Adam, if you notice just a little further down the page from your (most excellent may I say) letter, you will find Dorothy Macrae’s latest effort...I have resisted the temptation to submit a short one in reply which would read something like this:
Dorothy - a myth.
gbh

Dear All,

I usually try to resist the temptation to submit a response from anger to these forums, but unfortunately I can’t resist today.

Gary, not sure if I understand your remark about Dorothy Macrae correctly (and if I have misunderstood than I stand corrected) but I presume you are implying that there is no such thing as a committed, long term homosexual relationship. I have read the copious propaganda put out by both sides, and don’t believe much of it, but I presume people such as Dorothy, Bob Brown, those registering civil unions in the US, know rather better than Gary about the status of their relationships. Seldom have I read a comment that makes me gladder to no longer be part of evangelical christian circles.

Morning all,

Nerdification: there are a couple of good gospel opportunities in today’s smh (June 22). One is Tom Frame’s piece that appeared in the age on Friday. The other is a letter that could easily be followed up, responding to Paul Sheehan’s opinion piece . Here’s the original letter, pre smh editing (I have put the bit the smh edited out in italics):

Paul Sheehan s insightful opinion piece (July 21) fails at its key point.

That is to say, he has quite rightly pointed out how the secular media has
completely misunderstood the war on terror by refusing to acknowledge that it is best viewed as a religious war.  But the analysis fails to probe past this point to see that while the categories may be religious, the deeper issue is the corruption and hatred that is basic to human nature. This corruption is distressingly demonstrated by Islamists who decapitate their prisoners. It is also demonstrated by US army officers who demand blood and quote, of all things, the entry of Jesus to Jerusalem as a justification for their killing.

Have they forgotten that Jesus won his victory over sin and evil not by
killing but by being crucified, so that we might be forgiven? At least the
Islamists are being true to their teaching; the Christians who kill on
religious grounds are guilty of the most dreadful distortion. They are not
fundamentalists but deviants.

Interesting isn’t it? The letters editor took the unusual step of ‘phoning and asking if it was ok to edit out the bit in italics; 2 reasons given:

1. It was too broad brush
2. He was wary of people offering comment on groups that they didn’t belong to.

If only Sydney Anglicans got the same gentle treatment from the smh!

Anyway it is likely one or two people will bite back, edit or no edit. So this may be an issue some of you feel moved to comment on today. Personally I feel the fundamentalist/deviant distinction is worth arguing for. Militarism is inherent to the most ancient forms of Islam and is a legitimate part of their tradition—Mohammed himself was a leader who encouraged others to fight by his words in the Q’uran, and by his own example. Militarism (in the Holy War sense, not the Rom 13:1 sense) is no part of the example or teaching of Jesus, which makes those Christians who turn their wars into holy wars deviants—they are departing from their tradition.

Pointing up the distinctions between the religions is a very important apologetic point against our friends who argue “they’re all the same”.

[edited to pretty up links and tidy punctuation]

This opinion piece in the age is also worth a response. The basic point (by a Muslim writer) is one I think we’d agree with.

AMS inthe SMH

I read with interest the article above in Gordon Chengs post.
I searched the web looking for something and came across Muslims and the West after 9/11 I thought it presented good views regarding the way forward for Islam.

I will reveal a snippet of it, it was written by a Muslim:

Today Muslims number one billion, spread over 48 Muslim countries. None of these has yet evolved a stable democratic political system. In fact all Muslim countries are dominated by self-serving corrupt elites who cynically advance their personal interests and steal resources from their people. No Muslim country has a viable educational system or a university of international stature.

Reason too has been waylaid. To take some examples from my own experience. You will seldom encounter a Muslim name as you flip through scientific journals, and if you do the chances are that this person lives in the West.

and:

Today’s sorry situation contrasts starkly with the Islam of yesterday. Between the 9th and the 13th centuries - the Golden Age of Islam - the only people doing decent science, philosophy, or medicine were Muslims. For five straight centuries they alone kept the light of learning ablaze. Muslims not only preserved ancient learning, they also made substantial innovations and extensions. The loss of this tradition has proved tragic for Muslim peoples.

Science flourished in the Golden Age of Islam because there was within Islam a strong rationalist tradition, carried on by a group of Muslim thinkers known as the Mutazilites. This tradition stressed human free will, strongly opposing the predestinarians who taught that everything was foreordained and that humans have no option but surrender everything to Allah. While the Mutazilites held political power, knowledge grew.

Ken

Thanks for that link Ken. Here is a good resource that I refer to occasionally, put together by Sam Green. Sam is a staffworker with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students in Tasmania, who has made the study of Islam one of his projects.

Thanks Jason. Yes, interesting response and one which has encouraged me to keep praying for the editors and journos of our newspapers, as it is a spiritual battle before it is a war of words.

Oh, and a good letter from Nigel Fortescue in today’s smh—plain language, straightforward point about the gospel:

What a great thing it is when church leaders admit their faults and seek forgiveness. And not only from us, but from God.  Tom Frame’s response is admirable and were there more like it, our world would be a better place.

Nigel Fortescue, Naremburn, June 22.

This article on stem cells in today’s SMH is worth a comment; it’s in the Age as well.

Don’t ask why I’m reading an article on Madonna getting (a different) religion....,

but this article

by Mary Kenny (from the Guardian) is really quite interesting.

While generally not sympathetic of anything religious there was this classic paragraph in the middle:

It is a fairly well-kept secret that feminism originally arose among religious women in the 19th century. From Hannah More and Josephine Butler in Britain to Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the US, feminism was an offshoot of evangelical Christianity, and that spiritual energy still hovers.

Thought some might be interested.

Richard

Claire Smith on embryo research in SMH. Definitely worth writing again today.

Dani wrote in today’s Age (25 June)

The destruction of a “high class embryo” was a “terrific moment” for Professor Robert Jansen and his team at a Sydney fertility clinic (The Age, 23/6). For me, reading about the wilful and intentional destruction of this “surplus” and “donated” life was a moment of deep sadness. The fact that we are only too willing to destroy the life of one who is defenceless in an attempt to prolong our own should inspire shame and horror, not triumph and celebration.
Dani Treweek, Pagewood, NSW

Yay Dani!

And, nothing at all in the SMH today from Christians, only one letter supporting the research. A fairly typical Age/SMH split.

Wow. I didn’t even know! They didn’t contact me!

Thanks Gordon

Morning all

This in the Age today (June 28) on stem cells. Excellent comment from Chris Pyne. Not in smh. Worth a go.

Yes, Dani, letters in the Age are a nice surprise because no notification. Sometimes you even forget you’ve written them! The Sunday Age doesn’t publish responses until the next Sunday. Kind of funny to see yourself getting abused in the letters column for something you forgot you wrote.

Hey folks,

just following up on the above post, there have been letters in both yesterday’s and today’s Age about the comparison with Nazis. The letter in today’s Age was particularly good.

Certainly worth a read and, if you feel so inclined, a write.

Congratulations, Soph!

Now what? The “AMS in AMS” thread?!

:D

Han

haha… also… go mum! ;)

And a positive response to Dani’s article! 

A red letter day for AMSers <g>.

S.

[quote author="Hannah Gordon"]

Congratulations, Soph!

Now what? The “AMS in AMS” thread?!

:D

Han

I had a chuckle at this one too! Well done, Sophie.

http://img36.photobucket.com/albums/v110/moorina/buttons/ams/ams_nerdify.png

James Murray in The Australian for today, June 3 writes in support of Tom Frame.

very cool button Soph, thank you for your thoughtfulness.

I have a http://img36.photobucket.com/albums/v110/moorina/buttons/ams/ams_2bl_nerdify.png but unfortunately I can’t find a link!  I heard something on AM this morning about ASEAN setting up an inter-faith summit with religious leaders from the region talking about “religious harmony”.  Might be worth keeping an eye out for developments, re: the persecuted church. 

And a http://img36.photobucket.com/albums/v110/moorina/buttons/ams/ams_smh_nerdify.png as well: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/02/1088488155318.html . 

[quote author="Mark Latham said, not"]I had an active love life before marriage. I think the big news is if you didn’t.

Ahem.

Heres an idea.
Why not flood the letters pages with people noting that they havent had an active love (read sex) life before marriage. Now that would make some news surely!

On a side issue…
I mustnt be nerdy enough to be able to get a button linked on here. Someone nerdify me quick.