Religion News Selection 27 (July 11

Religion News Selection 27 (July 11 - 18)

(17 July 10)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Selection

July 11 - 18, 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.

ABUSE

Child advocate applauds church sex abuse admission (ABC News)

July 13 - A child protection advocate has hailed an admission of wrongdoing by the Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba in southern Queensland as a turning point in the church's handling of sex abuse allegations.

Church misleads sex abuse victims (The Age, Melbourne)

July 15 - SEXUAL abuse victims in Melbourne have been receiving misleading letters from the Catholic Church saying that if they accept compensation they can never take further action for any other cases of abuse.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Preaching to the unconverted (Perth Now)

July 17 - WHAT happens when you’re the gay son of a born-again Christian and a devout Roman Catholic?

EDUCATION

Churches don't have monopoly on good life (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 13 – (Opinion: David Hill) Every Wednesday morning at Randwick Public School normal classes are suspended so that our nine-year-old son and the other children can be taken off to scripture lessons.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Vatican toughens sexual abuse laws (ABC News)

July 15 - The Vatican has made sweeping revisions to its laws on sexual abuse of children by priests in its latest attempt to tackle a scandal that has shaken the Catholic Church around the world.

Also: Church abuse victims unhappy with new laws (ABC News)

July 16 - The Vatican has revised its rules for dealing with child sex abuse cases within the Catholic Church, but victims groups say the new rules do not go far enough.

Anglican Church

Anglican female bishops given equal status (ABC News)

July 13 - The Church of England in Britain has taken another step towards allowing women to serve as bishops, despite warnings from traditionalists that they will leave the church in protest.

Catholic Church

Ordination of women as bad as child abuse in Vatican's eyes (The Australian)

July 16 - THE Roman Catholic Church elevated the ordination of women to one of the most serious crimes in Canon Law yesterday.

Also: Vatican's announcement shows great incompetence (The Age, Melbourne)

July 17 – (Opinion: Barney Zwartz) IT USED to be said of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that he never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. It could certainly apply to the Vatican with the announcement linking women's ordination and paedophile abuse as grave crimes.

Hinduism

Hindu gods can't trade in shares - court (Adelaide Now)

July 17 - AN Indian court has ruled that Hindu gods cannot deal in stocks and shares, after an application for trading accounts to be set up in their names.

Islam

Bill to ban burka passes France's lower house of parliament (The Australian)

July 14 - FRANCE'S lower house of parliament has voted overwhelmingly to ban the wearing of face-covering veils in public spaces.

Majority of Brits want burkas banned (ABC News)

July 17 - Two-thirds of British people would support a ban on Muslim women wearing face-covering veils in public, similar to the one approved by French lawmakers this week, a poll has found.

Religious Violence

What jihadis are wearing this year (The Australian)

July 13 - EVER wondered how to make a bomb at home, what to pack for a jihad or how to communicate in encrypted messages?

Brothers jailed for attack on Mohammed artist (ABC News)

July 16 - A Swedish court has sentenced two brothers to jail for fire-bombing the home of Swedish artist Lars Vilks after he depicted Islam's Prophet Mohammed as a dog.

Other

Argentina legalizes gay marriage in first for Latin America (The Age, Melbourne)

July 15 - Argentina on Thursday became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, following a landmark Senate vote which stirred controversy in the majority Roman Catholic nation.

ISLAM

Muslims happy to be here (Brisbane Times)

July 12 - AUSTRALIAN-Muslim families have good relations with other Australians, and feel safe and happy here.

POLITICS

Religious Right's attack on PM (The Australian)

July 13 - A MELBOURNE preacher has savaged Julia Gillard as being unfit to be Prime Minister because, if elected, she would live out of wedlock.

Unmarried Gillard wedded to a notion that upholds injustice (The Age, Melbourne)

July 17 – (Opinion: Samantha Stevenson) When Julia Gillard became Prime Minister, many of us were triumphant at this ultimate smashing of the glass ceiling in Australian politics.

Will atheism spell trouble for Gillard? (The Age, Melbourne)

July 18 - The PM's admission that she doesn't believe in God has divided religious leaders

Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi calls for burqa ban (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

July 18 - LIBERAL senator Cory Bernardi has called for Australia to follow the lead of France and ban the burqa, describing it as ``the most public symbol of fundamentalist Islam''.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

A word to the Y's: our name is just fine as it is (The Age, Melbourne)

July 14 - Y FIX it if it ain't broke?

Does existentialism exist? I think not (The Age, Melbourne)

July 14 – (Opinion: Simon Castles) At the start of the meeting of the Existentialist Society, the convener said the society did not really exist.

There's more to faith than tolerance (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 15 – (Opinion: David Messieh) The complexity of religion seems to escape understanding by modern writers.

It was wrong of me to oppose gay marriage (The Australian)

July 16 – (Opinion: Derryn Hinch) I WAS an opponent of gay marriage for years. I doggedly followed the ignorant, almost homophobic line without really thinking it through.