Religion News Selection 18 (May 9

Religion News Selection 18 (May 9 - 16)

(15 May 10)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Selection

May 9 - 16, 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.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Rating riles Christians (The Age, Melbourne)

May 8 - THE Christian lobby has pushed for Australia's classification laws to be reviewed after controversial Italian film Salo was given the green light.

Also: Banning Salo again would be culturally backward (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 14 – (Opinion: Christopher Hartney) Ah, the faithful are at it again.

Preaching, but with a poisoned pen (Herald-Sun, Melbourne)

May 16 – (Review) A NEW book Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ is designed to shock and offend.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Blessed Mary branded (The Age, Melbourne)

May 15 - TO MANY she personifies purity, goodness and self-sacrifice but, as sainthood beckons, the name Mary MacKillop could also mean big business for those seeking to cash in on her name.

Pell, the author, coy on Vatican post (The Australian)

May 15 - SPECULATION that Cardinal George Pell is in line for a senior Vatican post continues to swirl in and around the Catholic corridors of power - but the man himself is keeping mum.

EDUCATION

'Reverend' advised at-risk teens (The Australian)

May 14 - HE was regarded as a pillar of the community.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Bravo, Benedict, bravo! On the finally penitent pope (ABC News)

May 14 – (Opinion: Scott Stephens) Yesterday, during a mid-air press conference en route to Portugal, Pope Benedict XVI irreversibly changed the way that Vatican officials and senior church leaders can comment on the sexual abuse scandal that has enveloped the Roman Catholic Church.

Anglican Church

UK church 'shuns' lesbian couple (Adelaide Now)

May 16 - A BRITISH lesbian couple claim they were forced out of their church for holding hands during a service.

Catholic Church

Catholic school won't admit lesbians' son (The Australian)

May 13 - A ROMAN Catholic school in Massachusetts has withdrawn its acceptance of an eight-year-old boy with lesbian parents, saying their relationship was "in discord" with church teachings, according to one of the boy's mothers.

Gay marriage 'insidious and dangerous': Pope (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 14 - Pope Benedict XVI criticised gay marriage and abortion as "insidious and dangerous threats to the common good" in a speech at Fatima as Portugal prepares to legalise same-sex unions.

Islam

Influential school bans Indian Muslims from banks jobs (The Australian)

May 14 - A POWERFUL Islamic seminary in northern India has issued a fatwa, or decree, against Muslims working in banks, a spokesman says, deeming it a violation of Islamic law.

An infidel's progress (The Age, Melbourne)

May 16 - AYAAN Hirsi Ali enters an apartment in New York followed by a bodyguard.

In the throes of reform (The Australian)

May 16 - Reza Aslan says Osama bin Laden may be seen one day as Islam's Martin Luther.

ISLAM

Law firm puts on sharia adviser (The Age, Melbourne)

May 10 - A MELBOURNE law firm has hired Australia's first sharia consultant - an imam to advise Muslim clients on how to observe Islamic legal codes alongside Australian law.

The burqa's not unAustralian, but banning it sure is (The Age, Melbourne)

May 11 – (Opinion: John Birminham) What is it about the burqa that excites such passions?

Also: Let's face facts, the burqa is an affront to feminism (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 13 – (Opinion: Elizabeth Farrelly) Who knows the difference between ethics and morality? Belgium does, for one.

Also: The West veils plenty when it condemns the burqa (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 16 – (Opinion: Liz Conor) I have a travel tip for young women. There are places where a burqa makes a lot of sense.