Perspectives on religion & politics
During the week I blogged about the launch of a new book, The Europeanization of Party Politics in Ireland: North and South (Routledge, 2010) edited by Dr Katy Hayward of Queen’s University Belfast and Dr Mary Murphy of University College Cork.
Continue reading ‘The Europeanization of Party Politics in Ireland: Another Perspective …’
Xoliswa Sithole – an accomplished film maker who was once proud to call Zimbabwe her home – has produced a wrenching documentary chronicling the economic and political melt-down of her country, and the devastating impact this is having on children.
The BBC aired the documentary, ‘Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children,’ earlier this month. When I watched the film, I was struck by the grim resignation and stoicism with which the children she worked with seemed to accept their fate. They knew their childhoods had been stolen.
Continue reading ‘Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children: Review of the Documentary by Xoliswa Sithole’
Terror and wonder. Religious education has the power to instil such emotions in the young. Recent revelations have exposed the physical and sexual abuse that was rampant in many of the state-run, church-controlled churches on this island. On the other hand, in my own research in Northern Ireland I have spoken with people who cherish the religious education they received as a child, seeing it as a portal to creative self-exploration.
In today’s Irish Times, Dr John Murray argues that ‘separating religions and schools is not democratic.’ He is responding to an earlier commentary by Dr Ronan McCrea. The crux of Murray’s argument is that secular state schools are not really neutral. Therefore, if the state does not allow people to send their children to state-funded religious schools, it is undermining their democratic and human rights. Murray writes: Continue reading ‘The Religious Education Debate: Does Religion Need the State?’
A ‘Progressive Christian’ congregation, St Matthew’s in the City in Auckland, New Zealand, has launched a provocative billboard campaign for Christmas, depicting Mary and Joseph in bed, with the words: ‘Poor Joseph: God is a hard act to follow.’
The priest at the church told Ekklesia that the aim of the billboard was to spark debate about the meaning of the incarnation.
Continue reading ‘Sex Sells: Advertising Christmas in New Zealand’
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