Religion & Society

I n the wake of World War II, as the world emerged from devastating conflict and entered the post-colonial era, some commentators predicted that rising prosperity would herald a new, post-religion age. The secularizing tendencies that were carving huge slices off religious allegiance in the West would be replicated across the world, according to this view. Such commentators also anticipated that religion, in its surviving form, would be rationalist, liberal and concerned with the here-and-now rather than the Hereafter. Read on here . This article first appeared in Renewing Minds: A Journal of Christian Thought , Jackson: Union University, Issue 2 (2012).

     The attacks in London on Saturday are the latest in a series of terror strikes that have led to the deaths of over 30 civilians of various nationalities. British PM Theresa May has expressed the outrage of most British people, declaring that “we cannot allow this ideology the safe space that it needs to breathe” and calling for the regulation of cyberspace to prevent the internet being used so effectively by terrorist groups to disseminate their poisonous ideology. These declarations by the British prime minister conceal a scandal. The signs of Britain’s current predicament were visible decades earlier, and successive prime ministers and cabinets proved incapable of anticipating the extent of the threat from Islamist terrorism.         A harbinger of Britain’s present problems was evident almost thirty years ago. In 1989, Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the assassination of British author Salman Rus...

( Vision Radio )   A Christian academic says the targeting of young people in the fatal terror attack in Manchester shows the terrorists’ intent to inflict the greatest possible offence against their opponents.    The Manchester attack killed 22 people and injured 59 others after a pop concert at Manchester Arena.    Professor Peter Riddell, a Professorial Research Associate in History at the University of London, has told our newsroom, while he believes the targeting of young people was deliberate, the extremists operate from an ‘us and them’ mentality – whereby they see the lives of any non-Muslims as being of lesser value.    He says while there are Koranic verses that talk about the value of human life, there are references in both Koran and associated literature that prioritise the support, defence, and advancement of Muslims.    Professor Riddell says the extremists use such parts of their religious texts to justify their attacks, a...

Some things will never change in New Zealand. The spectacular scenery in the South Island, so graphically captured in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy of films, will remain for the benefit of future generations, as will the more subtle but equally appealing beauty of the country’s North Island. Similarly, but less desirable, the country’s location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, will remain for posterity. Rapid change However, society is changing rapidly and with it the religious identity of New Zealand. Census statistics are useful in painting a portrait of that change. Between the censuses of 2006 and 2013, the proportion of New Zealanders declaring themselves as Christian dropped from 51.7% to 44.9%. The greatest challenge to Christian identity in this rapidly secularising nation comes from those who declare themselves to be without religion: 32.2% in 2006 and 38.5% in 2013. It is quite possible that the proportion of those without f...

Since the civil war began in Syria in 2011, almost a quarter of a million people have been killed. Of the survivors, an estimated 12.2 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. This fact, combined with the deliberate campaigns of terror waged by the Islamic State, has triggered the massive outpouring of refugees from Syria. Such macro figures do not discriminate between Syria’s diverse population. A closer look at the country’s demography unpacks the religious diversity: 87% of Syrians are Muslim (also diverse), 10% are Christian and the remainder represent small minority groups, such as Druze and Yazidis. With hundreds of thousands of Syrians in refugee camps outside the country at this present moment, one would expect the camps to reflect the demography of Syria. This is not the case, as it is widely reported that religious minorities have been wary to enter the camps for fear of being persecuted by some of the Muslim refugees. Preferring religious minorities In this ...

Western Europe is still reeling from the terrorist attacks that struck Paris on the evening of Friday 13 November, killing 129 people and injuring over 300 more, many critically. Political leaders are discussing appropriate responses, to follow up on France’s initial airstrike against Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State that has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Details are emerging about the eight gunman who carried out the attacks, all in their 20s or 30s. They appear to include at least five French citizens, including the Abdeslam brothers, Salah and Brahim, who lived in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, described by Belgian authorities as a "breeding ground for jihadists". Two others were born and bred in Paris, the target of their attacks. Another of the terrorists was a Syrian national who appears to have arrived in Greece and registered as a refugee in October. An obvious question that arises from the above details is the motivation of the eight young Mu...

While the countries of Europe are facing an immigration crisis, with unprecedented numbers of refugees being shipped by people smugglers on rickety boats across the Mediterranean – with many drowning in the process – Australia is at the opposite end of the curve, having stemmed the flow of boatpeople in the last two years. However, the debate rages on around issues of ethics. The 15 years since the turn of the millennium have seen the refugee pendulum swing wildly, largely determined by different immigration policies held by the main political parties in Australia. In 2000, the conservative coalition government led by Prime Minister John Howard faced increasing numbers of refugee boats reaching Australia’s shores without government approval. Pacific Solution There was widespread concern in the Australian community for several reasons. First , such boat arrivals attracted much opposition in the community at large. Second , failure to address this phenomenon allowed people smuggli...