Religion News Australia
February 7 – 14, 2021
Religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Other
Maori MP Rawiri Waititi wins battle against rule requiring a tie to be worn in NZ Parliament (ABC News)
Feb 11 – A Maori MP has won his battle against wearing a tie in the New Zealand Parliament, ending a longstanding dress requirement that he describes as a “colonial noose”.
Saudi Arabian women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul released from jail (ABC News)
Feb 11 – Prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul has been released from a Saudi prison nearly three years after being arrested on charges that have drawn international condemnation.
Why Joe Biden’s stance on abortion has some Catholic leaders refusing to accept him (ABC News)
Feb 11 – Not since John F Kennedy’s presidency in the early 1960s has a Catholic politician been elected to the USA’s highest office.
Congresswoman and Jonestown survivor Jackie Speier: ‘Trump is a political cult leader’ (The Guardian, Australia)
Feb 11 – On 6 January, Jackie Speier was one of scores of members of Congress threatened by the mob of violent Trump supporters and white supremacists who stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the results of the presidential election.
I found peace in an unexpected corner of the internet: nun Twitter (The Guardian, Australia)
Feb 11 – (Opinion: Sirin Kale) There is a Rumi poem – it is my favourite.
Wings but no prayers: seagulls delay rebuilding of Christchurch cathedral (The Guardian, Australia)
Feb 11 – When the black-billed gull started nesting in the bowels of an earthquake-damaged building in central Christchurch, it was hailed as a sign of the city’s rebirth after the 2011 disaster.
How should we address Charles Darwin’s complicated legacy? (The Guardian, Australia)
Feb 14 – (Opinion: Adam Rutherford) The Descent of Man, 150 years old this month, is a work of humanist brilliance – yet its errors, particularly on gender, now make for uncomfortable reading
RELIGION & SOCIETY
They’ve left South Asia, but they can’t escape the discrimination and division of its caste system (ABC News)
Feb 7 – When I was at university, another South Asian asked me what my caste was.
Powerhouse Museum bounces back from COVID-19 with exhibitions celebrating Buddhist sculpture (ABC News)
Feb 11 – A landmark exhibition of 16th century stone statuettes will touch down in Australia later this year — the first time the stone figures have left South Korea since they were discovered in the ruins of a Buddhist temple in 2001.
Low-key welcome to Year of the Ox as Lunar New Year festivities reined in (The Age, Melbourne)
Feb 11 – With prayers for a swift end to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Year of the Ox will be ushered in on Friday with hopes high for a more prosperous time ahead.
Churches on collision course with the government over AstraZeneca vaccine (WAToday.com.au)
Feb 13 – Major churches are at odds with authorities over the AstraZeneca vaccine, with religious leaders telling parishioners they are entitled to request a different jab but the federal government saying most people won’t have a choice.
QAnon cult happy at home in Republican Party (The Australian)
Feb 13 – (Opinion: Phillip Adams ) America leads the world in the manufacture of madness, from conspiracy theories to armed militias. QAnon is just the latest.
