Religion News Selection 16 (Apr 26

Religion News Selection 16 (Apr 26 - May 3)

(03 May 10)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Selection

Apr 26 – May 3, 2010

A selection of religion news stories from Australia.

Inclusion here does not endorse the veracity or quality of any particular item – it just means I found it worth reading and reflecting on (even if badly conceived or poorly written).

If you’re after the unexpurgated (and reasonably unbiased) version, see Religion News Australia which appears weekly on our website.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Church cuts jobs amid finances warning (ABC News)

Apr 30 - Jobs have been cut in the Catholic Church in South Australia as it faces tough economic times.

EDUCATION

Godless ethics classes are pointless (The Australian)

May 1 – (Opinion: Angela Shanahan) The launch of a secular course in NSW schools denies the essential role of religion.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Vatican envoy to reform order (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 3 - ROME: A papal envoy will take over and reform the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ, discredited by revelations that its founder sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least one child.

Catholic Church

Catholic numbers rise in Africa: Vatican (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 28 - The number of Roman Catholics soared by a third in Africa from 2000 to 2008 but stagnated in Europe, according to figures published Tuesday by the Vatican.

Islam

Bigamist sparks political storm (The Australian)

Apr 27 - THE Frenchman's divine right to multiple mistresses is under fire after the husband of a woman fined for driving in a burka stood to lose his French nationality for being a polygamist and social security fraud.

Wicked women make the earth move (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 29 - (Opinion: Elizabeth Farrelly) A senior Iranian cleric says women and girls who dress provocatively cause earthquakes.

Veiled threat of a secular society (ABC News)

Apr 28 – (Opinion: Emma Alberici) One of the privileges of being a journalist is that you're routinely invited into people's homes and get the opportunity to glimpse into a way of life you might otherwise have never been witness to at such close range.

Belgium bans Muslim veil in public (The Age, Melbourne)

May 1 - BELGIAN MPs have approved a nationwide ban prohibiting women from wearing full-face Islamic veils in public places, the first move of its kind in western Europe.

Other

Man claims he ate, drank nothing for 70 years (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

Apr 29 - SCIENTISTS are studying an 82-year-old man who claims he has not had any food or drink for 70 years.

ISLAM

Hanson won't sell home to anyone, including Muslims (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 30 - Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has taken her Queensland home off the market, following a backlash against her decision not to sell to Muslims.

Also: Could Pauline Hanson be right? (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 30 – (Opinion) It’s now an Aussie tradition to cat-call Pauline Hanson - and her statement about Muslims this week sure sparked the usual howls of derision.

Muslim-phobia is so entrenched that it's gone beyond a joke (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 30 – (Opinion: Irfan Yusuf) Infidels of the world, lend me your ears! We the Coburg Jihad, representing every Muslim in the galaxy, wish to warn The Footy Show against depicting the prophet Muhammad as having any involvement in the Melbourne Storm salary cap affair.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

On show: Kings Cross and the seven deadly sins (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 29 - THE question is raised by the former High Court judge Michael Kirby: are government attempts to suppress popular desires such as lust, gambling and drug use ever really worth the effort?