More than 1.6 million Australians won’t be giving their children a Christmas present, survey shows
More than 1.6 million Australians with children aged under 10 will not be giving them a Christmas present this year, according to a new poll. The finding, which the Salvation Army said represented an “alarming” increase of a million people on last year’s figure, came out of research conducted by Roy Morgan which was commissioned […]
ART: RENAISSANCE WORKS CELEBRATE ‘SACRED’ LANDSCAPES IN TWO EXHIBITS AT THE GETTY MUSEUM
KIMBERLY WINSTON, of Religion News Service, reports on two exhibitions in Los Angeles celebrating “sacred” landscapes…
More than 800,000 call on UN to protect Christians in Middle East
World Watch Monitor A petition signed by more than 800,000 people was being presented at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, calling for the protection of Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria, and recognition of the key role faith leaders can play in rebuilding efforts post-Islamic State. The ‘Hope for the […]
ESSAY: ‘O WALLED-OFF TOWN OF BETHLEHEM’
NILS VON KALM, a member of the management committee of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network (PIEN) in Australia, reflects on the situation in Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus Christ – and the plight of the Palestinian people in the lead-up to Christmas…
The Christmas story told in text – Bible Society Australia launches new SMS “digital drama”
Bible Society Australia is releasing a real-time text message version of the Christmas story delivered directly to people’s mobile phones in the lead-up to Christmas. Called Christxt, the “digital drama” is based on Biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus Christ and features messages and chat from some of the key figures in the story […]
BOOKS: COUNTERING THE CULTURE OF FEAR
As fear grips much of the Western world, DARREN CRONSHAW reads a book that aims to help religious communities respond…
ESSAY: TAXING THE RICH TO HELP THE POOR? HERE’S WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
Writing against the backdrop of the debate over the tax reform bill in the US, MATHEW SCHMALZ, associate professor of religion at the College of the Holy Cross, explores, in an article first published on The Conversation, what the Bible says about how to help the needy…
30,000 Eritrean Christians face prison and poverty in Israel, says UK charity
BosNewsLife International aid workers say nearly 30,000 Eritrean Christian refugees are struggling to survive in Israel and many may soon be moved to jail due to new government policies. “Next year the limited periods in the Holot detention centre may, if the Israeli government is successful in its current negotiations, be replaced with indefinite periods in […]
HARD-HEARTED?
I’ve noticed something happening to me. Something happening so slowly it would be easy to overlook. Something so disturbing it chills me to the bone. Walk on by? PICTURE: Davidson Luna/Unsplash Here it is: The more affluent I am, the less compassionate I become. The more money I have saved, the more I look down […]
REFUGEES: HUNGER GNAWS AT ROHINGYA CHILDREN IN BANGLADESH’S REFUGEE CAMPS
Nearly a quarter of all the Rohingya refugee children in the Bangladeshi camps aged between six months and five years are malnourished. WILLIAM WORLEY, of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Bangladesh…