This Column 8 entry from SydAng, Diocesan Reader, lovely person and my one time boss Ken Bock. (My daughter always claims that an entry in Column 8 is worth at least 2 or 3 letters to the editor!)
“Years ago it used to be said that the ultimate example of self-control was the person who could take just one peanut from a bowl and not have any more,” writes Ken Bock, of Carlingford. “Well, I have found the modern form of ultimate self-control - it’s the person who, sitting at their computer with a few minutes to spare, can play one game only of solitaire and then move on to their next task. It’s very tempting having played one game, and not have it resolve, to then play a second, and a third, and a …” Column 8, while making no admissions, can report that we know people who have fallen into this trap, and never been heard from again.
As the Olympic Games get closer I suppose we will hear more about back-to-back gold medals and other backs to back which don’t mean back to back at all. At least they don’t have three-legged races, so we won’t hear of athletes winning side to side back to back. My great fear is that a spokesman for a Games sponsor might reply, “We will continue to say back to back, going forward.”
This letter on the schools debate in today’s SMH raised a good argument (not dissimilar to Phillip Jensen’s argument in support of hospitality for World Catholic Youth Day):
School debate taxes the true believers
A number of the arguments advanced by Allan Lewis (Letters, June 2), which lead him to “seriously question the existence of religious schools altogether”, can just as easily provide support for the preservation of religious schools. For example, his claim that “taxpayers should not fund personal belief systems with which they disagree” supports the argument that those with religious beliefs should not have to fund schools dedicated to a secular belief system. It follows that such taxpayers have the right to claim that the portion of their tax dedicated to education should go to schools that uphold their religious beliefs. Otherwise, so long as education is taxpayer-funded and compulsory, it would amount to unequal treatment of its citizens and a tyrannic dictation of the kind of education children should receive.
Paul Borg, East Burwood (Victoria)
It would be worth writing in today (before midday) on this issue, it’s possible that it will come up again tomorrow given the amount of correspondence that was received.
Richard McBurnie (Letters, June 4) may be right to say that “a lack of belief in something is not a belief in itself”. But it does not follow that atheism is a system of lack of belief. The definition of atheism (given by the atheist petitioners) in the celebrated US case Murray v Curlett (1963) includes: “An atheist believes that heaven is something for which we should work now - here on earth for all men together to enjoy … An atheist believes that only in a knowledge of himself and a knowledge of his fellow man can he find the understanding that will help to a life of fulfilment.”
All systems of thought have their assumptions, necessary postulates and “beliefs”. Mr McBurnie seeks to deconstruct atheism in such a way as to put it beyond the judgment of reason - something that thinking people should resist.
Reverend Brian Tung, West Pymble
Richard McBurnie overlooks the obvious fact that denial of God implies a supreme belief in the capacity of the atheist’s own intellect. Whatever religion may claim, whatever the evidence may be, the atheist already knows the answer. No mystery or future discovery will ever cloud this confidence. In any other belief system this level of confidence would be called fundamentalism.
Does anyone remember my father Harry Seidler’s 1953 “Igloo” house on Parriwi Road, Mosman? In early 2001, a friend told me he had seen a demolition notice out front - that led to much media and community discussion and its eventual state heritage listing. Alas, under the new system, the house would have been immediately demolished.
Karen Jackson (Letters, June 6) bases support for abortion on the assertion that “morality is up to the individual”. Surely no one can honestly believe that. Am I free to decide that I can steal, rape, murder, rob and view child pornography? Of course not. We need common moral codes to protect people, especially the weak and defenceless. Abortion is a vexed issue, but the key question is: do we believe a mother’s rights are more important than the right to life of an unborn child? I would argue that almost always they are not. If you disagree, debate the issue rather than presenting spurious arguments you would not apply to any other moral dilemma.
Whilst not a letter, this media release ( from 20 minutes ago ) about our own Steve Carlisle is worthy of promotion. It will probably be in tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph. ( Letter writers can start preparing letters to the editor now. ) The link even has a photo :
I was a Footy Show nuffy too
By John Rolfe
June 16, 2008 02:41pm
A CHURCH minister has come forward to reveal that he too was targeted as a so-called “nuffy” by The Footy Show.
Reverend Steve Carlisle, of Sydney’s St Matthew’s Anglican Church in West Pymble, contacted The Daily Telegraph after we reported an allegation by 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley.
Hadley claimed that last Thursday’s embarrassing pre-recorded segment ridiculing a disabled man was often a deliberate aim of the show.
What’s a nuffy? The Urban Dictionary says it’s Australian slang for people who are “mentally retarded”.
Rev Carlisle today told The Telegraph that while he was training as a minister in Dapto, near Wollongong, he was interviewed by The Footy Show.
Rev Carlisle said that he saw many others interviewed over “three or four hours”.
“They looked all day and found the resident drunk, the homeless guy, one other and me,” Rev Carlisle recalled.
“If it wasn’t for my shaggy dreadlocks, coloured green and orange, and my belly-button-length beard, maybe I would never have made it on the show.”
Rev Carlisle said the segment screened in 2000 and that he was interviewed by Terry Hill, the former Australian rugby league centre.
He said that he didn’t believe Hill was deliberately targeting “nuffies”.
Rather, he suspected it occurred in the production process.
As the picture (right) here shows, he looks quite different now.
“They take the nuffies into the ministry as well,” Rev Carlisle remarked.
In today’s Sun-Herald there is a “Moral Maze” article on the church’s view on homosexuality by Dr Leslie Cannold who is a feminist ethicist from Melbourne. She puts her case in a rather strident fashion. Becuase ther is a week between issues it can give people time to craft a response. Do give it a good read; one or two thoughtful letters in next week’s Sun-Herald would make a good response.
Those who are able to write, this would be a good week for paying attention to what is going on with the Anglican churches worldwide. You might pray that people get to hear about the truths of the gospel because of the divisions happening between liberal and evangelical Christians, and write accordingly.
WHAT a deliciously ironic week for faith. On the one hand, we are worried about how many Catholics are coming to the garden party and the impact of it all. On the other, Anglicans are worried about how many are boycotting their garden party and the impact of it all. I reckon, if we all stopped worrying about pomp and ceremony and just did what Jesus said, we would be better off. His words were simple: love God, love your neighbour. It’s not rocket science.
Quite a few on WYD regulations in SMH today, including:
Richard Spear claims that World Youth Day and the reaction to it shows how divisive religions are (Letters, July 3). But of all the participants in this rather troubling event, the State Government is causing the most problems for everyone, and the event’s organisers are almost invisible. Perhaps it shows how wickedly politicians use religions to cause division.
Reverend Peter Green, Marrickville
So after 2000 years of praying for relief from persecution by the state, we now have to pray for the state to stop hamfistedly trying to help. Who says God hasn’t got a sense of humour?
And two very nice ones on the Bible, including our own Mike Doyle I believe, both in the SMH:
The Bible is a book of truth, not mythology
Richard McCarthy (Letters, July 3) shows a simplistic and bigoted view of Peter Jensen and those who take the Bible seriously. Not only has he refused to listen to what Dr Jensen says about life in Genesis, but he misrepresents the Old Testament as mythological untruth. This is patently false, as many an ancient historian will tell you, no matter what you believe about the Bible’s theological claims. It would be nice for those who disagree with Sydney Anglicans to at least listen to, and fairly represent, their opposition.
Mike Doyle, Darlington
Richard McCarthy makes a common mistake. The Bible is not a history book (although often relied upon by archaeologists), and nor is it a science book. It is a book about God restoring a relationship with humanity. To view it in any other context totally misses the point.
Matthew Adams, St Ives
The initial letter by McCarthy left itself wide open.
The health crisis in Queensland may have a while to run yet, extraditions from Oregon notwithstanding, according to David McKay, of Bathurst, who writes: “Both times my wife Joan gave birth in the Brisbane Royal Women’s Hospital, we heard this announcement over the intercom: ‘Paging Dr Slaughter. Calling Sister Slack’.”
Peter Jensen says “Some in Australia will say, what has this to do with me? That has never been the way of the Anglican Communion …” Nor has it been the way of the Communion to refuse to meet those with whom one disagrees. I, with more than 1000 Sydney Anglicans, petitioned the archbishop and his fellow Sydney bishops earlier this year not to boycott the Lambeth Conference. I repeat that call publicly. We need our bishops to be part of that conference to contribute to and benefit from its rich, complex and diverse engagement with fellow bishops. We are told that after GAFCON there is no split in the Anglican Communion. Not attending Lambeth leads to the perception that there is.
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Standing ovation as Archbishop Henry Orombi finishes reading the GAFCON communique.
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