ACL compiles a daily media monitoring service of stories of interest to the Christian constituency relating to children, family, drugs and alcohol, marriage, human rights, religious freedom etc. Visit the ACL’s website each day to see what’s of interest in the news. Please note that selection of the articles does not represent ACL endorsement of the content.
Abortion
Time to get mad really mad
Emilys Voice
Abortion is a national tragedy; it’s inhuman, disturbing, barbaric but, by any measure, illogical and therefore unacceptable.
Children & Family
More than one million Australian children now in childcare
Rebecca Puddy – The Australian
Childcare in Australia has experienced unprecedented growth over the past eight years, with the biggest increase coming from the long-day care sector. More than one million children are in child care, an increase of 30 per cent since Labor won government in 2007, a report released today by federal childcare minister Kate Ellis shows.
Classification
Video games boost player’s visual skills but reduce ability to inhibit impulsive behavior
News Medical Net
A person playing a first-person shooter video game like Halo or Unreal Tournament must make decisions quickly. That fast-paced decision-making, it turns out, boosts the player’s visual skills but comes at a cost, according to new research: reducing the person’s ability to inhibit impulsive behavior. This reduction in what is called “proactive executive control” appears to be yet another way that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior.
Drugs & Alcohol
Police and bosses secret meeting on bikies, drug trafficking fears
Stephen Drill – Herald Sun
A secret meeting of building industry bosses has raised concerns that bikies employed as labourers on Victorian building sites are selling illegal drugs. Police were told of organised trafficking of “ice” on building sites at the high-level meeting in May.
Education
Queensland wants Victoria’s Gonski deal
Natalie Bochenski – Brisbane Times
Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek says the state will sign up to the federal government’s education reforms if it is offered the same deal which has been struck with Victoria.
Health
Farmers face depression, anxiety problems
Brad Thompson – The West Australian
WA’s peak financial counselling service for farmers has warned of growing problems of depression, anxiety, drug use and pornography addiction in the Wheatbelt.
Marriage
Gay couple to sue church over gay marriage opt-out
The Christian Institute
Wealthy gay dad, Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, says he and his civil partner Tony will go to court to force churches to host gay weddings. He told the Essex Chronicle that he will take legal action because “I am still not getting what I want”. Mr Drewitt-Barlow said: “The only way forward for us now is to make a challenge in the courts against the church.
Gays to sue church to perform marriage ceremonies
Bob Unruh – WND
Not fully satisfied with the British government’s approval of same-sex marriage, a homosexual duo in Britain has decided to go to court to force churches to perform “gay wedding” ceremonies. The Essex Chronicle reported Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow, who signed up for a civil partnership in 2006, want now to get married in a church. The British government’s recent legalization of “gay marriage,” however, includes a provision that churches cannot be forced to perform same-sex weddings.
Tony and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow sue the Church of England over gay marriage
Archbishop Cranmer blog
Tony and Barrie are intent on forcing the matter, and so the Church of England will be embroiled in lengthy (and very expensive) litigation. “It is a shame that we are forced to take Christians into a court to get them to recognise us,” said Barrie.
Politics
Rudd calls September 7 election
Ben Pakham – The Australian
Australians will go to the polls on September 7 after Kevin Rudd fired the starting gun on a five-week election campaign.
It’s on: PM names day for the fight of his life
Mark Kenny – SMH
Kevin Rudd has called an election for September 7, declaring himself the underdog in a poll that would offer voters a choice between his positivity and economic prowess and the Coalition’s ”wall-to-wall negativity” and ”three word slogans”.
Oversight’ leaves Sheikh linked to GetUp!
ABC
GetUp! has confirmed ACT Greens Senate candidate Simon Sheikh still has a link to the lobby group but that it is about to be severed.
Federal election guide 2013
Bible Society
This guide has been created to help you better understand some of the issues we think Christians care about for the upcoming federal election. It is not definitive, but we will keep adding to it as issues develop and policies are released.
Refugees
Nauru signs up to Rudd’s stop boats plan
Miranda Forster – AAP
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced a new agreement with the Pacific Island nation of Nauru, which like Australia’s deal with Papua New Guinea, will deny asylum seekers the chance to resettle in Australia. But the Opposition says it’s just a ploy to win votes.
Asylum seeker advocates concerned for safety of Nauru detainees in wake of detention centre riots
ABC
Refugee advocates are concerned for the safety of asylum seekers in Nauru after large-scale riots at the island’s detention centre late last month.
Religious Freedom & Persecution
Syrian Christian towns emptied by sectarian violence
Ruth Sherlock – Telegraph
Tens of thousands Syriac Christians – members of the oldest Christian community in the world – have fled their ancestral provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hasakah in northeastern Syria, residents have said. “It breaks my heart to think how our long history is being uprooted,” said Ishow Goriye, the head of a Syriac Christian political Hasakah.
Other
A group of Melbourne atheists is trying to recapture the sense of community that religion brings – but God is not invited
Barney Zwartz – The Age
For a churchgoer, it is utterly familiar, yet eerily different. There is a polished, urbane man up the front holding a microphone, and behind him is a large screen to display the words for the songs and any video messages. Next to that is the band, much more casually dressed.
Australian speaking tour – William Craig
Reasonable Faith
City Bible Forum will be hosting a three-part conversation in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne between Professor Lawrence Krauss and Dr William Lane Craig, where they will discuss questions on “Life, the Universe and Nothing.”