Ok. This blog hasn’t become a political blog, but you must watch this video. It’s from Taiwan in the lead up to the Australian Federal Election from this past weekend. If you still don’t get the Australian political scene, this video pretty much sums it all up. Brilliant!
(h/t Peter Pilt and Guy Mason via facebook)
“Men must have the political courage to work to end all forms of violence against women, especially the commercial sexual exploitation that is fueling sex trafficking. Male leaders have an enormous task, because their work will be done in a cultural context that has constructed their manhood around the pornification of human sexuality. Click on the link at YouTube [below] to watch an example of this leadership: Jonathan Walton reading his poem, “I’m Sorry Anna Nicole”, at a recent CATW event in New York on December 2, 2009.”
Find out more about the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)
(h/t ben via twitter)
It’s time to get you vote on, tomorrow! I’ve posted a bunch of politics related posts in the last few weeks. You can read them here. I know lots of Christians who aren’t quite sure how to think through who to vote for. I think this is particularly for younger Christians who are voting for the first time and working out if they will vote for their parents party or a different one. It’s not too late to take an hour or two before you vote to think things through. My 3 tips for first time (or undecided) voters are the 3 recommended reading lists below.
1. Centre for Public Christianity | Federal Election 2010 – CPX regularly do a killer job at showing how Christianity intersects with all areas of life and society. I’ve only had a look at a few of the articles and videos, but their election 2010 coverage is comprehensive and very useful. They include the following areas of discussion: Christians and Politics; Economics; Education; Environment; Family and Community; Justice; Refugees; and Politicians. Read/view more here.
2. The Box Pop | On Voting and Jesus – Steve Boxwell is one of my peeps from College. He single handedly coached our whole year through Philosophy 1, Philosophy 2 and Philosophy 3. He’s also the “politics guy”. Because lots of people regularly ask him questions about politics etc, he thought it would be good to punch out some blog posts this week with some thinking on “voting and Jesus”. Steve puts his cards on the table and says how he will be voting. Regardless of whether you come to the same conclusions or not, this series will help you think through lots of the issues. It kinda feels like that year 6 trip to Canberra! Read them all here.
3. FERVR.NET | Series on Voting – let me be honest, I only read the first post in this series, so the whole series could be a lemon for all I know! But I’m guessing it’s useful. FERVR.NET is a youth website I help write for, so these 5 articles might be the simplest and first stop for younger punks.
Happy voting.
I disagree with both major political parties regarding refugees and asylum seekers. Many Australians probably selfishly agree. Here is a short animation from GetUp Australia attempting to discard with popular myths surrounding asylum seekers.
What do you think? What would you do?
Australia is about to vote for a new Prime Minister. When it comes to campaigning, both Captain Underpants and The Ranga (and their respective parties) pander to the selfish vote. We want more stuff, less tax, more money, less inconvenient boat people, more comfort, less travel time. It’s all about me. Show me that you’ll maximize good stuff for me and minimize bad stuff for me… And you’ve got my vote!
Maybe it’s time to stop and think about someone other than me! I need to.
Hey politician, tell me what you’re going to do to:
I was really glad to see the way that the Micah Challenge crew have been asking politicians (from both sides) to “ask the poverty question”. Good stuff. Looks like it has been effective too.
Check out this great sermon on Mark 12:13-17 from Tim Keller. Here’s the description: The Pharisees pose a controversial question to Jesus when they ask him if they should pay taxes. Jesus responds with a revolutionary answer: He refuses political complacency, political simplicity, and political primacy. Jesus then models a revolutionary idea, showing his followers that the way to gain power is to give it away. Get your politics on!
It’s from a whole bunch of free sermons at the Redeemer Presbyterian website. You can also subscribe to all of these sermons via iTunes podcast.
Arguing About Politics MP3 – Tim Keller (right-click to download)
Some Christians say some dumb stuff when it comes to politics. In this article Greg Clarke (from Centre for Public Christianity) shows that he is NOT one of them! There has been a very small kerfuffle regarding whether Julia Gillard’s atheism means that she’s unsuitable to be Australia’s Prime Minister. Clarke’s article is worth reading.
Here’s a snippet:
Nowhere in the New Testament is there any concept that a Christian ‘prophet’ might be given word from God on who should govern the land. The arrival of Jesus changes all of that theocratic language, and the role of ‘prophecy’ changes: it becomes a call to recognise the authority of Jesus, and to follow his teachings and his call to turn back to God.
The New Testament famously calls on Christians to “be subject to the governing authorities” (in Romans 13:1) but it certainly does not say, “go and appoint the governing authorities yourself”. In fact, it says quite the opposite. The very next verse suggests that if you resist an authority, you are in fact resisting God, because God is in control ultimately of who leads and who doesn’t.
