When are we going to get serious about peace in Palestine?

At least 225 dead as Israel hammers Hamas-run Gaza - World - smh.com.au

The problem with "An eye for an eye" is that it makes everyone blind.  Clearly that is the case in Israel. The government and Hamas are both blind to other alternatives.

Let's make a difference.

Op-Ed Columnist - Raising the World’s I.Q. - NYTimes.com

Read this article.  It is frightening that we can make such a difference with such a small effort and we are not doing it yet.  According to the article, the Canadian government is doing this, but it should be part of every aid programme.  It is such an easy thing to do.

My main overseas aid effort is Oxfam.  I am not sure yet if they have any programmes to provide iodised salt, but I will find out.

My concerns over Tasers

Police slammed over Taser plan - National - smh.com.au  While I can see some benefits in tasers in that they are less lethal than guns, I am concerned that police may be more willing to use them for situations when there are other alternatives.  Personally, I believe that part of the training process should be to be shot with a taser so that the shooter knows exactly how painful it really is.

Homosexuality

I was recently challenged by a Christian on my non-condemnation of homosexuality.  I replied that I thought the Old Testament references were not really valid, because they were in the same context as the directives not to mix meat and milk, and not to wear fabrics of two different types at the same time, and other practices that are clearly no longer acceptable to mainstream Christianity.   I indicated that I was fairly sure that the new testament references to Homosexuality were also ambiguous.  After the conversation, I felt the need to check the new testamant to see what it said.

 

There appear to be three references to homosexuality in the new testament.  Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:10.  There is clearly disagreement among Scriptural scholars about whether these passages actually refer to the practice of homosexuality, or not.  However, even putting that aside, and assuming that God does not approve of homosexuality, it is variously equated in these scriptures with envy, gossip, adultery, drunkenness, theft, disobedience to parents and other sins.   So, if that is what the scriptures say, why do the churches talk as if it is an unforgivable sin and one that necessarily excludes the sinner from the community?  There is clearly something wrong here.  Even if homosexuals should be excluded from the community because of this sinfulness (there wouldn't be many people on the inside, if the same treatment was given to the other classes of sinners), why does the church support the active discrimination against homosexuals in secular society, where the defacto relationships of homesexuals are not recognised by the law?  I have no hesitation in saying that to the extent that the Church is opposed to changes in legislation to protect the rights of homosexual couples that the Church is wrong and is speaking against natural justice.

 

That is why I happily support changes to legislation to end discrimination against homosexual couples.

 

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I always hesitate when someone, especially a 'Christian' asks me what I believe in.

 

If they were asking me to share the 'Song of Joy" that is my experience of God, so that they can benefit from it, or at least know God better, then I would happily share, but generally, people who ask this question seem to want to run what I say through their personal orthodoxy test to decide whether my experience of God is valid.  This isn't really something that i am interested in doing.  Mainly because what I know of God, (which is almost nothing), is only known to me through my experience.  How do you share that with someone who has an orthodoxy test.

 

For anyone who is still reading, here is what comes to mind right now when I ask myself this question:

 

- I experience God as loving energy.  Sometimes, I experience this through a heart to heart sharing with another person, at other times through the beauty or terror of nature, or through my sense of my own inner energy.

 

- Based on my experience of God as energy I feel comfortable in saying that I believe in God.

 

- Many of the things that I have learned in my journey, through the Catholic church, through other christian churches, through buddhist teachings, and through political and social activism ring true to me and seem worthy of encouragement, support, activism, belief, whatever.

 

- Because my life experience has mainly been through the Catholic church, I feel comfortable with lots of Catholic teaching, Catholic worship, but there are also many things about the Catholic church that I don't like.  Enough that I don't really feel comfortable calling myself Catholic.  For the same reason, I don't really feel comfortable with any other 'religious' label either.

 

- I believe in the holiness of human life.  I do not agree with abortion and believe that in general abortion is wrong.  I can see that the world is not perfect and there is often a need to choose the lesser evil.  I don't have any magic solution to how to choose the lesser evil, and question the honesty of anyone who claims that they do know how to always choose the lesser evil. I believe that science is a gift from God, and that we should enjoy the benefits of science, but one of the things that science, (or rather mankind in general) tries to do, is to avoid necessary pain.  By making the avoidance of pain a priority, as society does, we create technologies that dehumanise us.  Examples of this include using stem cells inappropriately and research into cloning.  Avoiding the pain of gluttony, or depression with medication are other examples.

 

This is a rambling more than anything, and is not really intended as a "Creed", rather as a 'consciousness stream' triggered by the question "what do I believe?"

WYD08 :: Home :: Media :: Latest News :: Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary

WYD Plenary Indulgence

Here is a perfect example of how far the 'Institutional Church' has strayed from leading people to a meaningful relationship with the God of Love.

What a load of rubbish. This isn't too far from arguing about the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin.

New storm over nude child picture - Arts - Entertainment - smh.com.au

New storm over nude child picture - Arts - Entertainment - smh.com.au

I can't help feeling the politicians and the media are exploiting this issue far more than any 'pornographer' might be. We are really becoming a wowserish society. I am happy to say that I think this photo is beautiful. I am quite comfortable that that does not make me a pedophile. If someone wants to label me as such, then that is their problem, not mine.

Coming soon: meet the wife, she's a robot - Technology - smh.com.au

Coming soon: meet the wife, she's a robot - Technology - smh.com.au: "partner" It is interesting that this article totally ignores real relationships in it's description. The characteristics of 'love' that are being considered are basically about self gratification. There is nothing of real love referred to at all. Certainly it is clear from the article that the most desirable feature of an ideal lover is to be totally compliant to our own desires. I don't think there is any possibility of real personal growth through this type of relationship. If this is really what the future holds, then perhaps Aldous Huxley will have been far closer to the truth than he could possibly have dreamt.

Prayer

These quotes that landed in my In box today really summarise my attitude to prayer.

He prays best who does not know that he is praying.

St. Anthony of Padua

Prayer at its best is an attitude, an awareness of God's presence. It's a feeling that we are not alone, no matter where we are or what we're doing. It is a thankfulness, a silent appreciation of and communion with our source.

Most of all, prayer is stepping back and letting go. It is a conscious awareness that we are the instruments of God's will, that your greatest fulfillment and satisfaction
come in letting that will - not ours - prevail. The best prayer is remembering that your self-will consistently gets us into trouble and that listening for God's will is
the way out.

Karen Casey

I really think we are entering a new era of self righteous ignorance.

While this article is not the ideal article to highlight, because it is clearly generally accepted as bad taste, to wear a Klu Klux Klan outfit, it illustrates how ludicrous our society has become. The other example today was of the woman in bondi wearing a kefiyah style scarf. I would link to it but it seems to have disappeared.

The Henson nudes is another example of self righteous bandwaggoning.

The other thing that annoys me about these examples is how they are splashed all over the media for about two days as if they are the most important thing in the world, then they quietly move over for some other fascinating tidbit. It really points to an incredibly shallow society.

Lets ban these bombs

Hi,

I've just reminded our Government that we're supposed to be one of the good guys - cluster bombs are weapons that break up in mid air to litter the ground with mini-bombs, some of which remain unexploded for years awaiting innocent civilians. But as the international community meets in Dublin to ban them, the Australian Government is going out of its way to frustrate the process.

Thousands of civilians have lost their lives and limbs, mainly children from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. But our Government is trying to water down the treaty that could ban them.

They're hoping this issue will slip under the radar without anyone noticing - but the stakes are simply too high to ignore. We need a strong international treaty to prevent horrors like those experienced as a result of land mines, and that decision is being made right now in Dublin. Join me in banning the bombs:

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/BanTheBombs

Thanks!

Musings on the Feast of Christ the King

As I sat at Mass last night, I couldn't help but think how anachronistic and irrelevant the feast of Christ the King is. How can a republican get excited about the idea of Christ as a King. When I think of kings, I think of people who have done nothing to deserve their postions, with enormous amounts of money gained from the efforts of workers. I think of people who spend most of their lives indulging themselves and are totally out of touch with the day to day reality of most people. How far is this from my image of Jesus. For me, the image of Jesus that sits best is the man talking quietly in the countryside to people who are hurting and giving them real hope.

I went to the dentist last week, and we decided to take this tooth out. I nearly fainted when I saw the size of it, but amazingly, it hardly hurt at all getting it taken out. The wierd thing is that since it was removed, I haven't been able to drink red wine. White is fine, but not red!!!

SMH-Climate change threatens the fight to end poverty

Why have we been able to mobilise so much publicity and support for the Climate Change agenda, which will/might have an impact some time in the future, and very little for the Millenium Development Goals and the fight against poverty, which is killing 30,000 people every day?

Unfortunately, I think the reason is because climate change will affect US whereas poverty affects anonymous people over there. I hope that is not true, but I think it is.

SMH - Death Penalty

It is interesting how people are starting to get indignant about the anti-death penalty movement because it is getting close to the time for the execution of Amrosi and the other Bali Bombers. I wonder if those same people will also be objecting to the imposition of the death penalty on the Bali Nine.

It is sad, how far back we have come from the seventies when advocating the death penalty was not even on anyone's agenda to now where any people are pushing for it (at least for non-whites).

I find it hard to even discuss the question with supporters of the death penalty because it is so obviously wrong to me. It is hard to even come close to getting inside the mind of someone who believes that the world would be a better place with the death penalty.

The book that has had the most impact on my life.

Of all the books that I have ever read, the one that has had the greatest impact/influence on my life is "Awareness" by Anthony de Mello.  It is a book that is very hard to describe.  In many ways, it says nothing that I haven't heard before, but I think it came at the right time.  I have been reading and rereading it now for about six years.

I wish I had an easy way to describe it.  It is one of those books that for me was an epiphany.  While reading it I came to the realisation, "Ah, so that is what it is all about."  So do I now, know the meaning of life?  Well, Yes and No.   It is really frustrating because, 'knowing'  does not make it any easier to put into words.  The closest I can come is a quote from Paul's letter to the Phillipians (can't remember the chapter and verse, or the exact words, but it goes something like this).  "May the Peace of God that surpasses all understanding blow your mind."   When you find something like that, there is a temptation to tell everyone about it and give them a formula, but as Anthony de Mello says, I can't tell you what to do, just what to look for.  If I told you what to do, I would be just giving you another formula, and that wouldn't work.

There are plenty of books, gurus, teachings that tell the same story, but this was the one that got through to me.  If you are still with me, I really encourage you to have a look at it.  You can generally get it at Dymocks or Borders book store.  If you want to talk about it after you have read it, I would love to share with you.

Donna and I saw Amazing Grace on Saturday night. It is a powerful movie about the campaign in the British parliament to abolish the slave trade.

It was made to comemorate the 200th anniversary of the passing of the legislation.

William Wilberforce and others fought a thirty year campaign to turn the tide of popular opinion on its head. It is an inspiring example of how one person can make a difference. There are many similar things happening today that we should not ignore.

It is also interesting to note that most people who believed that slavery was okay were bolstered in their beliefs by the bible. I couldn't help compare this to the situation at the moment with the campaign to make homosexual couples equal before the law.

How I stopped a rapist

What a beautiful story this is. I was moved to tears, but not of sorrow but of joy. The solution to problems of violence is not more violence, in the form of anger, hate, shame and fear, but one of strength. Only by confronting reality, and taking control of our lives can we really conquer evil such as the rape that this lady describes.

It is truly beautiful.

George Pell and the Stem Cell Debate

The sad thing about this whole issue is that the debate has become one about the church telling politicians how to vote, rather than the church expressing its position on an important issue.

Almost no-one would have learned anything about why the church holds the position it does from the debate, as expressed in the mainstream media.

I hope it wasn't Pell's intention to create a power struggle. I really believe that he has though

We have lived through a month of chaos during April as we put in a new kitchen. You can see some of the before, during and after shots here.