TEAR, an international Christian agency that is a strong advocate towards eliminating global poverty, has announced that the signing of the Kyoto protocol by the new Rudd Labor government in good news for the world’s poorest people.
Advocacy Co-ordinator for TEAR Australia, Ben Thurley, said he was “thrilled that the first act of our new Prime Minister was action on Kyoto. I hope it signals a new era in climate change negotiations and that Australia will now take more of a lead in the right direction.â€
Andy Atkins, Advocacy director of Tearfund UK, added: “This is a huge boost to the Bali talks, good for Australia and the world’s poorest people who suffer most at the hands of a changing climate. ”
Primate Phillip Aspinall, leader of the Anglican church in Australia, has spoken out against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories after touring the West Bank.
He described Israel’s separation barrier as inhumane.
Sydney man, Jeremy Jones, has been awarded a human rights medal for his work in promoting interfaith dialogue, in particular between Jews and Muslims. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Council issues the award for outstanding work in the area of human rights.
Mr Jones said, “If you relate to other human beings by thinking of them first and foremost as being people who deserve to be treated with dignity, you see unfairness.”
Climate change is a growing issue for our planet. As the climate change conference is underway in Bali, a group of Dominican Friars in Oxford have considered a Christian approach to the issue and how much responsibility humans can take for it.
This coming Sunday night, the ABC radio program Encounter will air their story. We encourage you to listen live, to the archive on the web site, or download a podcast.
One of the first things the new Rudd Labor government has done was to sign the Kyoto protocol on climate change as promised. The work now begins in earnest with nearly 200 countries gathering in Bali to discuss climate change and negotiate emissions targets, binding or non-binding.
The Vatican has sent a delegation of Roman Catholic experts to Bali due to the international importance of the conference.
With the dust slowly settling after the Australian federal election, many analysts and commentators are trying to make sense of the emphatic win for Rudd and Labor when the Australian economy is in such good shape.
It is interesting to see the results of a recent opinion poll, conducted post election. It showed that more voters were concerned about health, education, workplace relations and climate change than about taxation, interest rates or prices.
While a strong economy has been appreciated, many believe there are other things far more important, typified by a talk-back radio comment, “We live in a society, not an economy.”
An opinion article states: Our happiness depends on such qualities as loving and being loved, security, autonomy, productive work, enjoyable leisure, achievements and harmony.
The Australian Federal Election is just days away now. There are a number of web sites available to help guide voters depending on the issues that are important to them.
The Australian Christian Lobby have put together a website that contains a vast array of information about how the different parties and candidates have responded to issues of interest to Christian people. One of the options on their site is compare parties, which is worth a look if you are undecided.
The other web site that is an excellent aid to the undecided voter is How Should I Vote. This site is wizard based – that is it guides a person through various issues and questions that are most important and outputs a summary at the end.
If you have suggestions about other web sites that are useful, please sign-in and add your comment to this item.
Desmond Tutu, Achbishop Emeritus, has spoken out against the Anglican Communion for failing to embrace pandemic issues such as poverty and HIV, and be distracted by an obsession with homosexuality.
The historic Anglican church of St John’s in Footscray in Melbourne’s west is discovering the generous spirit of local Sudanese refugees.
Members of the Sudanese Bari community have collected money to assist with reconstruction of the church’s arch. Earlier this month this money was presented to Bishop Philip Huggins.
Many members of the Sudaneses community are subject to harrassment and race-related threats. Following the welcome gift, there were prayers in the church about this issue. Since arriving in Australia, many of these people have been praying regularly in this church.
If you listen to Bob Geldof and Rev. Tim Costello, they would have you believe that Australia’s commitment to foreign aide is embarrassingly stingy.
In an election campaign that is full of promises of tax cuts and bonuses of not seen before proportion, it is worth exploring our place in the international stage.
For those who follow Christ our call is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those who are in sick and the like.
Christian Today explores this issue in a little more detail …