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The biggest hurdle for the Coalition’s religious discrimination bill: how to define ‘religion’
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils says the bill
doesn’t go far enough to protect religious minorities in an increasingly
intolerant society. Dan Himbrechts/AAP
The Coalition government’s proposed religious discrimination bill has been criticised for the potential...
Religious Discrimination Bill is a mess that risks privileging people of faith above all...
If this bill had been law when Rugby Australia sacked Israel
Folau, he might have chosen to pursue a federal discrimination case. Joel Carrett/AAP
The federal government released its draft Religious Discrimination Bill Friday.
The idea...
George Pell has lost his appeal. What did the court decide and what happens...
George Pell’s appeal on child sexual abuse convictions
has been dismissed. AAP/Erik Anderson
Victoria’s Court of Appeal today delivered one of the most significant judgments in Australian legal history, dismissing Cardinal George Pell’s appeal against convictions for five...
The Melbourne archbishop said he’d rather go to jail than break confession confidentiality. A...
Child Protection Minister Luke Donnellan said he would
prosecute the state’s most senior Catholic, Peter Comensoli, if he doesn’t
report suspected child abuse. AAP Image/Daniel Pockett
Yesterday, Victorian Parliament finally debated a bill on whether religious ministers...
The Christian right’s efforts to transform society
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer at the Calgary Stampede
on July 6. Groups associated with the Christian right are expected to
support his political party in the October elections. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh
The battle now raging...
5 things to know about the traditional Christian doctrine of hell
Luca Signorelli, The Damned Cast into Hell, 1499-1504, a,
fresco in Orvieto Cathedral, Italy. Wikimedia Commons
Martyn Iles, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, dodged the question this week when asked by Lisa...
What and where is heaven? The answers are at the heart of the Easter...
Drawing by Wes Mountain
My pious Baptist grandmother once shockingly confessed, at the ripe old age of 93, that she didn’t want to go to heaven. “Why,” we asked? “Well, I think it will...
#MeToo catches up with spiritual healers: the case of Brazil’s John of God
Hundreds of women have accused John of God of
sexual assault. 60 minutes screenshot
We’ve seen countless spiritual leaders and religious institutions embroiled in sexual abuse scandals around the globe. Most people are familiar...
From refugees to social media to pill testing, church signs are getting political
Billboard outside St Andrew’s Presbyterian,
Murwillumbah, NSW 2018. Louise Moana Kolff, Author provided
In recent times, church signs have become a stage for political commentary. In an age where most of our public debates happen digitally,...
Sunday essay: popular music’s search for the sacred in a secular world
Nick Cave performing with The Bad Seeds in Budapest
in June, His song lyrics, with those often melancholy, churchy organ chords,
are dripping in references to what might be called sacredness.
Zoltan Balogh/EPA
One...
