We produce a free weekly Social Issues briefing. Each briefing is about two pages long, and gives some background information on an issue that has recently been in the news. It will offer some ways of thinking about it, and perhaps acting on it, as Christians.

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In early May NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos introduced the Miscellaneous Acts Amendment (Same Sex Relationships) Bill 2008 into the Legislative Council of the NSW parliament. (This NSW State Bill is not to be confused with a recent Federal Bill introduced by the Federal Attorney General, Senator Robert McClelland; see link below.) John Hatzistergos described how the Amendment Bill is a further step in a long process of NSW legislative reform.

As the opening of the Olympic Games on 8 August approaches, world attention is on China, and this attention is persistently on issues other than sport. Human rights abuses and environmental concerns are top of the list. All of this begs the question: should Christians be more active on these moral issues?

The General Synod of the Anglican Church in Australia recently passed a number of resolutions relating to climate change. One of them ‘requests all organisational units within the Anglican Church of Australia to reduce their environmental footprint through best practice energy use, water use, and waste disposal.’ But what is the value of such resolutions? In this briefing, we will argue that they are realistic and helpful. We will also consider what makes people sometimes respond cynically or negatively to resolutions such as these.

Everyone has been stretched over the past few weeks by the Commonwealth Government’s intervention into the affairs of remote Northern Territory (NT) indigenous communities... So many complex issues have emerged that this briefing will have the limited aim of summarising the details, listing some opinions for and against the Government’s action, and offering some provisional suggestions. As always, these suggestions invite further thoughtful reflection together, along with indigenous people, in light of the Scriptures.

It is difficult to obtain good measures of the extent of domestic violence. Violence between intimate partners and other family members was (and sometimes still is) regarded in many countries and cultures as a normal and acceptable part of life that should not be disclosed outside the family.

International Law states that all people have the right to seek asylum in ‘a safe country’ in order to flee persecution. Asylum seekers are people who are in the midst of that process. Refugees are those who have been granted asylum in another country, having been found to be genuinely seeking protection from persecution.

Our previous briefing made some legal, philosophical and theological observations about ‘free speech’ as part of an ongoing ‘work in progress’ on the subject. This briefing will continue trying to unravel free speech theologically, by summarising the argument of The Revd Prof. Oliver O’Donovan, as found in The Desire of the Nations

‘Freedom’ is notoriously frustrating to do business with. When it is missing, we really notice its absence; but when we have it, we enjoy it often without even noticing. Nobody doesn’t want freedom, yet when we talk about it and celebrate it we can find, to our dismay, that entirely different kinds of freedom are being spoken of.

Grief’ is a complex collection of emotions that people experience when they lose anything or anyone they care deeply about. It is not limited to death or bereavement. An amputee who loses a leg or arm goes through grief. Grief travels with anyone who loads all their belongings into a van and kisses their family goodbye. A boy or girl may grieve when a romance breaks up, and husband or wife may grieve when a marriage breaks up. Grief may touch a worker who retires from a long-held position, or parents when a son or daughter leaves home for university or enlistment. It is the human response to the loss of what is good.

Why are Christians so into 'family'? Was Jesus an enemy of family? What about the dark side of family?

The main purpose of this briefing is to bring to your attention a new Private Members Bill, which may result in a more just and compassionate treatment of each immigration detainee. The briefing will also summarise some other recent news in relation to immigration detention.

Our culture rewards attractiveness over plainness, and rates fashion and body image over most things, which leaves the Christian in a difficult position.

Journalist Malcolm Gladwell recently carried out a survey on about half of the CEOs of U.S. Fortune 500 companies. He found that the average CEO is about three inches taller than the average American man – who stands 5 foot nine. In addition, 30 per cent of the CEOs are at least 6 foot 2; the corresponding percentage for American adult men overall is only 3.9 per cent.

In a society that views the autonomy of the individual as sacrosanct and defining, we view all challenges to that autonomy as a threat. In addition, we live in a consumer culture, which tells us that we deserve to have whatever it is we want.

It is hard to form a Christian position on war, because what the Bible has to say about the matter is complex indeed. It is even harder to make a pronouncement about the possible war with Iraq, since we know few of the facts, and our knowledge changes daily. What follows is offered to assist Christians to think theologically about the matter. PAMPHLET.pdf To see a pdf version of the paper click here.

This is address was given by Dr Megan Best, bioethicist and member of the Social Issues Executive, at Parliament House on Monday 11 March 2002.