Prostitution of itself is the selling of a person’s body for the gratification of another without the inherent freely entered relationship of love. This ‘commoditisation’ of a person’s body dehumanises both the people involved.

And, yes, I know prostitution happens but I do not agree in prosecuting people who sell their bodies. The people I wish to stop are the ‘purchasers’ of another person’s body for their sexual gratification. I am slowly coming to the view that there is a better approach (Swedish Model) to this issue. More on that at some other time.

Returning to the idea of legalising prostitution in Tasmania. The Public Forum, Legalising Prostitution = Legalising Violence against Women with Professor Sheila Joy Jeffreys looks interesting because it claims that legalising brothel prostitution does not work and is a failed social experiment. Furthermore Professor Jeffreys claims,

Legalising prostitution does not control the industry, or eliminate corruption, organized crime or street prostitution. Instead it exacerbates all these problems. It does not end the violence and abuse that women in prostitution suffer, but instead gives the seal of approval to the everyday violence of prostitution that women get paid to survive. It will make Tasmania a ‘pimp state’, which profits from prostituting women. She will explain how legalising the industry of prostitution threatens the equality of all women, including their rights to equality of relationships and equality in the workplace.

Professor Sheila Joy Jeffreys is from the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne and is the Public Officer of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia. Professor Jeffreys is the author of eight books on the history and politics of sexuality including The Idea of Prostitution and The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade.

For Inquiries Contact Jennie Herrera, Whistleblowers Tasmania  03 62 282 727. The Public Forum with Professor Sheila Joy Jeffreys is on 1 pm Saturday 2^nd June at Friends Meeting House, 5 Boa Vista Road, North Hobart.

Tasmanian Anglican – April 2012

• From the Bishop
• Vale – Harlin John Lascelles Butterley
• Parents as pastors
• Reflection
• Faithprints
• Prayer tree
• Anglicare News
• FIFO
• ABM-A News
• in-da-net
• St David’s Cathedral
• Wanted!
• Jazz and Blues to support BCA

Atheism needs God and religion because atheism is, in essence, a negative, oppositional movement against God and religion. Atheism is defined by an (irrational) negative: that there is no God and no need for religion such as Christianity. Christianity does not have this problem (though it sometimes takes oppositional stands): it stands for a positive affirmation of God as love; and that this love encompasses all, regardless of creed or culture.

Some atheists have recognised the problematic, negative nature of their movement. For this reason, they have tried to turn it into a positive force by either claiming the rational source for moral truth or imitating religion. Re-creating an old idea, modern atheists (such as Alain de Botton) have argued that religion appeals to good and necessary aspects of human life (such as community, transcendence and ritual). Because of this, atheists have sought to appropriate religious forms to bolster their movement and appeal to natural human inclinations. The problem with this move is that it is essentially artificial and disingenuous. The oppositional, negative nature of atheism is not overcome by ‘doing’ religion better than so-called believers do, but is emphasised – for atheism to appeal to human nature, it must ironically appropriate religious forms.

The article by Joel Hodge appeared in The Drum Opinion on 11 May. It concludes,

We are told atheism wants to put an end to human-made religion? So does Christianity! Bring it on, we say. Let’s together – atheist and Christian – purge every last vestige of false religion out of the church and the world and, if any church or world is still left, it will be entirely Christian – free from violent sacrifice and perfected in divine, gratuitous love.

Full article, Against a human-made religion: Atheism and Christianity.  See also, Atheists can’t see that faith complements science.

I have also included a discussion paper as a resource for small groups and small group leaders.

I pray that it will be encouraging to everyone who hears it and that our diocese may be filled with the Holy Spirit! Amen!

Watch it below or on vimeo

Click here to view the embedded video.

2012 Young Writer Awards entries close on 31 May

Do you know a creative teen or budding young writer? This could be their time to shine!

SPCKA loves to discover and encourage new writers of all ages and the Young Australian Christian Writer and Christian Teen Writer Awards are a great opportunity to unearth new talent.

Act quick as entries for this year’s awards close on 31 May!

A $2500 prize is given for the best unpublished manuscript by an Australian under 30 years of age. Supplementary awards include a $1000 prize for writers under 18 years of age.

Entry Forms can be found at: www.spcka.org.au

You can also follow the Australian Christian Literature Awards on Facebook.
Pictured above: Amber Holmes, 2011 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award winner for her work entitled ‘Sunshine’.

Telephone 1300 137 725
admin@spcka.org.au

Help us create life-changing and culturally appropriate Christian writing throughout the world.
Call us to make a donation today on 1300 137 725

Visit www.spcka.org.au today.

See also, Australian Christian Books of the Year!

You will be able to hear about true dignity and the dangers of euthanasia to our society by such experts as: Dr Jeremy Prichard (Criminal Law Lecturer),Dr Nicholas Cooling (Senior Lecturer & GP),The Honourable William Cox (Former Governor of Tasmania), Professor Ray Rowenthal (Director Medical Oncology), Dr Paul Dunne (Palliative Care Specialist), The Honourable Ray Groom (Southern Cross Care), Professor Michael Tate (International Law Lecturer) and Dr Kristi Giselsson (Doctor of Philosophy).

 Below are links to questions that can be answered from this website:

Q1: What is euthanasia and assisted suicide?

Euthanasia is the deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending the life of another person in order to relieve that person’s suffering.
Assisted suicide is the act of intentionally killing oneself with the assistance of another who provides the knowledge, means or both.

Q2: What is the legal position of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Tasmania?

Euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in Tasmania. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in all states and territories of Australia; and in almost all other countries in the world.

Q3: What are my rights with regard to discontinuing medical treatment? If death results, isn’t this a form of euthanasia?

1. Patients do not receive unwanted, burdensome and futile treatments.
2. A competent adult may refuse medical treatment even if that refusal will result in his or her death…

Q4:But what about all those people who are near death and suffer intolerable pain?

Whilst it is important to recognise the difficulties experienced by the small number of  individuals suffering such pain, what is clear from this finding is that in those small number of cases, terminal sedation or the administration of pain relief is a legally acceptable response. There is no need to introduce intentional killing as a treatment option.

Q5:Aren’t doctors already practising euthanasia in Tasmania by administering pain killers to deliberately end lives?

It is important to note that euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is not a component of palliative care. Palliative Care Australia, the national peak body for Palliative Care in Australia states that ‘The practice of palliative and end of life care does not include deliberate ending of life through voluntary euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, even if the patient requests this

Q6:Opinion polls show an overwhelming support for freedom of choice in euthanasia. Why not just go with public opinion?

Often the questions asked in opinion polls are ambiguous or not situated in the correct context Opinion polls show that the closer a person is involved in palliative care and with the dying, the less likely that person is to be in favour of euthanasia.

Lots more helpful information at REALdignitytas.com.  Also, Euthanasia: Care or Killing?

Archbishop Driver’s media release states in part,

Under the plan the Government will seek to access the 5000 Australian homes registered under the privately run Australian Homestay Network to host asylum seekers released from detention on bridging visas.

With the Immigration Department facing a potential shortage of community housing to accommodate detainees who are being released into the community, the CPN [Community Placement Network] initiative is a positive shift to more community based processing of asylum seekers in Australia.

“The policy is an opportunity to acknowledge a good and humane outcome for refugee immigration,” Archbishop Driver said.

“At the same time I do urge that the focus of this new initiative be on long term detainees – especially those who have been recognised as refugees but waiting security clearances – unaccompanied minors, and those with mental health issues.”

“Australian families, churches and community organisations have had a wonderful history of welcoming refugees to our country and generally have been enriched by the experience,” Archbishop Driver said.

Full statement, Adelaide Archbishop welcomes plan to house asylum seekers in Australian homes.

Many years ago my mother-in-law introduced me to bonsai. I do recall as a child reading about this Japanese horticultural art form and being intrigued. To the point where I found an orange seed and placed it in a plastic top from a soft drink bottle to see if I could make a miniature tree. Needless to say, as well as the art there is the science.

Bonsai are real trees and they need to be nurtured like any other plant. They need sunlight, regular watering and feeding. But it’s in the pruning of the branches and roots that the bonsai is formed. It is that pruning that makes these tiny facsimiles of their free growing cousins. The final aesthetic element is the pot in which they are grown. Bonsai actually means ‘in a pot’.

Coming to Tasmania meant I had to suspend my hobby because of quarantine restrictions, so my collection is being cared for by my mother-in-law. But that is also part of the beauty of bonsai, you don’t have to do it every week. When I return to Sydney and visit my in-laws I’ll often do the tasks that shape and style the tree.

Last year I decided, however, it was time to start again and so I’ve begun gathering new trees to be trained. On a visit to a sale at a local nursery I found three Banksia trees that I can experiment on. On the grounds of St John’s Launceston grow a number of oak trees that are surrounded by little oaks which will make a lovely group planting in a large flat pot. A Japanese maple offered me a nice specimen after I used the technique called air layering to trick a branch high up in the tree to strike roots into a bag of sphagnum moss. A bush saw and some patience has given me a nice future bonsai. The same method gave me a lilac and hopefully a blue spruce. A myrtle and Huon pine add a Tasmanian feel to my future collection.

If we have eyes to see, the natural world will offer us lessons of a spiritual nature. Bonsai reminds me that just like trees we disciples of Christ need to be nurtured with spiritual food and water. As I trim and shape the branches of my specimens Jesus’ words come vividly alive;

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15: 1-2

See also, Hobbies of the Clergy #1

Euthanasia:Care or Killing?

The Bible is realistic about how hard the end of life can be:
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” – before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble,and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. (Ecclesiastes 12:1-5)

Those whose latter years are without hardship and those who pass away peacefully are perhaps the exception, not the rule. Those who care for the terminally ill and dying know just how difficult the process of dying can be first hand. This year there will be a Bill before the Tasmanian Parliament seeking to change the current law to allow for Voluntary Euthanasia (or Physician Assisted Suicide).What are Christians to think about this? What does the Bible say about this vexing issue?

Topics discussed in Pete and Shannan’s article:

• Thou shalt not kill
• Protect the vulnerable
• Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow
• If you loved me, you’d kill me
• But, it’s my choice!
• I’m sorry, we’re going to have to put her down
• Give the people what they want
• Make it safe, make it legal

See also, 35 years of my nursing in aged care and palliative care, I remain convinced.

In recent times there have been a number of voices that have reminded us that when we talk about marriage we are talking about something blessed and beautiful.  In the midst of current debates we have a positive message.

We have had the Dean of Hobart’s recent talk at a Friday Forum.  And next week the Excellent Marriage event is being held at the Stanley Burbury Theatre at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.  There are more details at the Excellent Marriage website.