George Browning
George Browning was Anglican Bishop of Canberra Goulburn 1993 – 2008. He was President of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network 2013 – 2022. He is now its Patron. He is also Patron of Palestinian Christians in Australia, and of the Palestinian ecumenical liberation theology centre -Sabeel.
George's recent articles
Israel labels Palestinian civil society groups terrorists.
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz last week signed an order declaring six civil society groups in the West Bank as terrorist organisations.
The Nationals and their dangerous search for relevance
Every deputy covets their moment in the sun. This can usually be arranged without harm. In the case of Barnaby Joyce little appears to come without harm.
With a five per cent vote the Nationals are holding us to ransom on climate change
What is the meaning of Australian democracy when a minor party, populated by extreme right-wing ideologists, can decide Australia's position on arguably the most important policy issue of our time climate change?
Rights, law breakers, Scott Morrison, Sky News and the Covid lockdown
George Christensen and Craig Kelly, amongst others, have been spruiking false information about the pandemic, about vaccinations and about the lockdown, giving comfort to those who have proved more than a little capacity for anarchic behaviour. Given these exponents of controversy in service of self-promotion sit on government benches, one might have expected censure from the Prime Minister. There has been none.
Israel, Apartheid, and why Albo is seriously wrong and seriously right
The zoom conducted by Mr Albanese, the leader of the Federal Opposition, with the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has received wide publicity and greatly angered the Palestinian diaspora in Australia. This is sad and ironic, given Mr Albanese has a long history of supporting Palestinian rights and helped found the federal parliamentary friends of Palestine.
A response to the Prime Minister's speech to the Australian Christians Conference
Dear Scott, You have got yourself into a bit of strife from commentators who have found your speech at the Australian Christian Churches Conference to breach the convention of separation between Church and State; also, for your assertion that the devil is using the social media platform for evil. I, on the other hand, found much in your talk with which I could agree, my problem is that I see no evidence that what you said is taken at all seriously in your life as Prime Minister.
Politics should be about transformational leadership
Our Prime Minister has shown he is incapable of anything other than transactional leadership.
Seditious assault on Congress. Why is Christianity so grafted to corrupt politics?
The link between the Christian right and Trump has nothing to do with Christian discipleship. Trump provides the evangelical right with the closest thing they have found to a theocratic state and in return Trump gets a strong voting bloc.
Prime Minister: Saying you no longer intend to cheat on climate change does not merit applause
The Prime Minister has brushed off his failure to gain a speaking role at the Glasgow global warming summit as inconsequential. But the reality is that the Prime Minister and his government continue to fail us.
George Browning. Is the Anglican Church about to split?
'The Conversation' recently published an article co-authored by Dorothy Ann Lee and Muriel Porter under the heading Is the Anglican Church about to split? It is facing the gravest threat to its unity in more than 200 years.
A Warrior Culture
The Prime Minister warned us that we would be in for some shocking reading as the report into Australian war crimes in Afghanistan was released. That there were 39 alleged murders, and 19 Australian soldiers involved, is indeed shocking.
Military and Economic Deals arent peace arrangements just because Trump says so (Canberra Times Sep 19, 2020)
Peace is not in the air, (Carlill, Canberra Times, 16/9). The deal done between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE, boastfully brokered by President Trump, has little to do with peace, but much with military hardware and hoped for economic gain.
Bernard Collaery, East Timor and Governmental Duplicity
The extent of the outrage and the reason the government is desperate to keep hidden its unlawful behaviour through the prosecution of Bernard Collaery and Witness K has now had a little further light shone upon it.
GEORGE BROWNING. Trump vs Christianity
Just as Muslims worldwide have been expected to stand up against the appropriation of their religion by extremist ideologies that have expressed themselves in various forms of terror, so the Christian community must make it clear that Christ and the Gospel will not be sullied.
GEORGE BROWNING. Australias two personalities-pandemic and climate change
In recent domestic policy and international engagement Australia is demonstrating two contrasting personalities. One is demonstrated through our response to COVID 19 and the other through our troubled inability to form responsible climate and energy policy. Why do we have two personalities?
GEORGE BROWNING. The power of narrative: Nakba, annexation and antisemitism
Friday, 15 May, was Nakba Day, Nakba, (al-Nakbah, literally disaster, catastrophe, or cataclysm), is a commemoration of the events in 1948/1949 which saw approximately half the pre-war Palestinian Arab population driven from their homes.
Australia turns its back on the rule of law
Australias efforts to block an International Criminal Court investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestine are inexplicable, given the courts brief to investigate abuses from all sources, be they Hamas, Palestinian paramilitary, or Israel.
GEORGE BROWNING. Change the date!
The reasons why the date for Australia Day are contentious will not go away.
GEORGE BROWNING.CONSERVATISM, BEAUTY AND SIR ROGER SCRUTON
The philosopher, Sir Roger Scruton, the darling of contemporary conservative politics died on 12 January 2020 aged 75. Tony Abbott is reported to have said that if John Locke is the father of western political conservatism, Roger Scruton is its contemporary intellectual son. However, from their words and actions, it appears Tony Abbott and presumably his fellow right-wing fanatics never read, or perhaps understood, much that Scruton wrote or thought.
GEORGE BROWNING.- How good are the fires?
The country clearly owes a debt of gratitude to the Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government for their sterling leadership, their visionary approach in vastly changed and challenging circumstance and for their assurance that under their leadership all manner of things will be well.
GEORGE BROWNING. Morrison Government you are a disgrace
NSW is alight, and it is still not the right time to talk about Climate Change!!!!! What message of commitment did we have to give the world community in Madrid? - nothing. You said Australia is reducing its emission year on year. Your own departments graphics shows this to be untrue. Asserting untruth does not make it true. How is it possible to believe anything you say?
GEORGE BROWNING. Peace on Earth, Good will towards all: Tale of Two Jerusalem Prizes
The holy citys name focuses the universal longing for peace: the hope, indeed the expectation that diversity and difference do not need to issue in animosity, injustice and violence, but in mutuality, enrichment from the others difference. It is associated with blessing from Melchizedek the mysterious the King of Salem to Abraham, ancestor, founder and prophet shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The city is sacred to all three.
GEORGE BROWNING. Please Leave.Please Come Back
In his speech at last weeks Sydney synod, Archbishop Glenn Davies made it clear he wished those who support the blessing of same sex marriage unions to leave the Church because you cannot bless sin. Subsequently he attempted to clarify his statement which had caused enormous anguish and resentment by saying he intended the message only for Bishops who did so.
GEORGE BROWNING. Zionism the ugly truth
Alex Ryvchins article Zionism and the big lie. How Soviet anti-Semitism shaped contemporary anti-Zionism, published through the ABCs Religion and Ethics site, is too cute by half. Of course the strong critique of current Israel (which likes to call itself a Zionist State) has a history, but it is primarily fuelled by the reality that contemporary policies of the State of Israel cruelly subjugate the Palestinian people.
GEORGE BROWNING. We are the company we keep - A theology of eating
Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has announced he is to go to Washington to have dinner with President Trump. In the past such an invitation would be considered a great honour, especially as few other world leaders receive similar invitations. But these are not ordinary times. What does accepting this invitation mean for Scott Morrison and for Australia?
GEORGE BROWNING Former Middle East diplomats urge PM to reject Trump Middle East plan.
In response to the Kushner announcement about an economic plan for Palestine, 18 former Australian diplomats have written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling on him not to support the plan. The signatories include two former Australian Ambassadors to Israel and many Ambassadors to other Middle Eastern countries.
GEORGE BROWNING. Democratise Energy: Reform Taxation: Save the Planet.
Stuck in a traffic jam every day on the way to work do you imagine this is the way it is always going to be only a little worse? If your livelihood is agriculture, like your father and his father before him, you face challenges they did not have to face. Weather patterns are changing, droughts are more frequent and intense and the rains, when they come, are more torrential. Do you imagine this is now your lot and that as your children prepare to inherit the property, their experience will be the Murray Darling Basin 2018/19 on steroids?...
GEORGE BROWNING. Is Christian Zionism contributing to the Israel Palestine Impasse?
The insidious influence of Christian Zionism on domestic American politics and through these politics on actions that prevent a just outcome to the Israel Palestine impasse is far deeper and more threatening to peace and security than is popularly understood. It is past time that it is called out as having no biblical foundation, that its unconditional support for Israel has resulted in actions that are antithetical to Christianity and that its opposition to a just peace, given full reign, would lead the Middle East on an apocalyptic trajectory, a trajectory justified by Zionists as fulfilment of biblical prophecy.
GEORGE BROWNING. Peace on Earth, Goodwill to all Humankind
Is peace on earth, good will to all humankind a cruel fantasy? Are we destined to live in increasingly walled off environments, afraid of losing the little advantage we think we have? I have recently returned from 10 days in the Palestinian Territories. The highlight was my journey to Nabi Saleh in Palestinian area C, north of Ramallah, the home of the Tamimi family and totally under the control of Israeli forces. Bassem, the father, shot to publicity when his visa was suddenly cancelled by the Australian government at Amman international airport en route to Australia. Ahed, the young...
GEORGE BROWNING. Nationalism: the worlds greatest threat
We owe President Emmanuel Macron a debt of gratitude for yesterdays speech in Paris. Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism, the French leader said. In saying Our interests first, whatever happens to the others, you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it live, that which causes it to be great and that which is most important: Its moral values.
GEORGE BROWNING. The Jerusalem Embassy thought bubble.
To contemplate moving the Australian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to shore up the chances of the Liberal candidate for Wentworth, Dave Sharma, is a small but very significant example of what is horribly wrong with Australian politics and why so few Australians now have any trust in the political process. That the Prime Minister denies any connection between the thought bubble and the weekend byelection stretches credulity and pokes fun at the electorates intelligence. What is it about our present government that it would even contemplate such a course? Please Mr Morrison you can do better...
GEORGE BROWNING. HOMO SAPIENS - REALLY?
Along the evolutionary trail we have somewhat ambitiously called ourselves homo sapiens, or humans who are sapient knowing or wise. The truth of the matter is tragically far from this: we seek to resolve difference through violence rather than dialogue; we give greater weight to possessing rather than being (our other species name); we assume winning to be an achievement of the individual rather than the community, thus imposing losing on others; we claim exceptionalness for our momentary place in history and we constantly appoint leaders who show absolutely no aptitude for the task.
The Prime Minister: personal faith and public values
On 29th August comedian Tom Ballard chose to parody the faith of the new Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, on the Tonightly ABC series by contrasting his perceived lack of love or concern for refugees with his espoused love of Jesus. The ABC has come in for criticism for putting this sketch to air.
GEORGE BROWNING. Alternative facts & fake news the lubricant of conservative politics.
We are spending an inordinate amount of money on defence and security to protect ourselves from an enemy without, but it is now clear that we face a far greater threat from the enemy within, revealed through alternative facts and fake news, the lubricant of conservative politics. In the disgraceful power struggle between so-called conservatives and liberals in federal politics we have seen a championing of the Trump brand and the heinous connection between evangelical Christianity and individual rights. A right-wing commentator has revealingly lamented that the trouble with Turnbull is that his natural home is within the ABC not...
GEORGE BROWNING. Domestic Violence
Last week we were confronted with domestic violence in the most tragic of circumstances as a NSW father became the brutal killer of his two teenage children. Most Australians will have found this news inexplicable. How could a father submerge natural feelings of paternal care and responsibility in an ocean of anger and bitterness to enable such a terrible act? If the chief role of Government is to keep its citizens safe, as politicians from the Prime Minister down constantly remind us to justify the enormous spending on national defence; is enough being done to combat what is a far...
GEORGE BROWNING. Child sexual abuse, the Church and the Royal Commission.
The findings of the Commission have sent shock waves through the institutional Church and generated disgust in the wider community. Is there any good news, any reason to hope for something better?
GEORGE BROWNING. Violence and Religion
Recently released Fairfax poll figures indicating that Australia records the highest percentage of citizens of any comparable country believing the world would be better off without religion because of its assumed connection with violence is somewhat of a shock. That we are apparently more tolerant of religious difference than most is comforting, but does not ameliorate the first figure.
GEORGE BROWNING. Confession and Child Abuse
The Royal Commission has made what most Australians believe to be a very reasonable and overdue request that priests should be obligated to report evidence of child abuse no matter what the circumstance. Resistance from the Church will not be received sympathetically.
GEORGE BROWNING. Monotheism, Terrorism and Injustice
I want to reflect on the unspeakably appalling terror events that have occurred recently in Afghanistan, Iraq, Manchester, London, Melbourne and Tehran in the light of monotheistic religion and the ethical requirements that flow from it.
GEORGE BROWNING. The non-existent Australian government energy policy.
It has been clear for some time that the normal capitalist approach of privatising everything does not work in relation to energy.
GEORGE BROWNING. Benjamin Netanyahu Hero or Villain?
Benjamin Netanyahu is about to make an historic visit to Australia. Should he come and how should he be received? Having just guided legislation through the Knesset legalising the illegal: settler outposts on private Palestinian land; he has seemingly set in motion an unstoppable movement which, taken to its ultimate conclusion, could deprive Palestinians of every inch of their ancestral land and establish Israel, a state devoid of morality or conscience. No wonder his President and Attorney General advised against it!