Australia

Stephen McAlpine: Jesus, Food and Sex

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Stephen McAlpine writes:

In the incessant push by the culture to justify most (not all, yet) types of sexual behaviour in society, one of the primary methods employed has been to show the poverty of thought behind the orthodox Christian view of sex.

One common method (if the recurring Facebook memes, blogs and articles in liberal journals are any indication) is to show the inconsistency of Christians when it comes to observation of the Old Testament laws in books such as Leviticus

“You’re all over the sex prohibitions like a, er, rash!” claim the articles, blogs, memes and letters to the editor, “But what about those crazy food laws?  Christians don’t seem to keep them.”  The charge of hypocrisy/stupidity/wilful hatred is then trotted out, and Christians who don’t know any better are left with a feeling of dis-ease.  Yes, what about those food laws? And what if those sex laws are no different?”

Even today I saw another round of the aforementioned “List of things the Bible also prohibits” in the Huffington Post, published, of course, to give good well-oiled, well-heeled liberals something to chuckle about around the dinner table. You know the type, they don’t have any orthodox Christian friends, but their sister once dated one called Stanley.

The argument is a crock of course, and it shouldn’t take the Christian very long to debunk it.  I say “shouldn’t” because a surprising number of Christians who hold an orthodox position on sexuality don’t know how to reject that response, and a depressing number of Christians who no longer wish to hold an orthodox position on sexuality, don’t wish to reject it.

If you are in either of those camps, then listen up. The problem you have is not simply that you do not know the Bible. By that I don’t mean you don’t necessarily know chapter and verse for things (the Huff Post article writer seems to know Leviticus pretty well after all). I mean that you do not know how the Bible is put together, how it leads in a certain direction, and most importantly, how it is fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus.

Having a clear understanding of Biblical Theology will provide you with a convincing argument against the culture’s current push, and it will debunk the memes and articles so slavishly written and read. (Of course at this point if you don’t wish to be convinced, look away now).

The answer to the vexing “all food is ok, but some sex isn’t”conundrum is answered by Jesus himself in Mark chapter 7.  And here’s the brilliance of it:  Not only does Jesus show how and why the food law are redundant in the new age of the Holy Spirit which he inaugurates, but he uses that very redundancy to demonstrate that the sex laws still do apply, in fact they apply all the more!  Brilliant eh?  Brilliant just like Jesus.

Read the rest here

Non-apology From Cricket Player

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Chris Gayle is a jerk.

If you missed it, he tried to hit on a sports journalist during a live TV interview. Then the next day after a wave of public outrage he issued the stock standard celebrity non-apology.

I was going to write a blog post about it, but then I remembered I did that some time ago.

So read my rant here and find out the difference between a real apology and a fake one.

Will Our Elites Wake Up Now?

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At least 160 people dead in multiple terrorist attacks in Paris.

Six terrorists have been killed, but we don’t know how many others were involved. They can’t blow this one off as a “lone wolf” attack.

Our leaders need to start speaking the truth about what is happening in every Western country. The truth is that there is something very nasty about the so-called religion of peace. It is a violent political-religious ideology that is utterly at odds with everything a civilised society stands for.

The leaders of our nations- politicians, media and academics- have been trying to say that attack after attack has nothing to do with Islam. They pretend to be mystified by the motives of people who shout “Allahu Akbar” before blowing up/ shooting/ beheading a bunch of innocent people.

We need to recognise that multiculturalism is problematic when people come to the West in large numbers and refuse to take on board the values that actually make us what we are.

We need to recognise that the open borders policy that the EU has been promoting for so-called refugees, and which the Greens and Labor think are a wonderful plan for Australia, allow unfettered access by jihadists and terrorists.

We need to put away the stupid name calling that shuts down debate every time these things happen. Stop calling the people who criticise Islam racist or Islamophobic.

Islamic community leaders need to recognise that this is their problem. They could start by appointing a “Grand Mufti” who can actually speak English and articulate a plan or a desire to ensure that Australia is not likely to become the target of such an attack- preferably without demanding Government funding.

It’s time for us to get real about Islam. It’s time to get real about the motivations of those who perform these acts of terror. It’s time to get real about the extremists and the jihadists who seem to have free access to mosques to spread their poisonous ideas.

This is not an attack on individual Muslims. I’ve met many Muslims who are fine and wonderful people- genuine, sincere, caring, happy. The ideology of Islam is what needs to be attacked, not individual Muslims.

Sunscreen- Not Climate Change- Killing Reefs

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The equivalent of one drop of the active ingredient in sunscreen into 3 1/2 Olympic swimming pools of water is enough to kill corals. Scientists discovered that it is this, not “ocean acidification” or warming allegedly caused by CO2 that is damaging the world’s coral reefs.

From WUWT:

Oops! It may not be ‘ocean acidification’ killing coral after all – common chemical found in sunscreen is poisonous to coral reefs

/5 hours ago October 20, 2015

From the AMERICAN FRIENDS OF TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY and the “settled science” department:

Sunscreen is proven toxic to coral reefs
Tel Aviv University researchers discover chemical found in most sunscreen lotions poses an existential threat to young corals

 

The daily use of sunscreen bearing an SPF of 15 or higher is widely acknowledged as essential to skin cancer prevention, not to mention skin damage associated with aging. Though this sunscreen may be very good for us, it may be very bad for the environment, a new Tel Aviv University study finds.

New research published inArchives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicologyfinds that a common chemical in sunscreen lotions and other cosmetic products poses an existential threat — even in miniscule concentrations — to the planet’s corals and coral reefs. “The chemical, oxybenzone (benzophenone-3), is found in more than 3,500 sunscreen products worldwide. It pollutes coral reefs via swimmers who wear sunscreen or wastewater discharges from municipal sewage outfalls and coastal septic systems,” said Dr. Omri Bronstein of TAU’s Department of Zoology, one of the principal researchers.

The study was conducted by a team of marine scientists from TAU, including Prof. Yossi Loya, also of the Department of Zoology, the Haereticus Environmental Laboratory in Virginia, the National Aquarium (US), the US. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and other labs in the US.

Read the full article here

The Ultimate Weapon Revealed

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It’s magpie season in Australia, when highly intelligent and normally friendly birds suddenly turn feral and swoop on unsuspecting humans, sometimes quite viciously.

It seems that people wearing helmets are at a higher risk of attack than pedestrians. We have a friendly maggie that hangs around our house, but the other day he repeatedly made a lot of noise and did some fly-bys when I was standing on the driveway preparing to go riding. At the other end of the bridge we have what Tim calls the psychopath magpie which swoops like a stealth bomber, silently approaching and then hitting the side or back of the helmet.

Since both of these birds are quite tolerant of pedestrians, it made me wonder if the helmet is the problem. It might be that the shape and shininess of a helmet  makes a cyclist appear bigger and more threatening than a pedestrian.

We tested the hypothesis by strapping a clown wig to my helmet. If you are going to do science you might as well look amusing.

With great trepidation, and feeling somewhat silly, I mounted the pushie and headed out. The first magpie did not make its presence felt at all which was good. Then I headed over the bridge into the territory of psycho. I saw it sitting on a low fence at the end of the bridge. It took off and flew some distance behind me and then attempted the swoop. As far as I can tell, it did not approach very closely and there was certainly no impact. Winner!

On the return trip I experienced a similar result.

There are a couple of other magpies on the Old Gunnedah Road, but neither  came close enough to cause me any distress.

So artificial hair on the helmet does seem to make a positive difference. Whether the magpies will resume their previous aggression remains to be seen.

The one downside is that the wig stops the ventilation in the helmet so you wouldn’t want to do this on a hot day. Hopefully they will stop swooping before the weather gets too hot.

UPDATE:

My optimism about the hairy helmet was short lived. The second day I tried it, the magpies had worked out there was a helmet under the wig. However on the way home, I started to pray as I approached each magpie territory and it seemed quite effective.

Vinegar to Save the Reef!

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From the ABC:

Household vinegar advances the fight against crown of thorns starfish threat on Great Barrier Reef

ABC North Qld

ByKathleen Calderwood andIsobel Roe

 

A diver injects a spiky crown of thorns starfish with a syringe filled with vinegar.PHOTO: Researcher Lisa Boström-Einarsson has found injecting a crown of thorns starfish with vinegar can help stop the spread of the pest which is threatening the Great Barrier Reef. (Supplied: Lisa Boström-Einarsson)
RELATED STORY: UNESCO recommends Great Barrier Reef not be placed on World Heritage ‘in danger’ list
RELATED STORY: Public reporting of Barrier Reef water quality ‘misleading at worst’
RELATED STORY: New robot aims to terminate crown-of-thorns starfish threatening reef
RELATED STORY: Crown of thorns starfish thrive in warmer sea: study
MAP: Townsville 4810

Household vinegar could be a key ingredient in the fight against crown of thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef.

Crown of thorns starfish (COTS) is a pest which eats coral tissues, posing a huge threat to the reef.

Australian Institute of Marine Science research showed coral cover on surveyed reefs had declined by about 50 per cent over the past 30 years, with COTS responsible for almost half of that decline.

James Cook University scientist Lisa Boström-Einarsson searched for an eradication method for COTS that was cheap, easily available and safe for everything other than the starfish themselves.

“The acid basically just melts their insides.”

James Cook University scientist Lisa Boström-Einarsson

Her method involved injecting the COTS with 20 millilitres of household vinegar.

The trial saw a 100 per cent kill rate within 48 hours of injection.

“I tried alcohol [first] and that did not work very well and then I heard some rumours that some people had used vinegar but had not had very good results,” Ms Boström-Einarsson said.

“So I refined the methods a little bit and then it turned out to work really well.”

Ms Boström-Einarsson said the starfish were mostly water inside and could not tolerate the acidity of the vinegar.

“The acid basically just melts their insides,” she said.

“It is quite dramatic the way they go and within 24 hours there is basically just slime left — it is not pretty.”

Spiky Crown of Thorns Starfish clings to a piece of white and brown coralPHOTO: A crown of thorns starfish clings to a piece of coral. Where the coral has turned white is where the starfish has eaten the coral tissues. (Supplied: Lisa Boström-Einarsson)

Cheaper, easier method to tackling pest

The current eradication practice is to inject the COTS with ox bile which is much harder to come by, more expensive and could cause quarantine issues as it is an animal byproduct.

Ms Boström-Einarsson has worked on this research for a year, and has tested her method around Lizard Island in far north Queensland and in Papua New Guinea.

She said the next step was large scale field testing to ensure process was safe for other marine life.

Crown of Thorns Starfish feeding off coral on the Great Barrier ReefPHOTO: Researchers have discovered crown of thorns starfish can not cope with the acidity of vinegar after it is injected in the pest that is threatening the Great Barrier Reef.(Supplied: Lisa Boström-Einarsson)

“I’m working with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority on doing the final field tests … so they can endorse it as an approved method,” Ms Boström-Einarsson said.

“Everyone is very positive because it is a simple method — it just needs one injection and it is safe for the divers to do it and it works really well so there’s been a lot of interest around the world.”

Despite this, Ms Boström-Einarsson said this method would not be the saviour of the Great Barrier Reef, but could save individual reefs in the meantime.

“Ideally we would stop the [COTS] outbreaks from happening or we would control the outbreaks at a population level,” she said.

“But at the moment we do not have the tools to do that and we do not have the knowledge to know what causes the outbreaks.

“What we can do is [make] sustained efforts at local reefs and protect them and for that this method will be really effective.”

Are LGBT suicides higher?

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You regularly hear the claim that homosexual people are more likely to suicide because they aren’t allowed to marry- a strange claim but there you have it. A variation on the theme is we can’t even have a vote on the issue because the poor petals can’t stand debate about whether we should redefine marriage. Are those claims valid?

Terri Kelleher investigates:

FAMILY AND SOCIETY 
Vulnerable GLBT youth pawns in plebiscite game


by Terri M. Kelleher

News Weekly, September 26, 2015

There is no research to show that legalising same-sex marriage would reduce the GLBT suicide rate. It would appear to be based on an ideological assumption rather than on hard evidence.

Like a pawn in a chess game

The current Senate Committee inquiry into a popular vote on same-sex marriage has heard stern warnings against holding a plebiscite or popular vote because it “could damage young gay people”. On ABC Radio’sAMon September 11, NSW Nationals MP Trevor Khan warned against exposing young gay people to the sort of public debate that would be caused by a plebiscite because their rate of suicide and self-harm was much higher than in the general population.[1]

Beyondblue ran a full-page advertisement inThe Australiannewspaper (Tuesday, September 1, page 8) claiming that GLBT people “take their own lives at much higher rates than heterosexual people” and that the current marriage law causes them “hurt, pain, mental illness and worse”.

Although no source was provided for actual GLBT suicide figures, it is deeply concerning that GLBT people experience a higher rate of attempted suicide and suicide ideation than does the general population.

It raises the question: have countries that have legislated same-sex marriage show a reduction in attempted suicide rates for GLBT people?

Denmark legislated for Registered Partnerships in 1989, yet as a 2011 Danish study (Mathy, R.M. et al.) found that suicide risk seemed to be greatly elevated for Danish men in same-sex partnerships.[2]

In the Netherlands, where same-sex marriage was legislated in 2001, almost 64 per cent of LGBT 18–24-year-olds surveyed in 2009 still reported thinking about suicide and almost 13 per cent of them attempted suicide, higher than for their heterosexual peers (Bergen et al., 2013).[3]Legislating same-sex marriage does not appear to have reduced the rate of suicide attempts or suicidal ideation for GLBT young people in the Netherlands.

In Australia there are again no actual figures to show whether the suicide rate in GLBT people is higher than the rate in the population over all. However, of the 5,966 suicide cases examined in a 2014 Queensland study (Skerrett et al., 2014), only 0.58 per cent, or 35 people, were identified as GLBT. The more important finding was that two-thirds of the LGBT subjects had relationship problems with partners, compared with only one-third of the non-GLBT subjects.[4]

 

Full article

Tim Blair: BACKSTABBER FRATERNITY WELCOMES LATEST MEMBER

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From Tim Blair:

 

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Tim Blair

Wednesday, September 16, 2015 (2:46am)

 

Former Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard have complained at great length about how they were undermined and ultimately removed by their challengers – who were, respectively, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd. Interestingly, both now identify with and support the man who undermined and ultimately removed former Prime Minister Tony Abbott: 

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Not a word of sympathy from either Rudd or Gillard for the latest leadership victim, presumably due to bitterness over Abbott besting both of them in direct competition. Meanwhile, the first post-spill poll is good news for Malcolm Turnbull and bad news for Bill Shorten: 

A snap Morgan poll conducted today on who Australian voters think is the better PM found Mr Turnbull is preferred by 70 per cent of voters compared to 24 per cent for Bill Shorten.

The special Snap SMS poll of 1204 voters also found a majority of Labor supporters say Mr Turnbull is the better leader, with 50 per cent supporting him compared to 44 per cent supporting Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. 

That result will please Turnbull, Australia’s third Labor Prime Minister since 2007.

Human Rights Commission to Consult About Religious Freedom

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I suppose this is, well, needed. But here is the problem- once we consider that human rights are granted by Government then we give them the ability to take rights away.

I wouldn’t trust the Human Rights Commission with my freedom.

From the Bible Society:

National conversation about freedom of religion set for November

NEWS | Tess Holgate

Thursday 3 September 2015

A new roundtable is set to put a spotlight on religious freedom in Australia, intended to spark a discussion that many commentators say is long overdue.

This November will see the Human Rights Commission convene their first religious freedom roundtable, with the aim of “stimulating much needed dialogue on exercising religious freedom in 21st century Australia,” said Commissioner Tim Wilson in a press release.

“Religious freedom is not only central to human rights, it is inextricable from other fundamental freedoms such as freedom of thought, conscience, speech and association, as well as property rights. But religious freedom cannot be unlimited. It has to be exercised with a respect and mindfulness of the rights of others such as equality before the law and government, and the freedoms of those without faith,” said Wilson.

In a speech for University of Notre Dame last year, Senator George Brandis wrote, “one of the fundamental freedoms of which we have heard far too little when we speak about human rights is the right to religious freedom. In fact, not only has religious freedom been neglected; it has actually been the subject of open attack from those who dominate much of our political discourse.”

In his speech, Senator Brandis explored the connections between the liberal view of society and traditional Christian theology, concluding that the former is a direct product of the latter.

Tim Wilson at the National Press Club. Credit: Australian Human Rights Commission.

“Religious belief is central to the human condition. Faith provides a means to help people that cannot be explained, even though it might be apprehended. It can also enable us to see ourselves as part of something larger, and thereby free ourselves from our base, everyday selfish concerns. Faith also has a unique ability to provide consolation in the face of life’s vicissitudes and to help us cope with its hardship,” says Senator Brandis.

“The Australia we know today is home to a diversity of faiths, united by tolerance, mutual respect and a commitment to democracy. Australians are free to choose their religion, and are able to practice their beliefs without intimidation and without interference, within the framework of Australian law and any attempt to interfere with that freedom is a profound outrage against our nation.”

Lyle Shelton, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby says the roundtable is a positive move. “Tim Wilson is showing tremendous goodwill in wanting to address issues of religious freedom in Australia. I appreciate his desire to ensure there is religious freedom in this country.”

Shelton says the issue of religious freedom is most pronounced where there is a clash of rights. “Certain rights can come into conflict with the very important right of religious freedom and freedom of conscience. I don’t think we’ve worked out how to adequately address this.”

These competing rights make resolution “very difficult,” says Shelton. “The political debate at the moment is that if you don’t support people’s right to sexual expression, then somehow you are bigoted. While the debate remains framed like that, then it’s going to be very difficult [to find a resolution].

“Until we see a change in the way that this debate is conducted, I think the logical extrapolation is that it’s going to be hard for freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.”

Shelton wants to see a renewed emphasis on human rights as explained in the United Nations charter. “We’ve got to see the principles of the UN applied. That is, that religious freedom and freedom of conscience are a higher right that the right of sexual expression.”

Gordon Preece, director of the Ethos EA Centre for Christianity and Society thinks of it more as a balancing act, saying, “the balancing of religious freedom, which is a fundamental freedom, with things like sexual freedom is really important, and requires a lot of fine tuning.”

Preece is not naïve about the challenges to religious freedom in Australia, suggesting that one of our biggest challenges is figuring out how to make space in a secular society for both those who see religious freedom as an ultimate and fundamental freedom, and those who see sexual freedom as ultimate.

“It’s a big challenge for our society because sexual freedom is seen as an identity issue rather than just a behavioural issue. And then it lays claims on ultimate position. When it does that, that’s when you really get the clash with religious freedom because it will not book any competitors.”

This clash of freedoms is not going to be resolved with one sit-down at a roundtable.

“I think it’s going to be an ongoing conversation, over time. There are some major philosophical and worldview clashes which may not be able to be completely resolved – at the level of worldview – but may be able to be accommodated with compromises that allow for various groups to still have a sense of maintaining their integrity.”

Preece admits that finding and agreeing on such compromises will take a lot of grace and good listening – something that social media, and even mass media is not very good at doing.

“I think it’s important to try and develop non-adversarial forums that are face-to-face and allow the humanity of all parties to come through,” says Preece.

The challenges to religious freedom aren’t stopping any time soon. “In Victoria,” Preece says, “the Greens are proposing a bill that would drop religious exemptions in relationship to employment of practising gays in schools.”

“So [the roundtable discussion] is a good thing, and it’s good that Tim Wilson is proposing it. I think it’s helpful that this is coming to light now.”

The Human Rights Commission is calling for submissions from faith-based and other interest groups. Submissions close September 25.

– See more at: http://www.biblesociety.org.au/news/national-conversation-about-freedom-of-religion-set-for-november?utm_content=bufferb3ea2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.mMCXSjN3.dpuf

Diversity or Uniformity

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Tolerance is so 20th Century. We now demand total conformity.

From Australian Family Association

They don’t want diversity, they want to impose complete conformity

There were howls of protest from the same-sex marriage lobby when Sydney’s Daily Telegraph recently reported parents objecting to a documentary on gay families being compulsory viewing in a Sydney high school.

Senator Penny Wong tweeted that this was “bullying”, automatically classing as bullies parents wanting to teach a different value system to the same-sex marriage lobby.

Fairfax media’s Brisbane writer, Rebecca Shaw, who describes herself as a well-adjusted lesbian in her 30s, wrote an article saying, “I won’t accept your ‘tolerance’” and demanded “complete acceptance” (The Age, August 30, 2015)

Effectively, Shaw demands that all those who believe in man+woman marriage must now abandon their beliefs and accept the view that marriage is between any two people with any combination of numerous sexual orientations and sexual identities.

If the same-sex marriage lobby can make such demands on everyone, then why can’t the Labor Party demand that all Liberals must abandon the values that make them Liberals and must embrace only Labor values?

Why can’t anti-religious secularists demand that Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists – all people who hold religious beliefs – “completely abandon” their beliefs and “completely accept” secular beliefs?

Rebecca Shaw’s demand for complete acceptance is a demand for complete uniformity of beliefs to create a homogenised society.

Complete acceptance of one value system destroys diversity and creates uniformity. It is authoritarianism.

Has the same-sex marriage lobby lost its pride in diversity?

The ground rule for a liberal democracy is tolerance of another person whose views differ to yours.

You can disagree with your neighbour’s values but tolerate your neighbour who believes them. You can disagree with your neighbour’s lifestyle without inflicting vitriolic abuse, hatred, bullying, denigration and threats of legal action.

This is most clearly demonstrated by civil debate between opposing groups.

The demand for “complete acceptance”, not just for same-sex marriage but also for the sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) into anti-discrimination law, is itself “intolerant”.

“Complete acceptance” abandons diversity for universal conformity.

If realised, this demand moves society from a liberal democracy to an authoritarian state where only one belief system is promoted by government and the institutions that make up the state.

When democracies cease to be tolerant, they can quickly become tyrannical.

By Patrick J. Byrne (Patrick is a regular contributor to News Weekly magazine, and Vice-President of the National Civic Council)