“fresh from promoting the creation of a new power bloc in the Anglican communion opposed to liberal thinking on such matters as homosexual clergy.”
My response was ignored, as usual…
It’s a pity that Linda Morris is unable to report without editorialising; to be factual without commentary.
Peter Jensen did not go to GAFCON to create a new power bloc. Such a comment is slanderous. First of all, Peter is not interested in power, particularly for himself; nor is he interested in splitting the Anglican communion, nor in forcing his opinions on others.
GAFCON was not about opposing things; it was about keeping to both what is true and what is constitutionally the basic teachings of the church. By standing up for something one as evangelicals have will always mean one faces opposition, but this does mean that Peter and other evangelicals are simply negative.
I also notice the neat way Morris uses the word “liberal”, as if Peter and others were closed-minded conservatives. “Liberal” is really a euphemism for unbiblical, or for those who think that human reason is greater and better than the bible.
That’s what GAFCON was about, not simply about homosexual clergy. It is a debate about truth and about what is christian.
It’s about time that those SMH journalists who report on religious or church matters obtained some objectivity. It’s one place that the SMH fails in it’s usual quality.
A letter in the local newspaper, Southern Courier, Tuesday 5 August 2008:
A Christian debate
George C. Jones (Courier, July 29) asserts the evidence that debunks the Christian Bible is in the story of Genesis. It appears Mr Jones is unable or unwilling to countenance the veracity of the Bible because the plausibility of divine creation finds no place in his schema. That is simply an a priori predisposition, not disproving evidence.
If there’s anything that would shake the foundation of the Christian faith, it is when the resurrection of Jesus were proved a furphy.
In the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, one should keep an open mind. Some people, however, have already made up their minds regardless of the body of evidence. Made up minds are like closed tombs.
In what way is Paola Totaro “imposing her beliefs” on Andrew Dalton? Is it not legitimate for people with contrary views to comment? He asserts that Totaro must have a phobia. It seems that anyone who does not agree with his views cannot be rational.
Yes indeed sex can be a positive force, but it can also be very easily abused. Why not ask women and men who have been sexually abused?
Every time I go to buy a newspaper, buy petrol or go to the supermarket, I am confronted by images of naked or semi-naked people on the front of magazines. To me that is an expression of a perversion of human nature - that we abuse something so vital and precious because we don’t know how to respect it.
David Ashton, Orange.
Andrew Dalton complains that images of sexual arousal are considered confronting, suggesting that this is because people think the act itself may be pornographic. But there are many perfectly natural things that we still think should be kept private: things such as public defecation and urination, nose-picking, groin-scratching and vomiting. People may well have no problem with such behaviour, but they recognise it doesn’t belong everywhere. Sex is given by God to strengthen relationships. Ubiquitous displays of overt sexuality in advertising, the internet and in reading material encourage people to look somewhere other than their spouse for sexual satisfaction. People are right to protest against it.
Don’t know if they’re SAs, but 2 good letters in SMH:
Belief in God comes from beyond science
Vic Stenger claims that science can prove beyond reasonable doubt that God does not exist, and yet also states that science cannot be used to answer purely metaphysical questions ("Science demands that seeing is believing”, August 19). He argues that if God exists, evidence of his intervention in creation should be seen in our study of the natural world.
However, a scientist and philosopher such as Stenger should be aware of the principle of underdetermination. For any evidence we collect about nature, we can develop multiple theories to explain it. As John Lennox pointed out, scientific evidence alone cannot adjudicate between naturalism and theism ("Why not every scientist worships at Darwin’s feet”, August 18).
For a theist, science involves understanding the world and the processes by which God created. But the belief in God comes from outside science, and so does an assumption that there is no God.
Larissa Johnson-Aldridge, Oatley
Paul Gittings (Letters, August 19) seems to have misunderstood the main thrust of John Lennox’s arguments.
As Lennox points out, science and metaphysics are mutually exclusive. In other words, even if Gittings’s faith in the ability of science to explain every aspect of the material universe - the “how” of existence - were to prove justified, the “why” questions would remain.
It is nonsensical, therefore, to hold that the fact that God’s existence cannot be proved by science constitutes a good reason to believe that He doesn’t exist.
I forgot to note this one from a Wollongong Anglican in the parish I serve - two Mondays ago (Aug 11), after the opening ceremony...
How wonderful to see the unfettered joy of the children running onto the Beijing Olympic arena, and how disturbing to see them handing over the Chinese flag to the goose-stepping military. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
Pauline Skellon Mount Keira
And by the way, Larissa Johnson-Aldridge is a Sydney Baptist (I think)! But she recently married a Wollongong Anglican, who now lives in Sydney with her!
Sydney Anglican, great guy, father of Anthony (occasional poster here) and my former boss, Ken Bock is in Column 8 AGAIN! (My daughter -who has been in C8 three times reckons one C8 is worth three letters to the editor and Ken has been in C8 numerous times)
Then again, we might appeal to a higher authority and thank Ken Bock, of Carlingford, for reminding us of “the Biblical quote ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help’.” But Ken is is having none of it. “This is grammatically incorrect. Shame on the compilers of the King James Version.” Where are we to turn?
For some families, the stay-at-home mother comes at a fair price
Date: September 2 2008
Well done, Mem Fox, for being politically incorrect ("The child-care guilt trip”, September 1).
As a mother of three teens, who has not been in paid employment for the best part of 17 years, I want to encourage young families to consider their options carefully. Many claim they have no choice but to both work, but in this country and economic climate, we have more choices than we are willing to consider.
I chose to remain out of the workforce. My husband is an Anglican minister, so we are not in a high-income bracket. Our choice has been one made in the best interests of our children.
Five people living on one income has meant we have chosen carefully the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the cars we drive, the holidays we take.
We have not done many things others have, because we have chosen not to afford it so that I could avoid a return to the workforce.
Our children have not had all the opportunities their friends have had. I hope in hindsight they will appreciate that money and material goods do not guarantee satisfaction or happiness. It is easy to mistake the provision of material things alone as providing a quality home and care for a child. Parenting is one of the hardest jobs to undertake. The rewards are distant, and we cannot quit when the going gets tough. Often I have thought working full-time would be a more fulfilling option personally. Teenagers are expensive consumers, and it would be easy to go to work and keep them quiet by buying more for them.
In the end, we may have less to show for it, but if my children grow up into adults who value relationships above all else, it will have been worth it.
The dedication to research shown by some Column 8 readers never fails to astound. Anthony Bock, of Castle Hill, has been having a long hard look at the “from whence” business of recent days, and the phrase’s appearance in the King James version of the Bible. “Not to be outdone by the bourgeois intelligentsia of Carlingford,” he writes, “a quick scan of the rest of the KJV reveals another 26 references to ‘from whence’. Also, there’s one in the Amplified Version, one in the New King James, 55 in the 21st Century King James, 15 in the American Standard, four in the Young’s Literal Translation, nine in the Darby Translation and 10 in the Wycliffe New Testament. ‘Where are we to turn?’ you ask. Back to the NIV, RSV, or ESV would be my suggestion.” Good heavens.
Anthony is a SA, occasional poster here and son of my former boss Ken who posted the original post about “from whence” in the KJV. Fathers’ Day might be interesting at the Bock household this week!
It may come as a surprise to the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, but neither men nor women need a piece of legislation to help minimise the chores and child minding they do ("It’s the law: men do fewer chores”, September 4). The all-or-nothing philosophy of big business rewards 14-hour days and six-week maternity leave breaks with big dollars and promises of big futures. Pooey nappies, screaming children, dirty dishes and sweaty clothes find it hard to compete and until we can reverse our city’s obsession with the material, little is going to change.
For five years I was a regular organist at the parish Phillip Jensen led before he was dean of St Andrew’s Cathedral. Musicians are there to serve and one way we do so is by playing to help people sing. The other is by not playing when they are trying to talk.
Music is a great blessing from God, but nowhere near as great as the blessing of quiet conversation about the glory of God, the resurrection of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins.
Reverend Gordon Cheng, Kingsford
This is not, by the way, a pot-shot at the Cathedral organist who as far as I can tell from a distance (and by reading interviews with him in Southern Cross) is doing an absolutely super job.
You could spin all sorts of great conspiracy theories as to how stories like this get to be front page of SMH. Look elsewhere to find accurate perspectives and fuller stories!
But, to give credit where it is due, this is one place where the letters editor edited my letter well, and made me sound less grumpy than I initially was.
Give us, this day, our daily bread and halal kebabs
I find it strange that the Greens and the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations have a problem with Hillsong running lunchtime events in public schools because they think it indoctrinates children ("Hillsong’s secret schools push”, September 9).
I don’t go to Hillsong, but I strongly support its right to run something during lunch. No one is forced to go, but I would want my children to have the choice. Public schooling should not indoctrinate children, but nor is it meant to take away from them the ability to share what they believe or to make choices about what they believe.
People who object to such supposed indoctrination are indoctrinating us against what they disagree with.
Derek Cheng, Merrylands
Why does your report describe a voluntary lunchtime concert in terms usually reserved for terrorist cells: sneaky recruiters indoctrinating students, hiding their real intentions in plain view on their website, exposing students to … Christians!
John Kaye has an inexcusably low opinion of the ability of students to think for themselves if he thinks that a 40-minute voluntary concert, advertised as being run by Christian students, amounts to indoctrination.
Luke Barnes, Cambridge (Britain)
So, the Christians are putting on a free lunch? Boohoo! The wowsers from the P&C;Federation and the Greens should hang their heads in shame at discouraging this activity. What are they going to ban next? Rotary barbecues? Multicultural days? Anzac Day? I don’t even like Hillsong, but surely we should be encouraging more community groups to take an interest in schools and show children a part of life they may not normally see.
Bring on halal lamb kebabs, kosher cuisine and Italian pizza day. Let’s rejoice in our multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious society and celebrate the choices we have. Let’s not retreat into small-minded bigotry where we shut out anyone with different views.
Mike Doyle, Darlington
What is so sinister about inviting children to youth groups? Why shouldn’t Christian groups (or those of other religions) be free to run opt-in events during lunchtimes?
Once again the Greens pursue their anti-Christian agenda by suggesting that public schools are meant to be religion-free zones.
Our schools are not meant to be bastions of secularism, but bastions of education, and that means the free exchange of ideas and viewpoints.
Schoolchildren should be given as much freedom to explore spiritual matters as they are to explore mathematics, sport, health, music and literature.
David Mears, Rooty Hill
And some more terrific ones on the cathedral organ:
Grab a seat - cathedral organ will be flourishing
As the chief organ grinder of St Andrew’s Cathedral, I was pleasantly surprised to see that our services were front-page news ("Cathedral finds its organ grinding”, September 8).
But please, let’s get some matters straight. On Sunday, for Father’s Day, the choir processed out down the main aisle and there were many happy fathers in the large congregation who stayed and listened to the wonderful (and loud!) new cathedral brass ensemble.
Music featured included Bach and S. S. Wesley as well as some classic hymns pumped out by the brass, the cathedral choir and the mighty organ.
The music here seems to be in full and good voice. My assistant and I always try to lead the congregation as best we can. Sometimes that means playing softer as well as louder. But Sunday’s music is always varied, so be early for a seat. The organ will certainly flourish at the end.
Ross Cobb, St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney
.
It appears Greg Oehm (Letters, September 9) hasn’t been to the cathedral recently. The music at the main morning service would be recognised by most people, church-going or otherwise, as traditional Anglican church music. There is plenty of it each Sunday, with three or four hymns and two or three anthems, some with the organ at bone-shaking volume.
Claire Smith, Roseville
At least 5 of today’s letters were by SA people. Sophie Kunze, patron saint of letter writers, once suggested that we should aim for 10% of SMH letters to be from SAists.
Tim Hawkes wants schools to teach emotional regulation and so stop men going to prison ("The failure of schools to educate”, September 8). Just learn to count to 10, he says.
Given that the main risk factors for prison entry are poverty, substance abuse and mental illness, it seems unlikely that he, as the principal of a big private school, would have much relevant experience. Here’s hoping students learn to separate this kind of meaningless rhetoric from evidence.
Not all the letters are favourable, of course, but I only notice the ones I like (and sometimes not even all of them!) leaving the voice of balance and reason to be maintained by Fairfax employees ;-)
.... once suggested that we should aim for 10% of SMH letters to be from SAists. Soph, we did it!
Hey Gordon,
Is that part of the Diocesan Mission’s ‘10% of the population’ policy ? Yes, there have been some extraordinary letters published this week. Well done everybody.
Bach? S.S. Wesley (Letters, September 10)? I doubt I’ll be God-bothering until the chief organ grinder can belt out a passable version of Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.
Steve Moore, Leumeah
And I reckon Ross could do it too.
The sister of a family friend was the organist at the Roman Catholic cathedral in Vienna. She got sacked for playing jazz on the organ during a papal visit, as he was processing out.
Ian Walters’s claim that the Bible is “a series of compounded translations many times removed from the original” is a common error. The Dead Sea scrolls gave Biblical scholars manuscripts, some of which were written within 20 years of the events they describe, giving us exceptionally accurate texts. When compared with more recent copies, the differences are negligible, attesting to the care taken by copyists.
Matthew Adams, St Ives
I am not sure about the ‘20 years’ claim.
Here is a good,brief article on the value of the Dead Sea scrolls.
SMH in response to that most unfortunate ‘opinion’ piece yesterday
My heartiest commendations to Chris Henning’s Half Truths ("On this rock the Jensens build a church”, September 12). My highlight of the Jensen musical was the mental picture created with his line about “clapping thongs”. Percussion in church?
Roger Fitzhardinge Newtown
Here’s a truth to trump the Herald’s Half Truths. At the recent Global Anglican Futures Conference in Jerusalem, inspired by the all-singing, all-dancing African bishops and goaded by the 1200-strong congregation, Doctor J. (Archbishop, that is) stepped up to the mike and, unaccompanied, sang Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine. The hymn’s author, Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), may have been a big name in her day, but she’s certainly no YouTube star.
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