It’s complicated
Because apparently the best way to counter simplistic, misguided arguments is by making different simplistic, misguided arguments.
Addressing the preconditions of atrocities: Silvestri
Writing at Open Democracy, Sara Silvestri makes an excellent argument about the massacres in Norway, and how we should act to avoid their repetition.
Breivik not a ‘crazed loner’, but a terrorist
We mourn the victims of these massacres by working to ensure that such abominations never occur again. To do that effectively, it is necessary to understand, without illusions and avoiding polemics, why this tragedy occurred.
Kristina Keneally’s speech on same-sex adoption
[Via Nicholas Gruen] Anyone who wants to automatically equate Catholicism with homophobia really should read Kristina Keneally’s fine speech to the New South Wales parliament, explaining why she is casting her vote in favour of a bill allowing same sex [...]
Guest post by Pavlov’s Cat: Presumably Jesus wants them for sunbeams instead
Cross-posted from Still Life With Cat. One of the things that occurred to me very forcefully several times during the nightmare morning I spent a few years ago in the Assemblies of God stronghold in the Adelaide suburb of (wait [...]
Damned if you do…
Over at Overland, Jeff Sparrow takes a look at the ridiculous controversy surrounding Rima Fakih’s victory in the Miss USA contest: For the last few weeks, we’ve learned, over and over again, why the burqa must be banned. A visible [...]
Hitchens tries to indict the Pope
There’s been a bit of discussion on tigtog’s thread about an apparently co-ordinated call by Christopher Hitchens and others, supported by Richard Dawkins for the Pope to face criminal indictment over the clerical child abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church. [...]
Homelessness is not a choice
In the wake of Abbott’s Brutopian comments at the Catholic Social Services Australia national conference, Stephen Nash, CEO of Melbourne homelessness and housing support agency HomeGround Services, has published a rebuttal of the claim that homelessness is a choice at [...]
Religion, politics and the "mainstream"
2009 ended with a flurry of discussion on religion and politics, and it’s a theme I imagine we’re going to hear a lot more of in 2010. I was ruminating on this question because of a couple of phrases which [...]
Karen Brooks on Tony the Abbott and 'His' Women
Karen Brooks’ post on Tony Abbott’s now infamous interview with the Women’s Weekly is the best piece I’ve read about its implications. Read it here.
Ethics in NSW schools
Andrew Clennell in today’s Sydney Morning Herald points us to an interesting trial mooted by NSW Premier, Nathan Rees. Ethics classes will be introduced in NSW schools, offering an alternative to religious studies for the first time in 100 years, [...]
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