National Reconciliation Week 2010

Week of Prayer for Reconciliation was started in 1993, and expanded to become National Reconciliation Week in 1996, becoming an Australia-wide focus point for reconciliation activities. The week gives us the opportunity to reflect, through prayer, thought, discussion, and act on what still needs to be done in reconciliation. The week follows on from Sorry Day (26 May) commemorating the release of the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report in 1997 which detailed the damaging effects of the policy of removing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families.

National Assembly have created resources for Reconciliation Week this year that are available here.

Tomorrow, Friday May 28, Reconciliation Australia will launch a new public awareness campaign that encourages Australians to consider their own role in reconciliation. There will be online, television, cinema, radio and print components, and it will call for all Australians to help finish what was started. The Unfinished Oz website will be central to the campaign and offers a range of ways for people to get involved in the reconciliation process. Check out the website tomorrow atwww.unfinishedoz.com.au

Also this Reconciliation Week ANTaR is inviting you to show your commitment to reconciliation by participating in a Virtual Bridge Walk! Make your ANTaR Avatar, join the walk and then tell your friends to join in…

See below for events happening to commemorate Reconciliation Week. For further info about the history of Reconciliation Week and the theme for this year check out the Reconciliation Australia page here

And add your events to the mix here

vanity, all is vanity

a first draft for a space I’m doing in New Zealand next week…

We will not be remembered.

In all of history,
perhaps 100 billion people have breathed, loved, lived, died
and how many do we remember?
a hundred?
a thousand?

their dreams, passions, fears;
the loves they have grieved;
the hopes they have born

have become only dust.

We will not be remembered.

And in all our desperate attempts to become eternal,
– to leave an immortal mark on the world -
chances are, we will leave only scars.

We will not be remembered.

And if this is true
[do you doubt it?]
pray here for the courage
to live with being human,
and the faith to dream, hope and love
to no avail.

Shout Out for Climate Change Competition

‘Pray that politicians rediscover some basic human decency, and quickly’

Opposition leaves Christian values behind

The policy announcement today by the Federal Opposition in relation to asylum seekers is disappointing in the extreme. Here is a media release we’ve put out today. I’d encourage you, if you feel the same way, to express your view, to your local MP.

‘The use of asylum seekers for political point-scoring has now reached a new low. Leaders of the Uniting Church in Australia are horrified by the most recent remarks and policy announcement by the Opposition.

The President of the Uniting Church, Rev. Alistair Macrae said, “While the shock jocks who enjoy whipping up a frenzy at the expense of vulnerable people may find Mr Morrison’s language appealing, it is inappropriate to be developing public policy that takes ‘aim’ at people.”

“The image of a stable, peaceful and democratic government armed with bows and arrows aimed at defenceless people seeking freedom and protection is callous, violent and extremely irresponsible. It is a shocking demonstration of how deep the Opposition is prepared to sink in order the harness a few votes,” said Rev. Macrae.

“Mr Abbott and Mr Morrison, who both proudly proclaim their Christian faith have lost sight of the core of that faith – ‘love your neighbour’ and ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. They have failed to demonstrate any commitment to one of the Judeo-Christian tradition’s most enduring directives – ‘welcome the stranger’.

…continue reading here http://alistairmacraeuca.blogspot.com/2010/05/opposition-leaves-christian-values.html

ANTAR virtual bridge walk

ANTaR

Welcome to the virtual bridge walk for reconciliation!

10 years ago, hundreds of thousands of Australians walked to show their support for reconciliation, starting with a walk across the Sydney Harbour bridge during Corrobboree 2000. Now’s the time to show that, even if we’re not there yet, our passion has never been stronger.

Show your support for respectful and equal relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia by joining in this virtual bridge walk for a united Australia.

Join the virtual walk! I did and here’s my ANTAR-Avatar Age!! 

Click here http://www.bridgewalk.org.au/

ReGeneration Clip

Found this useful doco on Adbusters

Exploring our reliance on technology, disconnection with nature, excessive consumption and loss of history, the new documentary film ReGeneration calls out the widespread cynicism and apathy gripping this generation.

ReGeneration premieres at the Seattle International Film Festivalon Monday, May 24.

Looks like it deals with some of the on going questions and frustrations for those of us involved in social actions and working with young people.  Of course I would be keen to watch it if only to hear the interviews with Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Amy Goodman and Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn They always have a great ideas but add to that young people speaking for themselves on the issues - I’m in.

http://www.regenerationmovie.com/

synod

My five year hiatus on church meetings comes to an end today. Last time I went to a synod meeting, I quit my job. I’ve just signed on here for five more years, so I definitely won’t be doing that this time, but I have very much loved my church meeting free life.

If you’re coming to synod, shall we do coffee?

Other members of the Culture and Context unit will be popping in at different times over the next week – we can all be found at different times at the CCU table in the foyer… pop over and say hello.

Robin Hood Tax Stunts Today

Sydney followers to converge on Martin Place, 1pm today
If you’re in Sydney CBD today at 1pm we’d love to see you at our Global Day of Action event for the Robin Hood Tax.

This will be a quick, fun, 15 minute action for the media and our website; come along and let’s show the world what the Australian Robin Hood campaign can do!

When: 1pm today (Thursday 20 May)
Where: Meet at the Cenotaph war memorial at the base of Martin Place, between George St and Pitt St. We’ll then walk together to the top of Martin Place where we will perform the stunt at 1:15pm.
What else: If you can, come in your best Robin Hood green! If that’s not possible, just come - we’ll have some Robin Hood attire to hand around.
Perth citizens alert: get your gear on for morning stunt

Merry folk in Perth are gearing up for their Day of Action at 9:15am today (Thursday 20 May).

Campaigners, Facebook friends and all followers of the Robin Hood Tax campaign are urged to come on down to St Georges Terrace for a quick stunt and photo opportunity.

When: Today at 9:15am
Where: The Kangaroo statues at St Georges Terrace, next to Perth Council offices before the Supreme Court Gardens.
What else: Dress as Robin or at least in green, or just come along and be part of it all!

World wakes up to Robin Hood Day

This week Robin Hood Tax campaigners from across the world are taking part in Make Finance Pay Week, a global event aimed at pushing the financial sector to take responsibility for the global recession it helped cause.

As G20 finance ministers prepare to meet in Berlin this week, coalitions from England, Scotland, the United States, Canada, Germany, France and Australia have come together to campaign for all G20 governments to introduce a Robin Hood Tax on banks that would raise hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

“Make Finance Pay Week shows that the Robin Hood Tax campaign is now a global phenomenon, with events taking place in at least seven countries on three continents this week,” said Owen Tudor, Head of European Union and International Relations at the TUC.

See the video of the US Global Day of Action event.

Read our full report.

Robin’s extras

Robin Road Show a hit in Canberra
Campaigners for the Robin Hood Tax hit the road last week to discuss the key benefits of a Financial Transactions Tax in our nation’s capital. One thousand students from the Make Poverty History Road Trip attended the presentation run by Robin Hood campaigners Ed Shiell and Nic Nelson. We are glad to say we have hundreds of new members of our merry band!

speaking to our humanity

i loved the whole article by Mark Vernon, but the last lines in this paragraph resonate perfectly with me…

I feel a bit of an impostor, standing behind a lectern giving a religious address. It’s not that I haven’t done it before. I used to be an Anglican priest. However, now I’m agnostic about Christianity – though I rather like the phrase Diarmaid MucCulloch has coined, being a ‘candid friend’ of Christianity. You see, we agnostics worry about Christianity too – and for not dissimilar reasons to those I imagine are shared by many here. We know we need it, as much as those of faith need it, for Christianity is the great story of our lives. But we worry that this great story, at least in the west, is not speaking to our humanity as it might do, so as to enlarge it.

Cant Get No Satisfaction

I have been meaning to post this for a while - looks good with some great speakers. Give them a call and sneak in  Age

rego and more info http://www.ea.org.au/Events/CantGetNoSatisfaction.aspx

The New Testament declares that ‘Jesus died for us’. But how should we understand this summary statement? A variety of models and metaphors have been put forward in the Christian tradition and criticisms as well.

Major concerns with some ways of speaking about the suffering and death of Jesus include the legitimation of violence, a preoccupation with retribution and punishment, and the possibility of glorifying suffering to the extent of not tackling abuse.

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