“Because I said so” doesn’t cut it in social media, a fact regretted by parents and leaders who for ages have resorted to the phrase when exasperated with the petulant “But …” and plaintive “Why?” “The social media phenomenon offers both challenge and opportunity for the church. Social media reaches people – millions are on Read more
Jail is for them, not us, is a white middle class understanding that’s well-illustrated by the case of Rick Bryant, the ageing rocker currently appealing against his jail sentence for drug dealing. I follow his case with interest. Nobody who was at university at the same time as Rick could forget him, in part because Read more
There were 20,900 marriages registered to New Zealand residents in the December 2010 year, down 700 or 3 percent from 21,600 marriages in 2009. A further 2,200 marriages were registered to overseas residents in 2010. The highest number of marriages in any year was in 1971, when 27,200 couples tied the knot. “What we should be doing is actively encouraging Read more
Approximately 92% of the 174 songs that made it into the [Billboard] Top 10 in 2009 contained reproductive messages. “The 174 top-selling songs were analyzed in order to determine how many sexy messages they contained in any of 18 sexy categories, including “arousal,” “sexual prowess,” and “genitalia.” There was an average of 10.49 sex-related phrases Read more
In America about 100 million people, nearly half of all adults, are unmarried, according to the Census Bureau — Tara Pope-Parker argues that singles struggle for attention – they tend to be overlooked by policies that favor married couples, from family-leave laws to lower insurance rates. There is this push for marriage in the straight community and Read more
Give peace a chance. That was the message delivered by Victoria University School of Art head of history, classics and religious studies Associate Prof Chris Marshall when he delivered the Dunedin Abrahamic Interfaith Group peace lecture. “Be true to your tradition, but be open to discussions about goodness and beauty and other traditions. God is Read more
The Child Poverty Action Group report’s main recommendation – “that Working for Families tax credits should be made available to beneficiary families as well – is opposed by Labour and National alike,” writes Gordon Campbell. One in five New Zealand children live in poverty, with subsequent effects on their health, educational achievement, and productivity – to Read more
Perhaps we should not be surprised that Fiji dropped the democratic ball after the Hail Mary pass that their Colonial masters gave them at independence: a nation divided by tribal and ethnic barriers. In the course of Britain’s colonial rule so many Indians were imported to work in the cane fields, that by the time Read more
The European Union (EU) is a secular organisation but the EU founders were Christian Democrats and at its core are values rooted in the very Christian notion of solidarity. Writing in the London Table Stephen Walls says “its members remain 27 independent countries but with a shared belief in peaceful coexistence, democracy, social justice and responsibility to Read more
The arguments the status of women in the Bible are curious. Some people say that the Bible was enlightened for its time, a crucial step in an evolution (some would say a revolution) of women’s status. Others say that males composed the Bible, that it was the product of patriarchal society, that it was the Read more