott McKenzie
I was a bit surprised to hear during one of Peter Kennedy’s interviews this week he said in reference to Jesus “if he ever really existed”. I’ve heard Peter say that some years ago but was nevertheless surprised that he continues to do so. So when I came upon a piece that outlines the argument against the existence of Jesus I thought it might be appropriate to bring it again to our attention. This is an article of some age and which has been superseded by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy’s The Laughing Jesus of 2005 (which I learned about from Peter Kennedy), but remains a fundamental resource about this matter.
Of course in many ways it doesn't matter a hoot whether Jesus actually existed.
On PK (the threat to Rome)
(24 February 10)by Greg Spearritt
A couple of worthy media items on Peter Kennedy, leader of the St Mary’s-in-Exile community:
- Phillip Adams recent LNL interview.
- Andrew Hamilton of the United Faculty of Theology in Melbourne (and consulting editor for Eureka Street) offers a thoughtful review of Peter Kennedy: The Man Who Threatened Rome
Wotnews also has a Peter Kennedy page.
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'If God Exists, He Wouldn't Want This'
(19 February 10)by Scott McKenzie
The community of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel is half a million strong and growing. They live in a parallel universe cut off from the modern world in tight-knit communities where everything revolves around religion. Only a few dare to abandon this life -- and the price for doing so is high.
This piece from Spiegel Online International tells the stories of two who defected.
Ethics and euthanasia
(18 February 10)by Greg Spearritt
The Age tells us that “prominent ethicist” Nicholas Tonti-Filippini of the Pope John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family is calling for voluntary euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke to be prosecuted over deaths caused by the use of Nembutal. Ethicist Leslie Cannold disagrees: for her, Nitschke, like the back-yard abortionist, is meeting a need that will be met in one way or another, regardless of what the law says.
Somehow (for colour perhaps?) Jim Wallace of the Australian Christian Lobby also snuck into the Age article. He’s not a noted ethicist, though undoubtedly the former brigadier’s military career presented him with the odd ethical dilemma. Without the least hint of irony, he’s reported as saying: “Nitschke and his ilk are fundamentalists of the worst type”.
Ethics informed by religion seem usually to be anti-voluntary euthanasia. It’s worth noting, however, that a sample of SoFiA members in a recent poll, 88% of whom were raised in a Christian church, was 66% in favour of VE.
I wonder how those attending next month’s Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne would vote on the issue.
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Religion and evolution - a God gene?
(12 February 10)by Scott McKenzie
The New York Times published "The Evolution of the God Gene" by Nicholas Wade in which we are told that, "religion has the hallmarks of an evolved behavior, meaning it exists because it was favored by natural selection." We are further informed that religion is "universal because it was wired into our neural circuitry before the ancestral human population dispersed from its African homeland." There is a certain plausibility to Wade's arguments that religion is hard-wired into our brain via natural selection, making it almost 'natural'.
Jeff Schweitzer, a neurobiologist, takes issue with Wade's interpretation in a Huffington Post piece. This is entitled "The Fallacy of the God Gene".
Not a world-shaking argument, but one worth our consideration
New articles & reviews
(07 February 10)by Greg Spearritt
A new set of articles and reviews has been added to the SoFiA collection:
Malcolm Brown reflects on the meaning of islam and debunks some of our preconceptions.
John Wessel describes what contemporary prayer might mean.
Chantal Babin reviews a 2009 collection of essays.
Peter Hooton argues the case for belief in God.
Why is There Not Just Nothing?
Laurel Sommerfeld tackles one of the big questions.
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Human rights and justice, Christian-style
(04 February 10)by Greg Spearritt
The Pope (along with Anglican bishops in the UK) apparently has a problem with new legislation reform concerning human rights and equality in Britain. Churches and schools under these reforms would no longer be able to use arguments based on religious freedom to justify their refusal to employ gay people.
The Sydney Morning Herald tells us:
The Pope urged Catholics in Britain to fight back against the legislation with ''missionary zeal'' in a speech delivered on Monday during a visit to Rome of the 35 Catholic bishops of England and Wales.
The article goes on to quote from Pope Benedict’s oration:
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“Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet, as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.”
It’s true, of course. This legislation would impose such limitations, in the same way that the ability of white supremacists to “act in accordance with their beliefs” by not employing people of colour is limited. An “unjust” limitation, though? Surely not.
It’s yet another example of Don Cupitt’s point from his 2008 book, The Meaning of the West (SCM, p.34):
The Church clings to its old inefficiencies, discriminations and injustices, and repeatedly demands for itself opt-outs from legislation that would require it to get its treatment of its own employees, women, gays and other groups up to decent contemporary secular standards. (34)
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I believe... in evolution
(30 January 10)by Greg Spearritt
We have a Prime Minister and Opposition Leader who both believe in evolution despite being Christians.
The only real (sad) question is why this fact is in the least bit newsworthy.
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Events
(24 January 10)by Greg Spearritt
An updated list of non-SoF public lectures, seminars or conferences that might interest SoFiA members is now online.
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Confirmation bias – a BIG problem
(12 January 10)by Scott McKenzie
How do we respond when confronted with information that agrees with what we already believe – think about that – how do you? If you’re like me you take it in quickly and smile inwardly. "I’ve been confirmed in my thinking".
What about when the information is against what you already believe – recall this happening – how did you respond? If you’re like me you reject it or forget it or say it’s wrong, and feel a bit dark about it. "That’s not what I wanted to read".
The climate change debate is one area in which this phenomenon is almost epidemic. Most of us have a point of view but two types of argument – for and against – appear regularly before us.
Kevin Dunbar has been studying how scientists REALLY behave in the laboratory and his research has revealed some interesting things about a part of our brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that has evolved to suppress, yes suppress, incoming information that we don’t want to hear. Wired magazine has an excellent article, quite readable, about Dunbar’s research.
Confirmation bias is a BIG problem for us.
Atheist attitudes to religion
(10 January 10)by Greg Spearritt
Albert Camus, via David Burchell, gives some thoughtful advice about the approach atheists might usefully take to religious folk:
Speaking to a group of Dominican friars in 1948, Camus suggested three cardinal principles for unbelieving philosophers such as himself. First, it wasn't his business to reproach Christians for failing to keep higher moral standards than his own. Second, "I should never start from the supposition that Christian truth is illusory, but merely from the fact I cannot accept it."
And third, "I shall not try to change anything that I think or anything that you think: the only possible dialogue is between people who remain what they are and speak their minds."
It all sounds good to me, except for that last point: if we think we’re not trying to convert others to our own point of view, at least on issues that mean something significant to us, we’re kidding ourselves.
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Is atheism a religion?
(08 January 10)by Greg Spearritt
David Burchell, writing in The Australian, has an interesting observation about the nature of atheism:
At a talk in Canberra a couple of years back, the Italian bishop Bruno Forte suggested unbelief ought properly to be seen as another kind of religious journey: "It is a passion for truth that pays a personal price for the bitter courage of not believing."
To be sure, equating atheism with religion is far too simplistic a move, as the popular atheist retort illustrates: ‘Atheism is a religion in the same way that not collecting stamps is a hobby.’ (Anyone know the original source for this saying?)
As the front page of the Atheist Foundation of Australia website shows, however, some atheists will go to great lengths to avoid using the word ‘belief’ of their own beliefs (their position is an “acceptance”, not a “belief”).
Surely, though, the kind of crusading atheism we are now seeing develop (on display, for example, at the upcoming Rise of Atheism conference) has a good deal in common with the evangelical fervour of some religions.
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Mission possible
(08 January 10)by Greg Spearritt
On the face of it, at least, the story of Evergreen in China sounds like a very positive example of contemporary Christian missionary activity, the more so for the acknowledgement by Evergreen head Finn Torjesen that
Westerners... often embrace a black-and-white, systematic position on what the Bible says, "like book-keeping". But Chinese people tend to take a more multidimensional approach to their faith.
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Who on Earth was Jesus? - audio
(01 January 10)by Greg Spearritt
David Boulton’s talk for the 2009 Queensland SoFiA Conference, ‘Who on earth was Jesus?: The Scholarship and Research’, is now available as an audio download.
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Another Catholic disgrace
(01 January 10)by Scott McKenzie
In another expose of the disgraceful behaviour of the Catholic Church in protecting pedophiles and sadists in their schools in Ireland, Paula Kirby has contributed a sad piece in the Washington Times (28 December) that considers the Ryan Report and the Murphy Report, both released in Ireland in 2009.
There are also some interesting posts from readers especially an early one from a lay person who chaired a committee reviewing the Church’s investigations of sexual abuse in San Francisco. Jim Jenkins resigned from this position after considering the less than satisfactory investigations that were conducted.
This sexual abuse and sadistic behaviour is a disgrace, but covering up is perhaps even worse.
SoFiA Religion Poll results
(01 January 10)by Greg Spearritt
The survey of attitudes on various religious and other matters from the 2009 Toowoomba SoFiA Conference is now available in full online.
Climate Heresy 2
(27 December 09)by Scott McKenzie
On 27 November Greg Spearritt posted an item entitled “Climate Heresy” to which I made some comments and he replied. What might well appear in the annals of science as the greatest hoax or blunder or mistake since the Piltdown Man of 1905 seemed destined to pass us by almost un-noticed.
For a couple of months now I’ve been chasing down websites around the world for more and more reliable information about AGW (anthropogenic global warming) i.e. the proposition that it is the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that give rise to global warming and its alleged consequences.
It has to be the internet as the source since most media (for a variety of reasons) seem to avoid publishing anything that remotely challenges the received wisdom of the climate change proponents.
And I’ve found some good ones:
http://www.middlebury.net/op-ed/global-warming-01.html
This one is the easiest to read and most comprehensive and fair-minded that I came across.
http://www.climatechangefraud.com/contact-us
Click on “Temperate Facts” to find a primer of information about climate change and AGW etc. The daily newsletter provides a daily glimpse of anti-climate change activities and publications globally.
So does this site.
There are many others, most accessible via the three mentioned above.
I don’t know for sure that AGW is nonsense. However:
- the physics, quite simple physics in fact, as explained in the first site above, makes it clear that carbon dioxide is quite unable to absorb enough heat to cause the temperature rises that are claimed
- solar cycles are more likely to explain the heating of the atmosphere
- the unscientific behaviour of the ‘climate scientists’ who worked with the UN IPCC is quite astounding, and the ideology-driven behaviour of many UN bureaucrats and national politicians is deplorable.
However it’s up to you to decide for yourself.
What are they saying about Christmas?
(23 December 09)by Greg Spearritt
From the smorgasbord of Christmas views (News Ltd and Fairfax offerings)…
The obligatory conservative apologetics (the Bible really is true, you know):
Despite the sceptics, there is real truth in the story of Christmas
And more:
The obligatory withering atheist satire:
On looking beyond the incredible ‘facts’ of the Christmas story:
The Christmas call to fulfilment
An Aussie Muslim reflects:
Christmas, curry and many faiths
An atheist philosopher on celebrating at Christmas:
An enriching, illuminating, bonding, godless Christmas
Amateur project naively accepts birth narratives as history:
Stop the presses: the day Jesus appeared in the Birth Notices
Consumption and the Reason for the Season:
Did Jesus make us fat and greedy?
The ways we secular Aussies all ‘believe’ at Christmas:
The relevance of Christmas (chiefly editorials):
Christmas story still resonates in a troubled world
The Christmas message of hope is as powerful as ever
A time to slow down and enjoy each other
Goodwill is so common in adversity
From the clergy:
That simple birth in a stable was God's great gift to the world
Leaders urge faith, hope and charity in times of struggle
Human life must be our top priority
Now is the time to forgive, say church leaders
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God Talk
(21 December 09)by Scott McKenzie
One of my hot buttons is the use of the word ‘God’. I’m a non-theist, perhaps even an atheist. I have great difficulty understanding what religious people think they are doing when they pray to, or worship, God. Yet deep within me there is a sense that without some feeling for the sacred we live less than full lives.
I have found Don Cupitt’s writing helpful if a bit theoretical. So my search continues.
Now comes this morning from The Centre for Progressive Christianity in the US, a newsletter featuring two very interesting pieces about ‘God Talk'.
Fred Plumer, president of TCPC, has written a very interesting piece ‘God Talk’,
and Michael Morwood, another interesting piece ‘Progressive Christians and God Talk’.
These are well worth reading and thinking about. I’ll be doing that and, perhaps, coming to some conclusions about the sacred for me.
Scott
The LOLcat Bible
(21 December 09)by Greg Spearritt
If you’re into cats, you’re probably familiar by now with the Icanhascheezburger site. And, therefore, with kittyspeak.
But now we have… the LOLcat Bible translation project.
(Mor on thiz viytl projek at Lingua Franca.)
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Miraculous Mary
(21 December 09)by Greg Spearritt
All power to the celebration of Mary MacKillop as a fighter for social justice who was willing to stand up to those wielding power in the Catholic Church. (An attitude Archbishop Pell says we should emulate, though he didn’t seem to appreciate that approach from the St Mary’s South Brisbane mob.)
However, to credit Mary Mac with the posthumous miracle of curing cancer raises the question of why she won’t do it for every cancer sufferer. How many faithful Catholics (and others – presumably a saint-in-waiting isn’t picky) have prayed to her for a cure? And what’s her strike rate? Since it took this long to get her to the canonisation starting gate, one assumes it’s not been overly high.
Interestingly, even the Arch himself acknowledges prayer-induced cancer cures are “a long shot”. Does that mean Mother Mary is in fact picky as to who she’ll reprieve? Doesn’t sound very saintly, does it?
I’m with Dick “Godless” Gross on this one.
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What Aussies believe
(19 December 09)by Greg Spearritt
A new Neilsen Poll (Faith in Australia 2009) adds to polls over many decades showing a gradual decline of belief in traditional Christian doctrine. That’s not to say there’s a gradual decline in belief in general, though. God, miracles, angels, ESP, astrology: you name it, we Aussies seem to believe in it.
There are some items of particular interest, including significant differences between men and women (e.g. men were twice as likely as women to say they did not believe in God).
The variety of ways the data is reported is also interesting. For mine, the David Marr piece says it well. Your options include:
- APN papers: Australians believe in God: poll
- The Age: God is still tops but angels rate well
- Sydney Morning Herald (David Marr): Our faith today
- Herald Sun: We believe in God, UFOs and astrology
Also see, from WAToday.com.au: Faith sometimes divides us, but that's OK (“Australia's secular status is not threatened by the resilience of religious traditions.”)
Perhaps, since we’re apparently so confused about what we believe, Tony Abbott is on the right track: compulsory school classes on Christian belief and the Bible might be the go!
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Is religion healthy for society?
(13 December 09)by Greg Spearritt
From Sue Blackmore (writing in the UK Guardian) we learn that recent sociological research seems to suggest that, at least in the ‘developed’ world, the healthiest nations are also the least religious. The question of cause and effect, however, is a complicated one.
(Thanks to Jim Norman for alerting us to this item.)
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Catering for youth
(12 December 09)by Greg Spearritt
It’s often lamented that the under 40s demographic in Australia seems to have little interest in religious participation. Increasing secularisation plus factors such as family breakdown mean that membership of religious groups, and especially of the mainstream Christian churches, is inexorably aging.
Gens X, Y and Z have often had only a cursory contact with religion. To boot, this has largely been through the naïve Sunday-school lens of conservative-evangelical religious instruction at school or cuddly-Jesus Christmas Carol theology in the park. No wonder they’re just not that interested.
It’s not only Australian Christianity that’s affected: Buddhist monks in Japan are apparently resorting to manga images and rap music to be heard amidst the ‘buzz’ of life.
So what’s happening? ‘Cult’ groups like Hillsong may be filling the gap to a small extent, but what other organised social options do our young people have to be engaged in wrestling with the great issues and building character?
Involvement in that great Aussie obsession, sport, may be one answer, but failing a resurgence of religion in mainstream Australian life where else are young folk to go? Melbourne will host the Global Atheist Convention in 2010, but where in Oz are the secular/humanist successors to the churches?
Must we face the fact that communal activity will die with organised religion?
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Climate heresy
(27 November 09)by Greg Spearritt
There are plenty of people now arguing that that global warming is not happening, or that it’s not caused by humans: Clive James, Andrew Bolt, Ian Plimer, the whole of the National Party and most of the Libs among them. Is this a heresy? And does it matter?
It is, and it does.
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Religion and violence
(24 November 09)by Greg Spearritt
Is religious violence inherently to do with the nature of religion?
Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and confreres would have us believe so. Barney Zwartz, columnist with the Melbourne Age, disagrees:
My argument amounts to this: religion is practised by people. It is therefore as ambiguous, messy, prone to both moral heights and depths, as people themselves are. It has been used for good and for harm. My own view is that the scales are weighted firmly on the side of good by making people morally aware of the “other”, but I know many disagree. I think Richard Neibuhr put it particularly well: “Religion makes good people better and bad people worse.”
(Zwartz gives the topic a longer treatment here.)
I have some sympathy with Zwartz’s view. However, on balance I’d want to disagree.
Historically, religion has been primarily tribal, and that remains largely true today. It’s about identity, about distinguishing one ethnic or belief group from others, and usually about privileging that group.
It’s an obvious point, surely. If you are Shiite you are emphatically not Sunni; Mahayana Buddhism has traditionally called Theravada the “lesser vehicle” and itself the “greater”; Protestant and Catholic were hard at the exclusion game as little as a few decades ago in Australia.
Even today the Christian denominations represent varying degrees of exclusivity, from Exclusive Brethren through Catholic to the tolerant old non-Sydney Anglicans. (But even the Anglicans are proud of their identity; their tolerance sets them apart.)
The earthly Jesus attempted to turn the urge to tribalism and exclusivity on its head, supping with sinners and smiling on Samaritans. But the Church wasted little time in righting the ship again.
In this light, it’s not surprising to see so much violence in the name of religion: religion has always been a powerful tool for asserting identity. It may not meet with approval from enlightened religious folk in these enlightened times, but us-them religion remains a prominent feature of twenty-first century life. Ask the Taliban. Or the folk from St Mary’s-in-Exile.
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Evolution of religion
(24 November 09)by Scott McKenzie
There were two pieces in the New York Times in mid-November that addressed the question of the origin and evolution of religion, and how pervasive religion is among ancient (and not so ancient) cultures. Both emanated from consideration of Nicholas Wade’s new book “The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures”. The first was the author’s own summary of the book and the second was by a colleague John Tierney who wrote a review.
These pieces suggest that religion evolves i.e. that a religion changes to better meet the needs and expectations of the people it serves. Some of us find this hard to believe when we look at Christianity today but change has already occurred and more is on the way according to our progressives. But that’s another story.
Magical realism
(21 November 09)by Greg Spearritt
Whether it’s vampires, sorcery or talking animals, you’ve probably had your shot (and perhaps your fill?) of magical realism through popular culture in recent times.