Culture and Religion
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“The possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral”: Will US Bishops heed Pope’s pronouncement?
Nihon Hidankyo, Japan’s nationwide organisation of atomic bomb survivors, was awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. Continue reading »
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Gender equality? – Not our culture
Half the 280 million people in Indonesia are women, though not in the 48-member ministry; just five were drafted this week by the fresh president Prabowo Subianto. It’s a Cabinet fuelled more by testosterone than talent. Continue reading »
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Dialogue for Australia’s three voices
There is no doubt that the war in Gaza has placed Australia’s multiculturalism and social cohesion under strain. Continue reading »
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Country town showcases world-standard young pianists
Every two years, a musical feat of world standard is achieved by a young Australian in an unlikely Victorian country town. Shepparton, home of irrigation and stone fruit, population almost 70,600, or an average AFL crowd, hosts it. Continue reading »
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Jack Iverson was, my father often told me, the finest bowler to whom he ever kept
Playing against England, in the home Ashes series of 1950–51, Iverson led the Australian bowling averages with 21 wickets at 15.24 runs per wicket. Bamboozling the Poms, in one Test he got 6 for 27. A little known fact is that Jack Iverson’s highest score in all five Tests was 1 not out. Continue reading »
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Pope Francis and practising what one preaches
Pope Francis has called upon Church authorities to cooperate with civil authorities in relation to child sexual abuse by Church personnel. When it comes to the Vatican cooperating, it is a different story. Continue reading »
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How Zionism proselytises
In her recent acceptance speech as recipient of British PEN’s Pinter Peace Prize, writer Arundhati Roy made special note of President Biden’s words on his visit to Israel shortly after 7 October 2023. Continue reading »
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Anxious Democrat voters find new ways to self-medicate as election looms
Standing in the tiny foyer of a small theatre that had seen better days on a residential street in inner-city Philadelphia, I asked a fellow theatre-goer standing next to me, “Are you looking forward to some comic relief?” Continue reading »
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Symbolic politics and ‘terrorist’ symbols
Until recent events, many Australians would not have realised that it could be a criminal offence to display the symbol of a terrorist organisation in public. Continue reading »
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Pope Francis’ latest ‘creations’
Pope Francis has just ‘created’ (appointed) twenty-one new cardinals, twenty of whom under the age of 80 will elect his successor. Among them is a bishop in Australia. Continue reading »
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John Olsen’s gift to the nation
My dear friend, the great Australian painter John Olsen was, at 77, the oldest artist to win the Archibald Prize. Continue reading »
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Indigenous cultures show other worlds are possible
‘I think the natives held privately that in taking such pains to make things grow where already things grew of their own accord I was maybe a little mad…. As for myself, there were times when…. it came to me with considerable force that perhaps in this private opinion there was a deal of truth…’ Continue reading »
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Jayson Gillham files legal action against MSO, launches crowdfunding campaign
Melbourne, October 2024 – Acclaimed Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham has filed legal proceedings against the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in the Federal Court of Australia, following the controversial cancellation of his performance in August. Gillham has also initiated a crowdfunding campaign to support his legal costs in this fight for artistic freedom and free speech. Continue reading »
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The ‘Haredisation’ of Israel and its demographic future: Is there a case for ringing alarm bells?
“Haredim, not Arabs or Iran, are the biggest threat to Israel’, Dan Perry, 2021 Continue reading »
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Why I can’t celebrate the Jewish new year
I am a cultural Jew because I am an atheist. I cannot celebrate the Jewish New Year because of the continuing horror in Gaza, and now in Lebanon. Continue reading »
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Israel and the culture of denial
There will be no peace and security for Israelis until Palestinians enjoy freedom, justice and equality from the river to the sea. Continue reading »
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Gazing at the Gorgon in Gaza
The daily witness of horrors in Gaza has provoked moral dilemmas for us all. How do we face these monstrous events, and not turn our hearts to stone? An Australian historian showed us how in 1998. Continue reading »
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Can this year’s UN International Day of Peace make any difference in a conflict-obsessed world?
That question above is both meaningful – and meaningless. A paltry “Day of Peace” — this year, Saturday 21 September — insults the efforts of those who work year-round for something approximating “peace”. Or, at least, who work in multiple ways to promote more intelligent evidence-based possibilities to contain, if not resolve, conflict, and to Continue reading »
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The Pope’s visit? The Sydney Morning Herald had more important stories to cover
Why didn’t the Sydney Morning Herald mention the Pope’s visit to the region? Continue reading »
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In a wheel chair to the peripheries
Eighty-seven-year-old Pope Francis’ trip to Indonesia, Papua-New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore shows he’s not slowing up. Continue reading »
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Showing one’s stripes: The MSO’s treatment of Jayson Gillham
Organisational management, especially when it comes to large entities, has little to recommend it. Arrange the schedules. Pamper sponsors and behave simperingly. Ensure a diet of pills to null the embarrassment. Mind the assets and fret over the brand. Sigh over ledgers and order spreadsheets. Continue reading »
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Pope takes refugee concerns on the road
Pope Francis’ milestone tour from 2-13 September includes Papua New Guinea, the nation that has long hosted the largest number of refugees in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as Indonesia, the country from which those asylum seekers fled. Continue reading »
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Some things we can never rebuild
On the night of 6 October 2023, I was sitting in my home in the Gaza City neighbourhood of Tel al-Hawa, engrossed in a book on Greek mythology. Continue reading »
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Chinese culture helps advance modernisation
China’s traditional culture has contributed greatly to the country’s modernisation. Yet it is not the only factor that has advanced Chinese modernisation. The process of modernisation has been driven by factors such as industrialisation and greater equality brought about by socialism, which have been provided by the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Continue reading »
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Mixed opinions about unproven Synod on Synodality
The Second Session of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality is now just weeks away. Opinions differ markedly among reformers about its trajectory so far. Some are deeply disillusioned and fearful. Others see evidence of real progress even if change is slow and incremental. Continue reading »
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A dream: of world leaders meeting to make peace
“Everything begins with a dream” – Rumi Continue reading »
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Melbourne Symphony Orchestra strikes the wrong note on Gaza
A well-known Australian band, The Cat Empire, has decided not to perform three shows scheduled with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra over the treatment meted out to Australian-British classical pianist Jayson Gillham. Continue reading »
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Zionism, Zionists and Jews
Understanding the complex relationship between Zionism, Zionists and Jews seems to defeat many of Israel’s critics in articles and opinion pieces. This article explores Zion and its connection to land and to Judaism and its more modern day forms. Continue reading »
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What is Zionism? Who is responsible for Israel’s crimes, Jews or Zionists?
Israel and Zionists try to confuse the public by conflating Judaism with Zionism; they commit their crimes and hide behind the Jewish people. Palestinians, on the other hand, distinguish between Jews, Judaism and Zionism and hold the Zionists responsible for the crimes they commit against them, not the Jews. Continue reading »
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Will the real Olympic cheats please stand up
Because they are no longer the top dog in the Olympics, the US now wants to expand its kinetic and trade wars into the sporting arena, or at least the anti-drugs section of the sporting arena. Continue reading »