Showing posts with label australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label australia. Show all posts

Friday 14 August 2015

Religious Freedom in a Multicultural World

In what way are people really wanting to have and to give others real Religious Freedom in a Multicultural World?

In Australia the organisation Freedom4Faith has been founded and presents hopeful texts, though when I questioned them several things about their openness to non-trinitarian Christians and to other believers I did not receive any reply.

Though the organisation claims and writes on its website that
Religious freedom is a fundamental right recognised by international human rights documents, and one which is integral to our human dignity. It enables us both to pursue truth, and live a life that reflects the truth, which Christians believe is the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His saving grace.
There the last phrase seems to exclude already all other thinking people, which according to me is limiting the freedom of religion for many millions of people.

Freedom 4 Faith, the website tells, has been established to promote freedom of religion and belief in Australia. It seeks to educate the Christian and wider community on the fundamental role of religious freedom in a liberal society and, in time, to assist churches and faith-based organisations in defending legitimate expressions of religious freedom. But I cannot resist to find some bias and wonder if they are really willing to be open to people with other religious ideas than they.

Freedom 4 Faith is governed by senior Christian leaders from the Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Seventh-day Adventist and Pentecostal traditions, as well as legal experts. From this group of trinitarian people it seems also that they are very conservative and want to protect their conservative views by having them to be taken by others in the community. This according to me has nothing to do at all with religious freedom but seems more a restricting of the freedom of others to have different views than they.

They consider religious freedom to be under threat in Australia from a range of sources, because the governement and certain organisations want to have an open mind about gender issues,  mixed marriages, abortion, a.o. delicate issues.

 The issues that confront Australian churches are several. They include:
  • Preserving the right of faith-based organisations to retain their identity by employing staff who adhere to that faith, given the ever-greater reach of laws which prohibit discrimination.
  • Preserving the right of faith-based organisations to uphold Christian moral standards within the organisation.
  • The need to protect Christian employees who face a conflict between their Christian faith and the demands of employers.
  • The need to protect Christian employees who face disciplinary action because they express views that reflect the positions of their faith.
  • Issues about freedom of speech to the extent of the reasonable expression of views on faith or morality.
  • Issues about what is taught in faith-based schools.
  • Maintaining the right of believers to be heard in ‘the public square’. 

In March Freedom 4 Faith was able to make a suggestion to the Attorney-General's review of Commonwealth legislation to identify provisions that unreasonably encroach upon traditional rights, freedoms and privileges, for an alternative approach to defining discrimination, and how this may impact the freedom of religion.

Everywhere in the economical thriving countries we see how governments struggle with job-equality rights and with the possibility to show signs of faith.
For all they should be equal. As such people should be allowed to wear their religious symbols on the street and in other public places.

For the faith based schools there also should be certain general rules for general subjects, though out of the civil curriculum each religious school, be it Christian, Jew, or Muslim should have the liberty to chose their own religious teachers and their own religious curriculum, though in such understanding that there is no place given for discriminatory views of people of an other faith or race.

Concerning the general subjects people do have to understand that there has to be a general controlling system, which shows on all levels neutrality in the matter of faith or religion, and best can be constructed on the matter of votes won by parliamentary election.

All  religious communities should be able to maintain the religious identity of their organisations, and not one may receive more advantages than the other. They all should be equally treated but should also all respect animal rights and plant rights. As such killing animals in a cruel way can not be accepted. For kosher and hallal killing of sheep state slaughterhouse can provide professional sheep and cattle killers. Home killing should be prohibited to avoid accidents or wrong killing. It is a safeguarding or protection of the animals, of which the religious people do have to take account and may not see that as a discrimination of their religion.

Christians may not refuse other believers in their shops because this is a form of discrimination.
Naturally they should be free to sell or not to sell certain products. So when a baker is asked to make a special cake for a gay couple and the owner of the bakery finds it against his principles to make such a thing, he always should be free to ask the person to go to a different bakery, explaining why he cannot provide such a cake.

The organisation Freedom for faith says to be an organisation that can be a voice for Christians in protecting and promoting religious freedom in Australia and to provide specialist expertise on religious freedom matters.

They write
We aim to work together with churches, Christian organisations and other bodies concerned for religious freedom, and to be a resource that can assist them in their work. We are funded by grants from churches and other Christian organisations, and by donations from individuals.
Though they seem to find themselves confronted with different opinions about "freedom" by other organisations. The interface of religious freedom with other human rights raises some difficult issues for them.
An organisation with some specialist expertise is more likely to be able to engage in the ‘public square’ on religious freedom matters, and to be able to make constructive suggestions about how to address religious concerns within the overall framework of the relevant legislation.
But is that organisation itself willing to be open for other faith-groups. Not having received a reply, after more than one week, I guess not.

Freedom 4 Faith, according their own saying, seeks to reveal how religious freedom, within due limits, is integral not only to a healthy multiculturalism but also to freedom generally.
I am very curious.

Freedom 4 Faith

In the United States of America we also hear many voices calling for Freedom of religion and saying the Islam world is conquering the western Christian world.

To my opinion many Americans do not seem to understand "Two clauses in the First Amendment" which guarantee freedom of religion. Lots of them consider only their freedom by everybody else to having to adapt to their choice and their views. (A little bit the same way in Australia.)

Lots of Americans do not seem to understand that they have to respect the choices of other people and may not scoff at them or call them dirty names because the other's way of life does not suit theirs.

Find also:

Religious Freedom in a Multicultural World
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of Religion…. Is under assault and dying

additional reading:

Transforming Society
Criminalizing Christianity
We Are All Intolerant And It Can Be A Great Thing So Let’s Be Honest About It
Daring to speak in multicultural environment
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Tuesday 9 June 2015

Driscoll not wished as a guest at 2015 Hillsong Conference

Former pastor of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church, Mark Driscol his attendance had the potential to divert attention from the real purpose of Hillsong Conference, which is to see people leave encouraged in their own spiritual journey.

Brian Houston told Channel Seven he would be speaking with the former head of Seattle’s Mars Hill church, Mark Driscoll, later on Sunday to “work out where to go from here”.
“I am going to be talking to him later on today and we’ll talk about the different possibilities,”
Houston said.

Nearly 3,000 people have signed an online petition against Hillsong’s plans to host Driscoll at its Australian conference in Sydney this month, which is expected to attract around 30,000 people.

Sunday 23 November 2014

Vatican lifts ban on married priests for Eastern Catholic churches in US, Canada, Australia

Catholic World News - November 17, 2014
The Vatican has lifted a longstanding ban on the ordination of married men to the priesthood in the Eastern Catholic churches.

The tradition and discipline of the Eastern churches allows for the ordination of married men to the priesthood. (Bishops must be unmarried, however, and once ordained, a priest cannot marry.) The Vatican has repeatedly approved this tradition, while insisting on the importance of priestly celibacy in the Latin rite.
However, in the late 19th century, with the arrival of many Byzantine Catholic immigrants in Canada, Latin-rite prelates complained that the presence of married Catholic priests could create a “grave scandal.” The Vatican eventually ruled that the Eastern churches could not ordain married men in the countries where their communities form a minority of the Catholic population. The rule has historically applied primarily to Canada, the US, and Australia.

With a decree approved by Pope Francis, and signed on June 14 by Cardinal Leonard Sandri, the Congregation for the Eastern Churches has now rescinded that ban. Catholic bishops of the Eastern churches serving in eparchies (dioceses) in the West are explicitly authorized to ordain married men.
The decree requires a bishop of the Eastern Catholic Church to “give prior notice, in writing, to the Latin Bishop of the candidate’s place of residence, so as to obtain his opinion and any relevant information [regarding the candidate].” An Eastern-rite bishop who ordained a married man for service in another country is directed to inform the episcopal conference of that country, and the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, of this action.

In practice, the ban on married priests had been relaxed in recent years, with the tacit acceptance of the Holy See. Some married priests from the East have been assigned to serve parishes in the West, and some men from the West have traveled to the East to be ordained before returning to serve at home. In a few cases, bishops of the Eastern churches have simply ignored the ban, ordaining married American men to serve in American parishes.

The new Vatican document allowing for the ordination of married men notes that when the ban was originally imposed, thousands of Catholics of the Ruthenian Catholic community in Canada left to join the Orthodox Church. The document also notes that when Pope Benedict XVI issued Anglicanorum Coetibus, allowing for the reception of Anglican communities into the Catholic Church, he explicitly provided for the presence of married Catholic priests. In 2012, Pope Benedict remarked that “the ministry of married priests is a component of the ancient Eastern traditions,” which he encouraged the Eastern Catholic churches to maintain.


Thursday 16 January 2014

Kapalpal Christadelphian School, Vanuatu

Where’s Vanuatu?  These picturesque islands are in the South Pacific, about 1,500 miles from Australia. This beautiful archipelago is not only noteworthy because of its stunning landscape, but also because of the spiritual inroads that have been made to spread the Good News.

The Kapalpal Christadelphian School is located on the island of Tanna  in Vanuatu.
The school opened its doors in 2009 and was begun in support of a brother who was volunteer teaching. The school, originally built to accommodate 70 children, was soon overburdened with 200 students!
A second building was added in 2010 and this year, a junior secondary school has been established. The extra classes for high school have meant that space has again become a major issue.

Thanks to volunteer workers and funding supplied by WCF, this summer a new building was constructed of earth-bags and timber. The students in the high school range in age from 12-20. Such an age range is not unusual in Vanuatu, where non-compulsory education can be interrupted for many reasons. The school follows the curriculum provided by the Vanuatu education department. Since Kapalpal is considered by the authorities to be a 'mission' school, the brethren have the freedom to teach the Good New of the Scriptures.
In the primary school, Sunday School lessons are also taught and a Bible camp is held annually.
The new building is made in good part of earth bags – synthetic bags filled with dirt. The upper half of the building is made of timber and is covered by an iron roof. Because the cost of getting materials to the island is high it was decided to employ local materials—bags of dirt and timber. Not only did this reduce building costs, but it was also a design that the local community could afford and replicate. The bags of earth would also in turn provide better protection from the cold, wind and rain compared to thatch and bamboo. It is anticipated that if built well, the earth bag homes should last much longer than those made of traditional materials. This project was facilitated by a grant of $20,000 from WCF.

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Thursday 28 November 2013

Anti-Semitic incidents in Australia in 2012 highest ever on record

1941 Nazi propaganda poster in the Lithuanian ...
1941 Nazi propaganda poster in the Lithuanian language, equating Stalinism with the Jews. The text reads "The Jew is our enemy forever". (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Not only europe faces a growing negative attitude towards Jews. Last year Australia recorded the highest ever anti-Semitic incidents.

657 reports of violence directed at Australian Jews were made. This is a 21-percent increase over the previous year and only accounts the registered incidents. According The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s annual “Report on Anti-Semitism in Australia” the number of serious physical attacks was the lowest since 2005.

The authors of the report, Julie Nathan, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s research officer, and Jeremy Jones, director of international and community affairs at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council wrote:
“In general, it can be said that Australians neither particularly like nor dislike Jews,”
The 202-page report does not include the recent brutal assault of five religious Jews walking home from Shabbat dinner in Bondi last month, described as the worst anti-Semitic incident of its kind since records began in 1989. This will be featured in next year’s report. 

The report does, however, include the fallout sparked by explosive revelations that Israel’s “Prisoner X” was Melbourne native Ben Zygier, an alleged Mossad agent who committed suicide in his maximum-security prison cell in 2010.


“A tragedy involving a single individual was used in some media to impugn the loyalty to Australia of Australian Jews as a group,” the authors wrote. “[It] … was used as a pretext by anti-Semites to accuse Jews in Australia of disloyalty.”

In europe we have seen a negative spiral against people who are not like the mainstream, homo's, transgenders, specific Muslims not belonging to the two big denominations, but also the different Jewish people.

In Europe there are people who want to let others know that the Muslims are trying to conquer the world and that Jews are undermining the economic evolution and are hindering the lower classes to become more wealthier. Like in the 1930s many Jews are considered to be the cause of the present economic crisis.
“Although stereotypes of Jews remain part of the culture in Australia, these are not as deeply ingrained or hateful as in European and Middle Eastern cultures,” according to the authors. “Anti-Semitism remains at the fringes of Australian politics and society, and though there are exceptions, anti-Semitism is not generally part of the mainstream discourse.”
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