We are too focused on our own needs and on hoarding more with the sad result that we lack the ability to care for others or approach life with a generous demeanor and spirit, writes Daniel Petre, executive chairman of Netus and head of the Petre Foundation.
Society
Guy Rundle: Mr Rundle’s Christmas Sermon
You know that the culture is in a parlous state when the most sage advice is coming from Lily Allen. Time to become a neo-luddite and get your life back.
Yuppies v Punks for a working week
Who has the superior lifestyle: hand-to-mouth agitators or the city-boy capitalists they abhor? Vice Magazine assigned one staff writer to pose as a punk and another as a plutocrat to investigate.
Teen pregnancy has benefits
Teen mothers often end up with better life outcomes than those in similar socioeconomic circumstances that do not fall pregnant as teenagers, reports Danielle McKay.
Bad religion: A harm reduction approach to God
Many people use religion. It provides them benefits we can’t ignore. However, it also causes health, social and economic harm, writes Michael Gordon-Smith.
Bernard Keane’s confessional: it’s tricky being an atheist
It’s a bit tricky being an atheist sometimes, confesses Bernard Keane.
Same-s-x wedgers might end up wedging themselves
Perhaps we lauded Robert McClelland’s wedging capabilities prematurely, writes Bernard Keane.
Disney’s favourite daughter is a normal teenager shock
Like Britney Spears before her, Miley Cyrus has been deliberately marketed as a Lolita: both innocent and knowing, sexy but not s-xual. Which has now led to inevitable controversy, writes Jeff Sparrow.
How not to kill a celebrity public park drug story, by Todd McKenney
Somebody finally told Todd McKenney to shut up. Sophie Black wonders why it took so long.
Islam and democracy: six speakers, four brains
Tonight sees the first Australian Intelligence Squared debate. The sell-out debate topic is “Islam is incompatible with Democracy”, and it should be interesting, writes Irfan Yusuf.
Sydney Anglicans intolerant in a tolerant church
The extraordinary attack on Justice Michael Kirby is a reflection of just how great the “divide” between Sydney and other Anglican dioceses has become, writes Jeff Wall.
Batten down the hatches: women bishops are coming!
The Anglican Church in Australia is probably only a matter of months away from appointing its first woman bishop. But there’s some mad scrabbling behind the scenes, writes Jeff Wall.
The PM’s inappropriate obsession with experts
In wake of Rudd’s 2020 Summit, the current obsession with experts is not only inappropriate - it also masks a much broader deception, writes Andrew Crook.
Hang on a minute! Neo-con half-truths under the microscope
Neo-cons and the missing Muslim turned Catholic … Speaking out through keeping mum … Challenging Janet (again) …
Hillsong’s holier than thou attitude fails to extend to political donations.
Less than two months before the 2007 NSW State Election, Hillsong made a political donation to Heffron Labor MP Kristina Keneally, who is now the Minister for Ageing and Disability, writes Robert Burton-Bradley.
I watched anti-gay videos at my North Sydney school
I remember watching anti-gay religious videos as a student at Shore School, or more correctly, Sydney Church of England Grammar School, writes an ex-student.
The Oz determined to keep Muslims on the front page
The Oz may have exaggerated the government’s intentions a little with the headline “Rudd’s quest for true blue Muslims”, writes Shakira Hussein.
Can we please stop talking about Muslims?
The more than $440 million that the previous government wasted on the “Muslim Community Reference Group” can now be spent on a smaller group made up of seven that includes academics, business and sports people. Problem solved, writes Keysar Trad.
