Religion News Australia 2011 - 28 (July 3

Religion News Australia 2011 - 28 (July 3 - 10)

(10 July 11)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

July 3 - 10, 2011

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

abuse / arts & entertainment / education / international stories / islam / politics / religion & society

ABUSE

Police investigate former principal over molestation claims (The Age, Melbourne)

July 7 - A FORMER principal of a Jewish girls' school in Elsternwick is being investigated over claims she molested students, as the Victoria Police probe into alleged sexual abuse widens to take in a second school.

Jewish community leader tells of sex abuse (The Age, Melbourne)

July 8 - MANNY Waks's behaviour started to change part-way through his schooling at Yeshivah College.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Cities of God and blood (The Australian)

July 6 – (Review) FEW cities have shared a more intimate and impassioned relationship through time than Jerusalem and Rome.

10 questions - Judith Lucy (The Australian)

July 9 - Judith Lucy, 43, talks about her new TC series, parents and the rituals of being a comedian

EDUCATION

God's dollar better spent on welfare (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 9 – (Opinion: Adele Horin) It's not just a bunch of atheists and self-interested psychologists who are worried about the school chaplaincy program.

Sisters' legacy lives on (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

July 10 - AS All Hallows' prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary, U on Sunday talks to Sister Patricia, who has a better knowledge of the school and its history than anyone.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Catholic Church

Vatican back in the black (The Age, Melbourne)

July 4 - THE Vatican has returned to profit after three years in the red, but donations from the faithful fell nearly $US15 million ($A14.05 million), or 18 per cent, amid tough economic times and a year in which the priest sex abuse scandal exploded.

Hinduism

Treasure trove discovered in Indian temple (ABC News)

July 4 - A treasure trove of gold, diamonds and precious stones hidden for centuries was discovered in the underground vaults of a temple in southern India, a temple official said on Sunday, as authorities scrambled armed police to guard the shrine.

Also: India and the temple of jewels (The Age, Melbourne)

July 5 - NEW DELHI: It's the stuff of Indiana Jones films and pirate X-marks-the-spot folklore: a 500-year-old treasure trove of unimaginable riches - gold necklaces six metres long, satchels filled with diamonds and gold coins from the time of Napoleon.

Guru's stash spawns infighting, death threats (The Age, Melbourne)

July 4 - THE Indian guru Sai Baba's life seemed to have it all: sex, money and religion.

Islam

PM calls for tolerance after Muslim ordered off bus for wearing veil (Herald-Sun, Melbourne)

July 5 - NEW Zealand's prime minister today called for tolerance following a public outcry when a bus driver refused to allow a Muslim woman to get on board because she was wearing a veil.

Ahmadinejad opposes sex segregation at universities (The Australian)

July 8 - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered the immediate cancellation of plans to segregate sexes at some universities, blasting the move as "shallow and unwise," his website reported.

Religious Violence

Suicide bombers traded for cash (The Age, Melbourne)

July 6 - A MARKET is burgeoning in Afghanistan and Pakistan for suicide bombers where would-be killers' lives are traded between militant groups for up to $US90,000 ($A84,000)

Al-Qaeda cell raped girl, 7: official (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 8 - Iraqi authorities have arrested seven alleged members of an al-Qaeda cell suspected of raping a seven-year-old girl and involved in many murders, a Baghdad security spokesman said on Thursday.

Other

Maid in Strauss-Kahn case accused of selling sex to hotel guests (The Age, Melbourne)

July 4 - THE initial portrayal of the 32-year-old Guinean-born hotel maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault as a pious devout Muslim has again been torn apart with claims that male guests at New York's Sofitel hotel paid her for sex.

ISLAM

Indonesian animal treatment certainly not kosher (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 3 – (Opinion: Danny Lamm) Livestock may actually suffer less under the kosher slaughter method…

Muslims obligated to resist democracy, say radicals (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 4 - MUSLIMS in Australia were urged yesterday to join the uprisings that have toppled regimes across the Middle East, to renounce moderate forms of the religion and to reject democracy, during a day-long conference sponsored by a radical Islamic organisation.

Hardline Islam a bigger threat than terrorists (The Australian)

July 7 – (Opinion: Tim Lindsey) IT is a rare day indeed when former, present and shadow foreign ministers from different Australian political parties see eye to eye.

Burka removal powers

Police given power to remove burkas (ABC News)

July 5 - New South Wales police conducting routine car stops will be given the power to demand the removal of head coverings for identification.

No issue with burka removal powers: Islamic groups (ABC News)

July 5 - Islamic groups say they have no problems with the New South Wales Government's decision giving police the power to order the removal of burkas and other head coverings.

Islamic leaders accept police burka powers (ABC News)

July 5 - Islamic leaders say they are comfortable with the New South Wales Government's decision to give police the power to demand the removal of burkas and other face veils.

Police Minister moves to legislate over burqas (ABC News)

July 5 - The West Australian government is considering giving police the power to remove head coverings, including burqas, for identification purposes.

Burka laws spark fears of police abuse (ABC News)

July 5 - Some members of Australia's Islamic community are concerned the wording of new legislation in New South Wales could allow police to discriminate against Muslim women.

Burqa laws to go before cabinet (ABC News)

July 5 - The Police Minister Rob Johnson will make a submission to State Cabinet to allow officers to force people to remove head coverings for identification purposes.

No burqa ban ... for the moment (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

July 5 - QUEENSLAND Muslims might one day face controversial laws demanding they remove their burqas or niqabs.

Lift the veil (Herald-Sun, Melbourne)

July 6 – (Opinion: Editorial) THE Baillieu Government's move to consider giving police powers to request Muslim women wearing a full veil to reveal their faces is a step in the right direction.

Have one rule for all (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

July 7 – (Opinion: Jane Fynes-Clinton) A MAN is refused entry at a pub because he is wearing a turban, a contravention of the premises' "no headwear" policy.

POLITICS

Lib adviser sacked after anti-Islam web posts (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 10 - THE O'Farrell government has been embarrassed by a Liberal adviser who posted anti-Islamic comments online, including a description of the Prophet Muhammad as ''the first terrorist of Islam''.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

A Muslim, a Christian and an atheist walk into a pub...

July 4 – (Opinion: Dick Gross) The traditional opening line to a joke about three different sorts of people actually became reality for me in Sydney last week at a convocation organised by the City Bible Forum (CBF).

More weddings held in a civil manner (Adelaide Now)

July 4 - RELIGION is being left at the altar as increasing numbers of couples marrying in SA opt for civil ceremonies.

Sikh man accepts apology for turban ban (The Australian)

July 5 - A SIKH man ejected from a Brisbane hotel for wearing a turban is prepared to forgive and forget.

Vandals target church artwork (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

July 6 - QUEENSLAND churches are forking out tens of thousands of dollars a year to restore works of art and historical buildings that have been desecrated by vandals.

Television advertisements draw consumer complaints (Adelaide Now)

July 9 - ADVERTISEMENTS depicting sex, including homosexuality, religion, and possible cruelty to animals have drawn the most complaints in the past six months.

Scientology says 'cult' tag defames the church (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 10 - THE Church of Scientology is threatening to sue a volunteer organisation for publishing a brochure it claims labels the religion a ''cult''.

T-shirts too hot to handle for some (Herald-Sun, Melbourne)

July 10 - CHURCH leaders, academics and women's rights campaigners are leading a push to have raunchy T-shirts stamped out, saying images of half-naked women should not be seen in public.