Writer
Michael Mullins
Michael Mullins is a former editor of Eureka Street. He now blogs at http://mullins.id.au
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Silence over St Mary’s Cathedral remembrance ribbon cutting
Following yesterday’s funeral of Cardinal George Pell, I was disturbed to read this from a Sydney Morning Herald letter writer: ‘I went to St Mary’s Cathedral to tie a ribbon on the iron fence for a friend who was raped by a priest when he was seven years old. My ribbons were cut off by Continue reading »
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Banks that listen to their customers will go places
Loyalty to banks used to be a big thing in the days of yore. But the Banking Royal Commission certainly skewered any reason to remain loyal. And there are options for those looking for an ethical bank that listens to their customers. Continue reading »
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The Sunday Obligation resumes for fewer Catholics
During the pandemic, Catholic Church authorities were forced to endorse the state’s ban on Mass attendance. Some hoped this would be the end of the Sunday Obligation, but Sydney’s Archbishop Anthony Fisher reimposed it last week. Continue reading »
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Necessary disruption for church culture change to protect children
A ‘secret bishops report’ has called for the declericalisation of the Catholic Church in Australia. The bishops are keeping the report under wraps until the end of the year ‘to do it justice’, while critics are calling it ironic for bishops to withhold a report that urges them to be transparent and inclusive. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Blind obedience and the Pell trial jury
While I was training to be a Jesuit in the late 70s, I learned about, and practised, ‘blind obedience’. Rightly or wrongly, what I learned about blind obedience has informed my understanding of how juries work in the court system. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Jean Vanier and the abuse of celebrity power
Jean Vanier was the revered founder of the international network of L’Arche communities for people with intellectual disabilities. It was revealed at the weekend that he sexually abused six women in France between 1970 and 2005. Treating leaders like gods tends to have unintended consequences. In Vanier’s case, it seems to have made him a Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Leaving Google
Last month an Amnesty International report took Google and Facebook to task for their ‘surveillance-based business model’ that is ‘predicated on human rights abuse’. Back in 2006, I recall a colleague telling me about Google’s ‘do no evil’ manifesto. I wanted to believe it and used many of its free and paid services. Until last Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. The role of ordinary Catholics in clerical sex abuse
NZ bishop Charles Drennan was forced to resign after a young woman complained about his sexual behaviour towards her. The #MeToo movement has forced a reckoning about the imbalance of power between clerics and lay Catholics. This is a major cause of clerical sex abuse. Recently Cardinal John Dew encouraged the NZ ‘faithful’ to call Continue reading »
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George Pell’s conviction and fragmentary memory
Many people dismiss any element of testimony that is thought to be guided by emotion. Court proceedings are based on rational argument. If holes can be picked in the verbal narrative of the witness, the allegations remain unproven. A new book explains that two people who have experienced the same phenomenon will often have completely Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Abstract thinkers living in bubbles.
During the Christmas break I read Rick Morton’s One Hundred Years of Dirt, which is one of the more acclaimed Australian memoirs published during 2018. It details the wretched life he’s led and also challenges the culture warriors of the left and the right. Speaking about politicians as well as journalists, he says: ‘We don’t Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. The importance of wage growth
The blemish on this week’s ‘beautiful set of numbers’ announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was wage growth. We all need to build wealth to provide a secure future. The way to do that is to receive not only a wage, but a wage that increases exponentially. Like the wageless workers who lived through the Great Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Why I avoid social media news feeds
Facebook and the like are not interested in truth in journalism. They use their algorithms to create news that confirms their users’ pre-existing views. If they gave them content with views they didn’t like, chances are that the users would ditch the feed for a rival and revenues would drop. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. The politicisation of remembrance
In Australia there is a highly selective regime of remembrance that chooses to exclude the Frontier Wars that killed large numbers of indigenous Australians, and also the many unsavoury aspects of war such as the mistreatment of women by our ‘heroes’. My view is that communal war remembrance should be more nuanced. It needs to Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Treatment of the mentally ill as ‘the next civil rights issue’
Humour touching on mental health is a delicate undertaking that can either enhance or destroy the dignity of those living with mental illness. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Wilson conviction exposes Australian bishops’ lack of contrition
Recently a friend abused by a priest in Newcastle 40 years ago took his own life. Archbishop Philip Wilson was convicted this week for concealing sexual abuse in that diocese around the same time. Church leaders valued the institution ahead of its people, and unfortunately it appears little has changed in the attitude of the Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Joyce’s schooling is the real scandal
It is unhelpful to judge Barnaby in the way the prime minister Malcolm Turnbull did on Thursday. It’s better to focus on a critique of the culture. His leadership of the Nationals may be no longer tenable, but the best thing our political class can do for the long term is to make laws that Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. The mission of a bank nerd.
The vigilance of nerds – or mavens – enhances the wellbeing of us all. Their scrutiny keeps businesses on their toes and non-nerds are less likely to be exploited. If everybody was a bank nerd, the banking royal commission would not be necessary. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. What happened to my Australian accent?
I spent the summer of 1983-84 in the Philippines. During this time I fell in love with the Philippines and its people and felt ashamed to be Australian. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Proper scrutiny will expose ‘traditional marriage’ as dangerous.
Pope Francis has confirmed his resolve to dump Pope John Paul II’s legacy regarding marriage and the family. He will replace it with his own more inclusive vision, which he outlined in a speech in October last year. This suggestion of openness has obvious implications for Australia’s Marriage Law Postal Survey ‘no’ campaign, which presents Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Civil and religious marriage are best kept separate.
By conflating the civil law with religious ritual, we create confusion that makes it easy for the Church to claim authority that rightfully belongs to the state. In other words, the Church makes demands regarding sacramental marriage, which of course is OK. But it often weighs in on civil marriage as well, which is different. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Cardinal Pell’s preference for spin doctors over truth tellers
Cardinal Pell’s actions and attitudes towards the media over the years have demonstrated a lack of appreciation of its role in truth telling. If, as he stated , he is innocent of the ‘false’ charges laid against him, it is in his interest not to condemn the truth telling media but to trust and embrace Continue reading »
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Michael Mullins. Threatened Al Jazeera more trustworthy than ‘white man’s media’
John Menadue’s blog post ‘White man’s media’ points to our media’s disproportionate coverage of terrorism in the west, where only 2.6 per cent of terrorism related deaths occur. Our easily accessible media outlets could be on the way to becoming even whiter, with this week’s announcement that Al Jazeera is to lay off 500 staff because falling Continue reading »
