Bishop John

 Jesuit Frank Brennan continues to push the Charter of Rights, as we await the National Government’s decision on a Committee’s Report into this matter. The Report Committee was chaired by Frank Brennan.

Churches would be in a better position to allow judges to override any privileges some church leaders might be granted by elected politicians, he said.

Fr Brennan insists the charter won’t impede upon any religious freedoms.

“I could not see the charter itself, and its faithful implementation, working any harm to the freedom of religion,” he told the conference.

“We as a church can do better in promoting justice for all in our land.”

Full article, Churches urged to back charter of rights by Susanna Dunkerley, in SMH 8 February 2010.

 For the Address in which Frank Brennan develops his thoughts and reflects on his own commitment as a Christian to public policy formation see, The Church as Advocate in the Public Square: Lessons from the National Human Rights Consultation. 

Section 3, page 7.   The Place for Human Rights 

Section 4, page 12.  Church Concerns with the Victorian Charter

This is not an address to read when tired! But it is valuable in gaining an insight into one of Australia’s leading ‘public Christians’ – whether you agree with him or not. 🙂

In this latter regard I note Karin Sowada (a Christian also involved in the public square) in her provocative  Top 7 Political Trends in 2010, stating in her No. 6, an opposite view on the Charter of Human Rights to Frank Brennan’s,

6.  The Charter of Human Rights is a dead duck. Attorney-General Robert McClelland said as much in a recent interview with the Financial Review. We will get a beefed-up parliamentary committee (or committees) to oversee our human rights obligations. (For a pdf document of Sydney Diocese position on human rights, click here ) Likewise, the Federal Freedom of Religious Belief Project will go nowhere. What is happening in Britain under a strident ‘rights’ agenda is so scary that even moderates in Australia won’t want to go there. (For a pdf document of the Sydney Diocese FRB submission, click here).

A historical look at the veil, its political use and abuse and its place in the hearts of those who wear it, points out the Hidden danger in tampering with the veil by Sally Neighbour, The Australian February 01, 2010

LIKE the Americans waging war in Afghanistan, the French demanding their government ban the burka would do well to look back in history at the experience of others who pursued a similar path.

The article urges the French people to consider the advice of the US Ambassador to Persia, William Hornibrook to the Shah of Persia in 1935:

“When the suggestion is made that the veil should be removed from Muslim women, His Majesty steps upon something which is far more important to the Islamic mind. He steps upon a tradition of longstanding, a custom which has been observed for centuries, and does violence to the feelings of his own people. It may be stated with certainty that the great majority of Muslims are enraged as a result of the reform.”

One of the challenges of living in a multi-faith society is to understand and empathise with the convictions of people who believe and so live in ways distinct from one’s own.

I have written more generally on this issue  Burqas and religious freedom  and its near neighbour Swiss minaret ban is bad. In Malaysia, sadly, the Government has appealed the victory for religious freedom gained when  Cns retain use of ‘Allah’ in Bible. It is salutory to reflect on The West’s fear of free speech.

Extreme pro-euthanasia comment re ‘Euthanasia booths’ being made readily available on street corners for elderly people to help solve the problem of an ageing population, provokes an insightful response:

Here, the age-old human goal of giving people longer, fuller, healthier and happier lives where we are no longer expected simply to work and then die but to work and then live is treated as a weird and destabilising pursuit.

In my travels and conversations it is clear to me that one important driver of the marginalisation of the elderly is the much commented high rate of change in society. Australian sociologist Hugh MacKay has written extensively in this area. This is especially clear in communications. Think of email, photography and its transmission, social networking, DVD recording of TV programs, ipods, and the oft mentioned telephone call from grandparents asking for grandchildren to visit and tune their TV, Video cassette, DVD, etc. If ‘the oldies’ cannot tune a TV set and organise their set top box, ‘What is there to learn from them?’

The treatment of the ageing population as a problem really reveals today’s lack of imagination and human aspiration. Incapable of celebrating humanity’s leaps forward, we instead see our success stories in medicine and living standards as something bad. Unable to come up with solutions for making elderly people’s lives more pleasant through allowing them to work, paying them higher pensions or finding other ways to include them in the social make-up, we label them burdens. And with an eco-mindset that insists there are far too many people, we find ourselves referring to the elderly as a carbon footprint too far.

Amis’s idea for euthanasia booths is bizarre. But unless we challenge today’s anti-human outlook ,which treats people as polluters and human ambition as dangerous, then we may find more people asking: What’s the point of old people?

My response: Old people are people! They are made in the image of God. Each and every person is a gift from God, made in the image of God. Therefore, whether people be young or old they are immeasurably valuable. Life is to be honoured and lived at each and every stage of life. It is as we nurture our communal soul in the varying seasons of life that we cultivate a compassionate and deeply spiritual society. Indeed, the failure to nurture the deep inner life of a society brings forward Euthanasia’s end: a suicidal society.

‘What’s the point of old people?’ you ask. I ask, ‘What’s the point of life?’ The Jesus answer, ‘to love God and our neighbour as ourselves’. If its good enough for Jesus, its good enough for me! Let’s embrace life. All of life. Life in all its seasons. Together. A healthy society. A deeply rooted and spiritual society; living the Jesus way.

See the full article from The Weekend Australian at Longevity is a triumph, not a problem by Brendan O’Neill who is editor of spiked in London (www.spiked-online.com).

At the Opening of the Legal Year Service at St David’s Cathedral today there is a most solemn re-dedication by Members of the Legal Profession. I have the privilege of leading this solemn segment of the service this year.

The Act of Dedication

Led by The Right Revd John Harrower, Anglican Bishop of Tasmania

 As members of the Legal Profession I now invite you to re-dedicate yourselves to the ideals and principles of your profession, to preserve and maintain the integrity of your role and to uphold justice in our society.

 

Members of the Legal Profession:

 

 God of justice and mercy,

in our various positions and roles

in the legal profession and wider community,

we dedicate ourselves anew

to live and act with truth, justice, integrity

and honour for the common good of all.

 

As we strive faithfully

to serve the administration of the laws and usages of this State,

may we make every effort to uphold justice

and ensure that justice is available to all,

regardless of their wealth, position or circumstance.  Amen.

 

Bishop prays:

 

Almighty and eternal God

you know the longings of people’s hearts

and you protect their rights.

In your goodness,

watch over those who administer

the law and all in authority,

so that people everywhere may enjoy

freedom, security, and peace.

 

We ask this through Christ our Lord

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

 

Amen.

From the Very Reverend Richard Humphrey, Dean of Hobart,

Dear Friends

You have shown an interest in the part of the homily that I read at the Nine Lessons and Carols Service on Christmas Eve at the Cathedral.

The part I read from was the final section of AN HOMILY OF THE NATIVITY AND BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, from Homilies Appointed to Be Read in Churches, Second Book, Homily xii.

Read here the text of THE HOMILIES in the modern spelling version and the version for those who prefer Elizabethan!

As you may know I have been doing some research on Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and his understanding of the Christian Faith.  A good understanding can be found in Homilies 1 (On Scripture), 3 (On Salvation), 4 (On Faith), 5 (On Good Works) all of which Cranmer wrote for the 1547  Book of Homilies (Now known as the Former or First Book).

 God bless

 Richard Humphrey