Down-under round-up: 17 February 2016

Issue of the week

The Safe Schools Coalition provides Australian schools with anti-bullying programs. But they only address one category of bullying—LGBTI students—and push a radical agenda of gender fluidity and sexual experimentation onto children as young as 11.

I have seen concerns expressed not only by Christians, but also by feminist psychologists, education journalists and others, not just those from the ‘right’.

The Bible Society newspaper, in a fairly neutral and careful way provides some facts and specific examples of the concerns with links to the Safe Schools website. Angela Shanahan expresses it well in The Australian: ‘Bullying message lost in all the LGBTI rainbow flag-waving’, and Akos Balogh asks some good questions in an open letter to Safe Schools.

He provides a powerful analogy that creating a safe space for people who are different does not necessitate accepting all their moral values:

To use a similar example, would a public school with Muslim students need to accept the Islamic worldview (e.g. ‘there is no God but Allah, and Muhammed is his messenger’) for it to be considered a welcoming and supportive place for Muslim students?

Making disciples of Jesus

David Mathis: ‘How to commune with Christ on a crazy day’. Grace-driven, without any hint of legalism, this is helpful advice even for those who have not got their regular days sorted out in terms of time alone with God.

An obituary from John Harris, one of Australia’s foremost scholars regarding the intersection of Christianity and Aboriginal peoples: ‘An era ends with passing of Aboriginal leader Murabuda’. I was moved, encouraged and instructed by this amazing tribute.

Kate Bowler wrote the history of the prosperity gospel in America. Now she has cancer. In ‘Death, the prosperity gospel and me’ she combines a history lesson with explanatory power and gentle faith in cancer's face...

Kevin DeYoung reminds us of ‘Our pro-woman complementarian Jesus’. The title is anachronistic, and labeling Jesus as anything needs caution, however this is a wonderful review of Jesus’ attitude and actions towards women in the Gospels, which makes his appointment of twelve male apostles all the more noteworthy.

Richard Dawkins has been sick, and Christians are rightly being encouraged to pray for him. This article suggests 10 reasons why Christians should thank Richard Dawkins. You will find some more persuasive than others, and could also think of reasons to be deeply disappointed in Dawkins. But it’s a reminder of God’s sovereign purposes being greater than human schemes, and of our most basic duties in regards to loving others, even enemies of the gospel.

(No particular image stood out to me this week!)