There isn’t enough time to write all the draft blog posts that circulate through my head. Solution? SNIPPETY. SNIPPETY is an irregular mishmash blog post of news, views and other snippets. Feel free to interact with the mash in the comments. It’s been a year since the last snippety post, but I’m keen to start doing them more regularly. Look out!
I Forgot My Phone // This youtube video has been doing the rounds for the last couple of days. Guilty! Big challenge is to be with the people you’re with and get off your smart phone! Is this your experience?
Review: Do you feel called by God? Rethinking the call to ministry // Ben Pfahlert reviews Michael Bennett’s newish book on the call to ministry. Pfahlert – who incidentally has a very onomatopoeic last name – gives a good summary of the book and agrees with its conclusions. I haven’t read the book, but agree with the theology in his conclusion. I think using the calling terminology to ministry is unhelpful and doesn’t actually reflect the Bible’s use of ‘the call’. In the bible, ‘the call’ to all Christians is to 1) become a Christian and 2) grow in holiness. Check out the article if you’ve ever questioned whether you’ve been called into ministry – or a certain ministry – and if need be get hold of the book to perhaps correct your thinking.
Infogr.am // Ever wanted to make an attractive looking info graphic? Not sure how? Infogr.am could be the answer! I’m hoping to give it a go in the lead up to speaking at National Youth Ministry Convention later in the year.
The Digital Puritan // Last week at an Anglican ministers conference we heard Mark Dever speak on the life of Richard Sibbes. I discovered this excellent resource – The Digital Puritan – that has a wealth of material from that period. Lots is free, and other material is only a couple of bucks. Worth a browse for some encouragement by some old dead guys.
We wouldn’t treat animals the way we treat refugees // No-one is suggesting that there is a simple solution to deal appropriately with people seeking asylum in Australia. However at the moment – at least among my friends – there is a consensus that both sides of Australian politics could be more compassionate. This article from Julian Burnside in the Guardian suggests that both Labour and the Coalition are presenting cruel policies. What do you think?
I think both policies are a little harsh, but it is probably worth remembering thst a large portion of refugees are flying to Indonesia before boarding a boat to Australia, simply because you can arrive in Indonesia with no prepepared visa. We must be careful not to think that all asylum seekers are poor, persecuted people running from atrocities. No doubt, many are, but many have enough time, money and energy to board jet liners to our nearest neighbour knowing they can then skip a boat across the waters.
Biblically, I’m not sure we have any mandate to support and help those aforementioned people. Genuine refugees need our support. Obviously, the trouble is trying to diffentiate the two.
hey mark, thanks for the comment.
carr and rudd have both made the claims that “many” of those seeking asylum are “economic refugees” – ie they just want more money and a better life as opposed to fleeing war or persecution.
but from the reading i’ve done, that’s just not true.
According to p. 31 of this publication: http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/asylum/_files/asylum-trends-aus-annual-2011-12.pdf over 90% are Genuine Refugees
i.e. Over 90% of asylum seekers arriving by boat have proven to be genuine refugees fleeing persecution.
what do you think?
That is very helpful, thanks. But I couldn’t quite find the figure you mentioned. Yes, approx 90% were given access to Australia and approx 10% refused, but as for protection due to persecution I’m not sure about that:
“A total of 4766 Protection visas were granted to irregular maritime arrivals in 2011-12, representing 68 per cent of all such grants. Afghan citizens accounted for more than 40 per cent of grantees.”
The link doesn’t really clarify what the other visas were granted for, unless it is mentioned earlier and i missed it. I’d also love to know what a protection visa represents exactly. Do you know?
Now, I’m all for helping genuine refugees, but I guess the question really needs to be asked why large portions are flying to Indonesia to seek access to Australia, rather than seeking asylum in other countries nearer their place of origin? It surely begs the question that persecution is not the sole factor in their decision, does it not? Nor must we forget the number of tragic deaths that are occuring in the waters when our maritime borders are considered an easy entry point. This is unacceptable on every level.
Perhaps our government could be more proactive in war torn/ persecution areas, seeking to find and help genuine refugees. I don’t necessarily think a looser border is the best solution.