Religion News Australia

November 7 – 14, 2021

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

 

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Flowerkid: ‘I was so little and all I could think was that I was a sinner. I was going to hell’ (The Guardian, Australia)
Nov 11 – In the video for his 2020 single Miss Andry, Sydney pop artist Flowerkid sits slumped in the corner of a boxing ring.

EDUCATION

Consumer-minded parents treating schools like shops, says principal (WA Today)
Nov 14 – When John Collier, the retiring head of St Andrew’s Cathedral School, began teaching 50 years ago, parents had nothing to do with their kids’ schooling.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Judaism

Half of Britons do not know 6m Jews were murdered in Holocaust (The Guardian, Australia)
Nov 10 – Just over half of Britons did not know that 6 million Jewish people were murdered during the Holocaust, and less than a quarter thought that 2 million or fewer were killed, a new survey has found.

Religious Violence

Christchurch mosque shooter may lodge appeal, arguing guilty pleas obtained under duress (ABC News)
Nov 8 – The Australian man convicted of killing 51 people in the Christchurch mosque attack is claiming he pleaded guilty while under duress and is considering appealing his conviction, local media outlets are reporting.

Also: Victims’ family anger over Christchurch shooting killer’s plan to appeal (Sydney Morning Herald)
Nov 8 – Wellington: The gunman who killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques says his guilty pleas were obtained under duress due to mistreatment in custody, according to a memorandum from his lawyer.

Life sentence for murderer of French Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll (The Guardian, Australia)
Nov 11 – Yacine Mihoub sentenced for ‘savage’ antisemitic murder of 85-year-old in her apartment.

Other

Gardens of Eden: the church forests of Ethiopia – a photo essay (The Guardian, Australia)
Nov 8 – Seen by their guardians as sacred, Ethiopia’s church forests are protected and cared for by their priests and their communities.

Influential rightwing Christians lead opposition to Idaho Covid measures (The Guardian, Australia)
Nov 10 – The controversial rightwing Christ Church – and its pastor, Douglas Wilson – have led an uncompromising campaign of opposition to coronavirus public health measures in Idaho, revealing the church’s powerful influence in its home city of Moscow and beyond.

POLITICS

LGBTQ+ groups mobilise against Coalition’s religious discrimination bill (The Guardian, Australia)
Nov 11 – Equality advocates are mobilising against the Coalition’s revived religious discrimination bill and urging changes to ensure minority groups are not harmed by the legislation.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Too hot for ceremony: climate is fast changing for First Peoples and it’s not our ‘Australian way’ (The Age, Melbourne)
Nov 10 – (Opinion: Brooke Prentis) As an Aboriginal Christian leader, I’ve travelled widely across Australia’s diverse and beautiful landscape.

St Oswald’s Anglican Church, built for WWI soldiers, to be sold despite outrage in Broken Head (ABC News)
Nov 11 – Byron Bay is one of the busiest and most popular tourist destinations in Australia, but head 10 minutes south and you’ll find yourself a world away from the hustle and bustle.