Faith and Culture

27 Nov Paris attacks: Islamic State sees its attacks as sacred strategy

Posted at 14:18h in Changing World, Faith and Culture, Religious Literacy, Understanding Islam 0 Comments

This was published in the Australian Inquirer. It is a more general version of a longer article posted previously on Lapido Media. As the expressions of shock and solidarity subside after the Paris killings, the challenge to understand will remain. Much commentary of the past week...

06 Jun Philip Adams on Violence in Mad Max

Posted at 10:14h in Faith & Worldview Blog, Faith and Culture, Restoring Worldviews 0 Comments

While reading Australian journalist Philip Adams’ despairing rage against cinema violence – and he's not wrong! – I was reminded of the words of polymath David Goldman, commenting on the rise and rise of horror in films: "If you do not believe in God, you will...

31 May Islamophobia comes to Canberra

Posted at 11:40h in Changing World, Faith and Culture, Understanding Islam 0 Comments

Are we to let our freedoms be shaped by the worst kind of intolerance found in the sharia badlands? How will discrimination among religions based on fear distort human rights? Like student magazines all over the world, Woroni, put out by students at the Australian National...

11 Aug When Speaking on Sensitive Topics

Posted at 15:11h in Faith and Culture, Freedom, Religious Literacy 0 Comments

This blog post is about how to speak reasonably about sensitive topics, and specifically ones which can give rise to charges of vilification. In ideal world, speech would be free, and everyone would use their freedom responsibly. But human nature being what it is, speech is...

16 Feb Fear of Islam: Facts Fuel Growing Unease. A View from Australia.

Posted at 15:21h in Faith and Culture, Understanding Islam 0 Comments

This article is published in the February 2011 edition of ViewPoint Magazine. Fear of Islam in the News Fear of Islam has become news. Time magazine’s cover story of August 2010 was “Is America Islamophobic?” Bobby Ghosh wrote: “… where ordinary Americans meet Islam, there is evidence...

24 Oct Transforming the Soul

Posted at 09:41h in Changing World, Faith and Culture 0 Comments

One of the pinnacles of the Bible is the Sermon on the Mount. Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, was an Australian who became famous for his leadership of prisoners of war on the Thai-Burma railroad. Jesus' Sermon on the the Mount affected him profoundly. He read it in...

01 Jun Violence in the Bible: How Should We Respond?

Posted at 16:24h in Faith & Worldview Blog, Faith and Culture, Religious Literacy 0 Comments

What does the Bible teach about violence? Some critics make the case for a moral equivalency between Christianity and Islam, claiming that the Bible is no less violent than the Qur’an.1 Certainly the conquest of Canaan, as described in the Bible, was a bloody one....