Articles
Recent Articles & Reviews
A Philosophy of Life
A Philosophy of Life: The Spirituality of Don Cupitt Ed. Paul Overend and Stephen Mitchell (IFF, London 2027) A review by Greg Spearritt A...
SoFiA: Analysis of big belief and big doubt
Neville Buch describes the Australian Sea of Faith Network (SoFiA) in the context of belief and doubt. SoFiA: Analysis of big belief and big doubt
Secular religion and non-supernatural spirituality
Secular religion and non-supernatural spirituality By David Miller Although I am an Atheist, I nevertheless have dozens of ‘gods’: Truth, Justice,...
Telling the Truth about the Colonisation of Australia
Telling the Truth about the Colonisation of Australia: “the loss and the loneliness” SOFiA AGM, 22 June 2024 on Yuggera and Turrbal Country By John...
A modern malaise
A modern malaise Greg Spearritt casts a jaundiced eye over social media. In 1964, Canadian academic Marshall McLuhan sparked a global ‘aha moment’...
All the way with the US of A
All the way with the US of A Greg Spearritt reflects on the 2022 book Sub-Imperial Power by Clinton Fernandes It’s almost axiomatic in Australia, as...
Articles & Reviews Archive
Arts
Book reviews
- A Philosophy of Life
- Soil
- Faithless fictional Fathers
- Telling Tennant’s Story: The strange career of the great Australian silence
- Andreas Wagner – Arrival of the Fittest
- Peter Wohlleben – The Hidden Life of Trees
- Adrian Cooper – Sacred Mountains
- Durack, Mary – Keep Him, My Country
- Cupitt, Don – The Meaning of the West
- Crossan, John Dominic – God and Empire
- Nunn, Gary – The Psychic Tests
- Dessaix, Robert – What Days Are For
- Grant, Stan – With the Falling of the Dusk
- Women in Islam
- Griffiths, Billy – Deep Time Dreaming
- Solnit, Rebecca – A Paradise Built in Hell
- Ishiguro, Kazuo – Klara and the Sun
- What I gain from Bertrand
- Yunkporta, Tyson – Sand Talk
- Gilbert, Elizabeth – City of Girls
- Kent, Jacqueline – Vida, a Woman for Our Time
- Flannery, Tim – Life: Selected Writings
- Keneally, Tom – The Dickens Boy
- Grenville, Kate – A Room Made of Leaves
- Bourgeault, Cynthia – The Meaning of Mary Magdalene
- Stewart, Katherine – The Power Worshippers
- Carroll, John – Ego and Soul
- Phelps-Roper, Megan – Unfollow
- Tsiolkas , Christos – Damascus
- Martel Fredéric – In the Closet of the Vatican
- Bryson, Bill – Life, the Universe and Nearly Everything
- Boulton, David – Godless for God’s Sake
- Armstrong, Karen – The Gospel According to Woman
- Armstrong, Karen – The Case for God
- Armstrong, Karen – On the Bible
Ethics/Morality
- Telling the Truth about the Colonisation of Australia
- Are moderns less moral?
- Converted!
- Star of Taroom – a journey of the heart
- Criminal justice in Australia: the madness in the method
- The Rev. John Dunmore Lang and German immigration into Queensland
- Loving enemies and losing friends
- Moral guidance without Christianity
- An Ethic of Civilisation
- The Failings of Religion
- The Ethic of Jesus
- The Changing Moral Imperative
- Should We Always Forgive?
- My Brother’s Keeper
- Are We Obliged to Forgive?
Faith/Belief
- SoFiA: Analysis of big belief and big doubt
- The afterlife in Ancient Egypt
- Individualism and the Myth of Secularity
- Horror Stories
- The dope on dowsing
- Jack Spong: right or wrong?
- Exiting Religion
- Why religion is important for survival
- Women in Islam
- Ghostly entertainment
- Enlivening belief
- The need to believe
- A Miscellany of Heresy
- God as Love or God as Life?
- Jihad: Filling a Vacuum?
- The Atheist, the Agnostic & the Scientist
- Aboriginal Beliefs and Customs in Early Brisbane
- A Militant Atheist’s Viewpoint on Agnosticism
- A Better Easter
- Christian Fundamentalism: Is It Valid?
- Who on Earth was Jesus?: The Scholarship and Research
- Does Jesus Matter Anymore?
Film Reviews
Organised Religion
- Individualism and the Myth of Secularity
- Understanding Others
- Jack Spong: right or wrong?
- Exiting Religion
- The Rev. John Dunmore Lang and German immigration into Queensland
- Women in Islam
- The Language of Spiritual Care
- Bourgeault, Cynthia – The Meaning of Mary Magdalene
- Christianity: Best of a bad lot?
- Many Religions: One God?
- A Miscellany of Heresy
- Dogma and Karma
- A Fifth Column?
- What is the Church?
- The World According to Jesus
- New Thinking About the Historical Jesus
- Asian & Indian Christianity
- Why Buddhism Beckons
- What’s Wrong With Buddhism?
Philosophy
- Reality
- Philandering Philosophers
- Loving Linnaeus
- On what SOFiA is for
- Individualism and the Myth of Secularity
- Speaking of Love
- On being a pessimist
- Understanding Others
- Now, then: what’s all this about Time?
- Ishiguro, Kazuo – Klara and the Sun
- What I gain from Bertrand
- A clear, calm voice
- Certainty and Gaia
- The need to believe
- Seeing Double
- Loving enemies and losing friends
- Random thoughts in a Katoomba café
Religion/Spirituality
- Secular religion and non-supernatural spirituality
- Reality
- The afterlife in Ancient Egypt
- Andreas Wagner – Arrival of the Fittest
- On what SOFiA is for
- Adrian Cooper – Sacred Mountains
- The future, dreariest of prospects
- Individualism and the Myth of Secularity
- Speaking of Love
- Cupitt, Don – The Meaning of the West
- Nunn, Gary – The Psychic Tests
- Dessaix, Robert – What Days Are For
- Jack Spong: right or wrong?
- The urge to merge: spirituality and sexuality
- Exiting Religion
- Why religion is important for survival
- The Language of Spiritual Care
- Certainty and Gaia
- Is science a form of religion?
- Mysticism And Ultimate Reality
- Hope, Hopelessness and No Hope
- Choosing a Spiritual Path
- Atheism as a Spiritual Path
- A Spiritual Ethic
- A Psychological Approach to the Experience of Spirituality
- If Only…
- Half a Century Later
- Does God Create Religion or Religion Create God?
- Now and Forever, Amen
- Easter & Eggs, Heaven & Hell
- A Sporting Chance of Being Religious
- Muslims aren’t all the same
- Prelude: Naturally Green
- Buddhist Existentialism
Science
- Reality
- Soil
- Andreas Wagner – Arrival of the Fittest
- Loving Linnaeus
- Peter Wohlleben – The Hidden Life of Trees
- The future, dreariest of prospects
- On being a pessimist
- Nunn, Gary – The Psychic Tests
- Now, then: what’s all this about Time?
- The dope on dowsing
- Ghostly entertainment
- Certainty and Gaia
- Flannery, Tim – Life: Selected Writings
- Seeing Double
- Is science a form of religion?
- Science and its Quest for Objectivity
- Mystical Experiences and Respect for the Whole Brain
- Is Science the New Religion?
Society
- Telling the Truth about the Colonisation of Australia
- A modern malaise
- All the way with the US of A
- Soil
- Archers Crossing
- Down the (white) rabbit hole
- Philandering Philosophers
- Gift of the gab
- The Giants
- Are moderns less moral?
- Telling Tennant’s Story: The strange career of the great Australian silence
- An Indigenous Voice to Parliament
- On what SOFiA is for
- The future, dreariest of prospects
- Australian Election 2022
- On being a pessimist
- Petit Maman: a review
- Horror Stories
- Durack, Mary – Keep Him, My Country
- Converted!
- Cupitt, Don – The Meaning of the West
- Understanding Others
- Crossan, John Dominic – God and Empire
- Nunn, Gary – The Psychic Tests
- Musing on makarrata
- Now, then: what’s all this about Time?
- The dope on dowsing
- La Bonne Épouse
- A day in hospital – freedom and control
- Grant, Stan – With the Falling of the Dusk
- Structure and creativity
- The urge to merge: spirituality and sexuality
- Star of Taroom – a journey of the heart
- Why religion is important for survival
- Criminal justice in Australia: the madness in the method
- The Rev. John Dunmore Lang and German immigration into Queensland
- Women in Islam
- The Language of Spiritual Care
- Report from Cherbourg
- Ghostly entertainment
- Ishiguro, Kazuo – Klara and the Sun
- Satellite Boy
- Supernova
- Friendship
- Yunkporta, Tyson – Sand Talk
- Gilbert, Elizabeth – City of Girls
- Enlivening belief
- A clear, calm voice
- Kent, Jacqueline – Vida, a Woman for Our Time
- Promising Young Woman
- A visit to the Ration Shed
- Better dead than red?
- Media and misinformation
- Building Hope
- Stewart, Katherine – The Power Worshippers
- Christianity: Best of a bad lot?
- On downplaying difference
- Societies and their stability
- Nationalism
- Dark Emu – a review
- Passing
- The Euthanasia Issue
- On Discipline
- Invoking Religion in Australian Politics
- Desperately Seeking Sophia
- Confucious Says: On Being a ‘Superior Person’