Bishop John

Finally time to read the Sunday Age and the largely Victorian debate over the teaching of religious instruction in public/ state schools continues.

Professor Barry McGaw, the chairman of the national curriculum authority, told The Sunday Age: ”I don’t see anything wrong with a special religious  instruction that operates precisely on [the current] grounds. If we deny any  place to religion in public education and wish to make it entirely [secular], we  are actually basing it on a particular world view.

Article, Curriculum head warns against axing religion.  See also, Clarifying school chaplaincy.

1. The Dignity of Each and Every Human Being as Made in the Image of God
– Common humanity  Genesis 1:27-31

2. Stewards of God’s world – the world is not owned by us but cared for by us Luke 20:9-19
3. We are recipients of God’s rescue mission of grace – Rebels against God/ outsiders have been welcomed into Christ’s community/ insiders. God has been and is generous to us. Ephesians 2:1-10,19,22; 5:25b-27; Rev 19:6-9

1. Australians

2. Christians

1. Love for neighbour

2. Alien and foreign person in the Old Testament

3. Children are a special category for our love and compassion

4. Australia is right in protecting its borders. Australia can quite understandably organise to be protected through its government from criminals and unlimited immigration from people seeking to enter Australia simply for a preferred economic or societal lifestyle.

5. T he motion on the Treatment of Refugees which was passed at the General Synod 2010 of the Anglican Church of Australia was moved by the Registrar of the Diocese of Tasmania, Russell Morton. It is before our Tasmanian Anglican Synod next week:

This week I wrote the following letter to a dear friend, Christopher Lo, upon receiving news of the death of his mother, Greta Lo.

In asking Chris for permission to publish my letter to him I had in mind the encouragement I received from his mother’s life and ministry when I was a young man setting off on missionary work. I believe that this will be an encouragement to others as well.

Dear Chris,

We remember your mother with much affection and are saddened to hear of  her death.

We have a beautiful treasured remembrance of your mother which we have shared with many people both in Australia and around the world in our ministry.

Your mother had invited us to a meal, lunch early 1979 if I recall correctly, and we shared a warm time of fellowship with you and your mother.

Following the meal your mother recounted the story of working in the rice fields with her mother, your grandmother, in China. As they worked in the rice fields your grandmother sang a special song and her daughter, your mother, sang along with her.

Greta felt led to offer this song from China to encourage us as we left for the mission field in Argentina.

I recall the humble and gracious way in which Greta asked if we would mind if she sang the song in Mandarin, as it was the language in which her mother sang and the language in which Greta herself had heard and learnt the song. Naturally we were excited and agreed.

We have never forgotten the posture of adoration in which your mother stood to sing to her Lord. The sincerity of her worship and the power of the song affected us deeply.

What was the song? Greta explained that it was Psalm 121 and the promise of the Psalm was true. It was true in her mother’s life, in her life and it would be true in our life.

This was an extraordinary occasion of encouragement from a saint to a young family setting off on a venture of faith in the Lord.

The evening prior to our leaving for South America the Lord placed this Psalm on my heart as I prayed into the night.

A week later in Lima, Peru, we were at the home of the leader of the university student work in South America. Following the meal, Samuel’s wife Lily Escobar felt led of the Lord to offer a song of praise. She asked if we minded if she sang it in Spanish as this was the language in which she had learnt the song. We were delighted and agreed.

What was the song? I am sure you have guessed correctly! Yes, Psalm 121, the very song that your mother had offered in Mandarin! The Holy Spirit had inspired your mother to begin a ‘song chain of blessing’ for us. What joy in the family of Christ.

What an amazing God we have! PTL!

I am sure that we are not the only people who give thanks to God for Greta Lo, a woman of deep faith and trust in the Risen Christ.

Please let us know of the date of your mother’s Memorial Service in order that we might pray for all who attend that they might hear of Greta Lo’s Lord, of the Lord of all creation, of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ and turn to and trust in Him.

We pray that they too might sing or say Psalm 121 and say with Greta Lo, ‘My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth’.

Yours sincerely in the grace and love of Christ,

John

For refelction, Death notices – a place of honouring and proclaiming

Disturbing submission from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) to a national parliamentary committee.

THE nation’s peak Muslim group is using the Gillard government’s re-embracing of multiculturalism to push for the introduction of sharia in Australia, but it says it would be a more moderate variety of Islamic law that fits with Australian values.

This is bad news for Muslims in Australia.

This obviates the religious-socio-economic-military history of Islam. It is a return to Mohammad’s founding of the Islamic nation. Theocracy trumps democracy.

Muslims who feel alienated in Australia will feel increasingly so if they seek a separate legal apparatus, initially limited, to settle their affairs.

But as Tom of Melbourne (1:13 pm today) comments Sharia Law poses many questions and challenges that go to the very basis of Australian society:

Such a system is flawed, as there is no means by which to determine whether or not a person is ‘muslim’ and in turn whether or not they are subject to sharia law. If a person moves away from Islam, do they have to register that they are no longer a muslim. Whats to stop someone claiming that they are not a muslim to escape sharia law? What about moderate muslims who do not embrace all the particular doctrines of Islam? Far too many ‘what ifs’. Such systems have proven problematic in plural nations such as Malaysia. Australian law is the only law for Australians.

Article,  Muslims to push for sharia.

I believe all Australians must be subject to the same legislative, legal and judicial system.

This topic is treated on depth in Parts 2 and 4 of Islam: Human Rights and Public Policy, David Claydon (Editor), Acorn Press, Brunswick 2009 This website also includes a review by Moyra Dale which says in part,

In particular it(the book) explores the compatibility of Sharia law with western systems of law, and why Sharia is given priority over western systems or universal declarations when the inevitable clashes happen.  …

While the range of issues and perspectives is varied, the overall effect is to give a richness of contribution to a complex area of public discussion and policy. Islam does not separate between religion and government, and is vindicated by being in power. This brings critical questions about its interface with non-Muslim citizens and governments. I recommend the book for people wanting to understand and engage in the debate.

A lengthier review by Richard Shumack, Islam and Western Politics: A Delicate Dance, comments,

First are the political implications of the explicit rejection by traditional Islam of Secularism—and indeed any notion of a separation of religion and politics. The essays on this by Kit Wiley (Human Rights, Sharia Law and the Western Concept of Democracy) and John Azumah (The Sharia – Islamic Law) argue that Islam cannot be engaged with simply as a religion: the Sharia speaks individually and socially without distinction. They recognize that Islam maintains provisions for Muslims living as a minority faith in a non-Muslim country to abide by the laws of their context, however they point out this is not the Islamic ideal. Islamist agendas are clearly to, in time, replace secular states with Sharia ruled theocracies. It is recognized that there are different legal schools within Islam, but what is emphasized is the clear incompatibility of conservative schools of Sharia with Western democracy. These essays alone are worth the read.

A key theme for Australia: What is multicultural and multifaith Australia?

Archbishop Mouneer brings an update of recent tragic events in Egypt, Update on the situation in Imbaba – Archbishop Mouneer Anis.

The damage we saw was indescribable. The area looked as if it was a battlefield, because of the many tanks and soldiers. I was moved by the story of one of the guards of St. Mary’s Church, who refused to denounce Jesus Christ and as a result, his throat was slit. This is at least the fifth tragic incident since the first day of the year, when a church was bombed in Alexandria. There is no doubt that inter-religious tension is growing in Egypt, and this needs a real strategic plan to combat it. This is what we are trying to do through Beth El-Eila.

I very much appreciate your prayers so that the Lord may transform this difficult situation.

We all hope that Egypt will be a safe place for all Egyptians.

May the Lord bless you!

Yours in Christ,

The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis

Analysis of the role of the extreme sect ‘Salafists’ in the riots,

Judging the likely trajectory of post-Mubarak Egypt requires assessing the depth of public support for Islamism, and usually this has meant assessing the strength and intentions of the Muslim Brotherhood. While the Brotherhood remains central, however, the country is also facing a frequently violent upsurge of Salafist versions of Islam.

Article, Egypt’s Other Extremists: While the Muslim Brotherhood gets all the ink, the Salafists go on a rampage.

Anglican Mainstream has a range of substantial articles from around the world on the persecuted church, here.

Please note for your diaries that Archbishop Mouneer is a keynote speaker at next year’s CMS Summerview Conference, 12-15 January in Tasmania. Plan to join us.