Nature versus nurture is an ongoing debate in the scientific community but what implications does it have for the spiritual life?
Is our identity, personality and behaviour fixed by our genes or is the raw material of ourselves molded by the environment into which we are born – our family, parenting, experience.
Likewise does a person’s spiritual origin determine what they look like or is it more to do with spiritual environment in which they live?Read More »
Dave Hughes suggested on the 7pm Project tonight that most church attenders are hypocrites. The irony was he wasn’t angry with Christians, he was actually angry with Steve Price.
Another guest on the show ridiculed Christians for having an ‘imaginary friend’.
A third suggested that the Catholics she offended last week should forgive her, because that’s what Jesus would do.
Hughesy, no doubt there are plenty of hypocrites at church – there called sinners – and the church (and the 7pm Project) are full of them.
As for the ‘imaginary friend’, He has a great imagination – he even imagined (and spoke) us all into being.
And yes Jesus does forgive, and also encourages us to speak the truth in love.
And if you don’t know what this is all about, it’s Jesus on prime time – God is definitely back on the agenda in 21st century Australian.
Australians have long irreverently, but with some appreciation, referred to God as Huey. Send it down Huey! Our love and faith that is… PH
Faith in politics is much more on the agenda in Australia than it was a decade ago and so it is no wonder there has been intense interest as to the religious convictions, if any, of new Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Today she was directly questioned about religious faith and the future of the Christian vote in Australia during an interview on ABC Radio.
The Australian newspaper reports that Ms Gillard appeared to be ‘surprised’ when asked whether she believed in God and how she would court the Christian vote.
‘I’m not a religious person,’ Ms Gillard told the ABC, although she was quick to point out she had won a prize for learning Bible verses as a child in the Baptist Church. ‘I’ve, you know, found a different path.’
Read more of what she had to say at Australian Christian Voter.
Ever wondered where the rapid spread and influence of technology, particularly in the area of digital communication, is taking us?
Author John Maeda has some interesting ideas of what our lives might look like in 2020. For him, digital technology will become more of an unconscious norm leaving us free to major on more nuanced, creative and physical realities.
‘We’ll witness a return to the integrity of craft, the humanity of authorship, and the rebalancing of our virtual and physical spaces. We’ll see a 21st-century renaissance in arts- and design-centered approaches to making things, where you-the individual-will take centre stage in culture and commerce.’
This may have implications for churches (and already is) where technology allows small, boutique churches to be heavily related to their own indigenous culture while powerfully connected in an organic way to global communities.
Read Maeda’s full article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The pain started in the lower back, moved painstakingly through to the hip, on the knee and then meandered around the left calf for a while. And this just from walking… Hopefully it has disappeared out my foot, a bit like being struck by lightening…
Despite all this (violins please) and the curly toe syndrome (ask my family) our City to Surf preparation is moving forward well – we are up to 8.5km fast walks, hills and the occasional jog.
By the time the event arrives on August 8 we’ll be blisteringly fast… or just blisters…
Check out some video of a recent ‘training session’ which, for the first time, featured the Green Lantern. And head to the City2Surf page of this blog and click on the links to sponsor us for a good cause or two.
PS Utterance now has its own YouTube channel, Uttuberance.
As Kevin Rudd looked back today on his term as Prime Minister, one of his key memories, related in his speech, was the day when he said sorry to the stolen generations. Facing the assembled media, he looked up beyond them and out across the grounds of Parliament House. He raised his arm and pointed, as if he had a vision no one else could see:
‘They came in through there,’ he said with misty eyes. ‘The thing I remember… is that they were frightened… it was our job to make them welcome.’
Kevin, where has this display of humanity been? In any case, for your sake, I’m glad it’s back.
Meanwhile, the search is on for a definitive statement of Julia Gillard’s religious views. There’s not much out there and I haven’t read her biography. But I did find this from a Compass program in 2005:
Very little has been written about Prime Minister Gillard’s own religions convictions, if any, but she did have this to say on the ABC’s Compass program back in May 2005:
‘I think Labor has to learn how to connect with many of the elements of our new and growing communities. And certainly the evangelical or Pentecostal churches is one of those elements. And I don’t think we should be shy, even for those of us that value the sort of secular tradition that’s grown up within the Labor Party. I don’t think we should be shy of forging connections with those sorts of community groups.’
She was supporting Kevin Rudd’s growing connection to the churches and at least shows a recognition that this is a good thing. PH
In making his final speech as Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd took a moment to thank God. In doing so he gave as much insight into his particular brand of theology as in any other forum.
‘It’s probably not the occasion for high statements of theology but I’m sure you would be disappointed if I didn’t say something, given it has been the subject of comment in the years that I’ve led this party.
‘But to the great God and Creator of us all. I thank him; or her as well.’
Some commentators are saying that ‘Rudd’s position is terminal’. Regardless of political views, now might be a good time to pray that God’s best unfolds from this night of Canberra intrigue. PH
Make it Count at Old Parliament House on Monday night was not all serious business.
Australian Christian Lobby managing director, Jim Wallace, when introducing Kevin Rudd, said ‘Ladies and Gentleman, without further ado, can I ask you to welcome to the podium, the Prime Minister of Australia, the right honourable, sorry the honourable, Mr Kevin Rudd.’
To which Mr Rudd replied, ‘Thank your very much Jim. I gather that means I’m honourable but not right…’
Mr Abbott, in his speech, was highlighting the Coalition’s preference for smaller government and the involvement of non-government agencies in the delivery of services. To make his point he said:
‘I suspect that the Christians in the Howard government were no more or less conscious of the parable of the Good Samaritan than the Christians in the Rudd government. It’s just that we didn’t habitually identify the Good Samaritan as a government official…’
Well, you had to be there… Anyway, if you missed the webcast, fell asleep or your internet froze, you can read the full text of both Mr Rudd’s and Mr Abbott’s speeches at Australian Christian Voter’s In Depth page.
PS The heading is not making any inferences about the politicians who gave speeches…
God had me on a string today, I thought. Everywhere I went, seemingly by chance, I met people, seemingly on purpose. I arrived at Lunch just in time for the Young Woman to ask me about her mental health. ‘I don’t want to be kicked out on the streets or get locked up. How do I seem to you?’ My answer was sweet and sour like the steaming bowl of food before me. ‘You have been more unwell than this but you were right to say the best thing is to see your doctor as you are not quite yourself.’ She was reassured and I left Lunch just in time to see the Old Woman exit the building opposite, heading for the bus. I walked up beside her and gave her the gift that was tucked away in my bag. She kissed me with delight and yelled thank you as we parted. After eight kilometres walking with Tall Boy in misty rain around Blackwattle Bay, I considered my next move and headed for a hair cut. Crossing the road I saw the Owner, who I had just been thinking off. He spotted me and came over with friendly smile and clipped accent. We chatted and he offered me a job and I said for us both, ‘It’s in God’s hands.’ Young Man appeared as we continued talking in the street, also heading for a haircut, which he beat me too. It has been some time and at least we locked eyes and I was able to find him in the barber’s seat and grip his shoulders. The Iranian was all smiles and curls and pleased to see me. I said I would return tomorrow and headed for the bus. Waiting at the lights before the River of Traffic, I spotted the Older Man, on the other side. We waved across the rapidly moving, and I let my green man go as Older Man crossed over. We shook hands, and affirmed friendship and there was more deep eye contact, much-needed assurance. As we spoke, Woman Carrying Box appeared next to us and so as the green man appeared again, we farewelled Older Man, and I switched conversations once more. ‘Growing in confidence’ I thought, as we talked at the bus stop, with women looking on it seemed. She asked a question or two and the red 10 arrived to deliver me from the enjoyable relay-conversation in which I had just featured, all on a city corner. Later, having left Something, I was driving back when I missed Someone’s call. I was not surprised (considering the day) upon reaching my destination to see him parking too, as if we’d planed a rendezvous. We talked in hushed tones and found the Walker sitting cross-legged on the floor, but that is one story too many. As I prepared to leave, having intended to ‘slip under the radar’, Woman of Art arrived but I left with a wave, thinking that if this piece of string continued, I would never get home. But I did.
Mike walked into the prayer meeting, bare-chested, track pants low and blue headphones from his Walkman dangling over his ears.
He sat in various locations, including spread-legged on the floor. The flow of prayer continued on around him.
While not phased by someone off the street suddenly appearing (relationship is a great leveller), there may have been a subtle shift in the group’s prayer to cover Mike, but not conspicuously.
Mike is a strong, nearly 40 man with partly shaven, partly spiked hair, a keen intelligence and the demeanour of an 11-year-old at a party. He can have an angry streak – I have talked him down from an Ice-induced rage on one occasion – but it was no where in sight this night.
‘Can I borrow your vacuum cleaner to vacuum my flat and then bring it right back,’ he said in a loud whisper to Patrick as the prayers continued. Pat quietly suggested they talk about it later.
He continued to find new seats and at times the music in his headphones was so loud, pray-ers had to lift their volume to compete. A gentle wave from one participant, suggesting he turn it down, was greeted with an obliging thumbs up.
As Mike got more jumpy, not in a disturbing way, but slightly distracting, I decided to invite him out to the kitchen for a cup of tea.
He gladly came. ‘Tea or coffee?’ I asked. ‘Tea,’ he said. ‘I like coffee but you said tea and tea reminds me of my grandmother. Can I have three sugars?’
I started preparing the tea and he asked me my name. When I told him he said, ‘I had an uncle named Peter. He was the shepherd of the family, that’s what my grandmother used to say. He was the only one to keep in touch while I was in gaol.’
‘That’s great, that there was someone like that in the family, who would keep an eye out for you,’ I replied.
‘Yeah it was good, although he did steal all the money I had saved up,’ he said. I was stunned by his gentle correction of my appraisal. ‘Well it sounds like he had a good heart, even if he made a few mistakes,’ I said.
‘Yeah, a good heart, even if it was false,’ he said, with no sign of malice. There was no way he was letting Uncle Peter of the hook even though he seemed well disposed to him.
Just as I was feeling a bit clever that I had successfully diverted Mike from disturbing the prayer team, he grabbed his cup of tea and said, ‘Can I go back out there?’ And before I had time to reply he took off, cup in hand, and I hurried after him with mine, realising I didn’t really want a cup of tea.
Mike sat in various locations again, spilt and then finished his tea and became perhaps a little too animated during some passionate prayer.
Finally, the leader of the meeting wound things up and asked if he could pray for Mike. He readily agreed to the prayer and to a hand being laid gently on his shoulder. The prayer began, with Mike giving a whispered sub-text.
‘Lord, deliver Mike from a spirit of fear and a spirit of rejection,’ Rick prayed with strength.
‘Cook it up!’ encouraged Mike.
‘And we pray against the spirit of violence that troubles Mike.’
‘And that has disappeared,’ stresses Mike.
‘And Lord, let your love and your peace cover and fill him.’
‘Finally!’ Mike says.
With encouraging Amens, the prayer ends and Mike stands up, gazes around and with a big smile says, ‘That was great, and it was all true, all true. Look, I’m getting my goosebumps back, look at them all on my arms.’
Just another day at the church with no walls… PH
Names changed, true story. Creative non-fiction, Christian style…
In literature, stories are said to be either plot-driven or character driven, but what about life?
Some novels are all about the plot – the unfolding of action and drama – while the development of character is less important. A Matthew Reilly novel would be an example – we don’t really need to know his characters other than have a vague sympathy or antipathy for them, as long as something blows up every few paragraphs.
Some novels are character driven – the characters are highly developed and the plot flows out of who they are. Jane Austen meticulously crafts her characters and we watch and see how they negotiate the life that unfolds from the authentic decisions they make.
Of course no story can be one or the other – plot requires people and unless we replace them with plankton, some degree of characterisation is required. People do things and have pleasures and problems and so a plot will develop. If all we had were just endless descriptions of people, we might prefer they were plankton.
For me it is the issue of starting point, of emphasis. One emphasises things happening more than the people to whom they happen. The other wants us to see inside people more fully as things happen.
I can’t help but draw a line to real life, our lives. Is our life more about plot – what’s happening next – or more about character – who we are as things happen?Read More »
Sorry, but I don’t trust the Israelis and I don’t trust the Palestinians. I don’t trust the activists and I don’t trust the media. And that’s just one issue.
I don’t trust the miners and their crying poor, and I don’t trust, but less, the unions and politicians pushing the super tax.
I don’t trust the scientists who advocate climate change and I don’t trust those that deny it and I don’t trust myself to know the truth if I heard it.
I’m struggling to trust all the books claiming new-ancient ways of doing church because the next book always qualifies the first and starts to sound like what we are already doing.
I don’t trust high-profile Christians in the marketplace to always do the right thing because I can’t always do the right thing and I probably face less pressure than they do.
I often don’t trust journalism (sorry my friends) today because opinion has taken over and whose opinion is it anyway.
I do trust Tony Abbott when he tells us that some of the time he can’t be trusted but I’m not sure if that leaves me ahead or behind.
I don’t trust the next great big thing that’s going to change the world, even those with a Christian veneer, because humans have always had the next big thing and the first was called Babel.
It’s no surprise or tragedy that trust is so often unwarranted. We are all so easily swayed by our own gain whether it be for wealth, warmth or welcome.
Strangely, I do trust a God who I have never seen or heard, who leads me beside stormy waters and quieteth not my soul. Because just when I think I’ve had it, the storm abates, the peace comes and I see and hear him in some way deeper than my senses.
I trust Jesus, and even as I write these words, I feel his goodness pervading in a way that warms my soul and encourages me to love this world anyway.
I trust my wife, the truest heart I’ve ever met, and I trust my love for her and our children, and them for us, trust to die by. And when I think about it there are many family and friends I trust deeply.
Perhaps I’m more trusting that I realise. Knowing helps trusting but knowing is more elusive than ever.
As for the big, wide world out there, it’s not that I’m untrusting, but I’m learning that we don’t need to trust to love and have faith. They are a sacrifice of a different kind… PH
The ABC’s Q and A program last night gave a rare display of the logical outcome of secular humanism.
Having begun discussing the relative merits of saving whales verses chickens, the show ended, under the guidance of unethicist Peter Singer, considering that it might not be so bad for humans to have sexual relations with their pets.
While most people on the panel and in the audience couldn’t even engage with that outrageous final topic, it did show us where popular secular thinking is taking us.
Having dethroned God, the next logical step for secular atheism is to dethrone humanity. If there is no God to say that human life is sacred, made in His image, then people are just animals, right and wrong mean nothing and euthanising children and oral sex with dogs is acceptable.
If you don’t believe me, read the transcript. It happened on national television and while hugely offensive, was at least an honest viewing of the dismal trajectory of the thinking of Singer and the secularists.
If you have been flirting naively with some of their ideas, take a good look at the whole murky monster and flirt no more.
There’s plenty happening at Australian Christian Voter. You can watch a good collection of political videos ranging from Dave Hughes trying to keep a straight face while convincing people to register through to Senator Stephen Fielding telling his life story.
You’ll learn how Christians are lobbying hard at the seat of power and even get a chance to vote on the question: Which party/parties represent the best value for Christian voters?
A valuable resource (if I do say so…) with a federal election not far away. Check it out.
Today Utterance ticked over 6001 hits, after my somewhat reckless New Year’s resolution to attempt to post every day.
Like most bloggers, once I got into the habit of regularly recording my thoughts for the benefit (or otherwise) of others, the issue becomes having too many things to say, and not enough time.
It’s interesting to consider that there are more than 110 million blogs in the world today but blogging only began in 1994, with one of the very first being by Chicago-born Justin Hall, sometimes described as ‘the founding father of personal blogging.’ That’s some growth rate…
At the same time as blogging had its meteoric growth, the genre of creative non-fiction also increased rapidly in popularity and today is one of the most successful forms of literature.
Creative non-fiction is the presenting of substance in a literary style, or applying the technique of story to facts.
We all know instinctively that people love to tell and hear stories much more than be confronted with flat slabs of information. (How often have you found yourself re-telling a true-life illustration a preacher gave in a sermon, and not recalling much else?)
The idea is not new of course and the Gospel writers, if not inventing the genre, certainly perfected it as they told the factual story of Jesus’ life in a way that continues to compel, thousands of years later.
Would Jesus have blogged? Not likely, he gives his life and his Spirit, something much greater. But Matthew, Mark, Luke and John almost certainly would have been bloggers. Hopefully I do them justice. PH
PS. To celebrate 6000 + hits I’ve introduced a new theme for Utterance – quite a departure from the very neat and today theme I’ve been using. But then again, my life has got rather more loose ends than it had a few months ago, so it’s probably fitting!
Apple CEO, Steve Job, fresh from launching the Ipad and Iphone 4, has apparently taken a stand to keep pornography out of applications for these devices.
In doing so he has been congratulated by many who support his aversion for porn, but he’s also raised the almost maniacal ire of the rampant ‘don’t you dare censor my internet use’ community, made up largely of pale men in their 30s and 40s.
‘…we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy an[d] Android phone,’ he is reported to have said in an email.
He defended his position when criticised by the Gawker blog, saying the Apple ‘revolution’ was about freedom, including ‘freedom from porn.’
At the same time, Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia’s founder, has come under fire after personally deleting ‘many’ images he deemed pornographic from the digital encyclopaedia.
Just when you were losing hope for humanity… PH
As the debate rages over the trial of ethic classes as an alternative to Scripture in state schools, those in favour of the new program ask, in a smugly reasonable tone, ‘Why can’t the churches respect parents’ right to choose?’
As if that is all that is really at stake. As if this is really just about a choice between your child going to Scripture, ethics or having a half-hour break.
What it is really about, and why some churches are fighting so hard, is the final and complete secularisation of public schools, fueled by the rampant new atheism which views religion as poison.
No matter what politically correct sounding arguments emerge from both camps, at stake is the privilege of access to public schools.
The goal of the new ethic classes is to so threaten the status and viability of Scripture that it will eventually disappear.
Of course the Minister for Education will never say that, in public, nor the proponents of ethic classes. But you can hear it slipping through in an odd angry shot at the Anglicans or the Catholics during media debates, and it is rampant in the unofficial grassroots commentary.
My children attended a school that did not have Scripture, in which recognition of Easter and Christmas was completely secular. Christmas carols were out, ‘seasonal songs’ were in.
Parents of faith often felt under siege and so desolate was the atmosphere of the place, I eventually pleaded to be allowed to organise an assembly that in a light-hearted way, told the real Christmas story. One half hour in an entire year…
So what is at stake is not so much the to and fro over Scripture and ethics. It is the choice between a completely secular atheistic system or one where there is some decent recognition that people of faith exist.
But we shouldn’t be surprised by these battles. The secularisation of society has been raging for many years and, in reality, the institutional power of the church (which gave it the right to Scripture classes) has long been in decay.
Christian commentators such as Joel Edwards of Micah Challenge have said that the church needs to accept the demise of institutional power, and take up the opportunity of grassroots influence.
Newer churches, such as the Pentecostals, have never had institutional power which is why they have been so much better at grassroots influence.
Maybe the way to win the current battle, is for Scripture and the Christian communities of inner city to be so vibrant, so alive, so full of grace and power, so full of kindness and generosity and love, so authentic in relationships across dividing lines, that instead of relying on ancient privilege, they benefit from a new invitation to participate in schools, organisations and communities… PH
Weeks after posting a story about new three-dimensional imaging of the Shroud of Turin, Utterance continues to field search inquiries about the Shroud from around the world.
Another factor is the quest for faith or unfaith as some seek in the Shroud evidence of Jesus’s reality while others continue the quest to disprove him.
While Christ’s reality does not hinge on the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin (there are many other historical evidences), it is still a powerful symbol of faith for millions of Christians and a ‘thorn in the flesh’ for secular atheists.
Two recent Shroud findings are split between supporters and detractors.
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