Once again the humanists and atheists are trying to attack what little Christian foundation is left in this nation. Now they are wanting to change the standing orders so that the Lord’s Prayer is no longer read at the opening of day of parliamentary sitting.
Even though both Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull have indicated that they do not support this move, the anti-Christian lobby is not giving up that easily. Apparently several members are still pushing to have it debated in parliament, in the hope of raising enough support to push the changes through.
Australia is moving more and more away from any recognition of the unique place of the Christian faith in this nation, and it is time we called a halt. Accordingly, Right Reverend Dr. John Wilson of the Parliamentary Prayer Network has prepared a petition so that the ordinary Christian people of Australia can express their opposition to this move.
The petition can be found at http://www.ppn.org.au/events.html Right click on the petition and select “save as” to download it to your computer, then print it out and circulate it to as many people as possible.
VERY IMPORTANT: Do not alter the wording of the petition in any way. To be acceptable to Parliament, petitions must be presented in a particular format, and all pages of the same petition must have the same format.
When your petitions are completed, return them as quickly as possible to: House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Petitions
PO Box 6021
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11 English: World English Bible - WEB 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
From Yahoo News: “The average weekly wage in Australia is now $1,147.20, after growing by 4.7 per cent in the year to August.
The quarterly seasonally adjusted pace of average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) jumped 1.6 per cent in the three months to August, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday show.”
The annual rate has nudged above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) perceived “line in the sand” at 4.5 per cent.”
They have got to be joking! I know an awful lot of “average Aussies”, and not one of them - not even those who hold reasonably high paying jobs - would earn this much.
Of course, this is referring to wages, not other forms of income. The government’s Fair Pay site quotes the Standard Fedral Minimum Wage as $543.78 per week. That means that, in order to raise the average to $1,147.20 there are some people receiving wages (note again, this is not talking about business income or investments) that are ridiculously high.
Set against this is the plight of those who are dependant upon welfare. The single aged pension is $562.10 per fortnight, whilst those on Widow Allowance get just $449.30 per fortnight. If you are unfortunate enough to be studying and trying to live on Austudy, it is a mere $355.40 per fortnight. That means that those on aged pensions are living on just over half the minimum wage, those on WA less than a half, and those on Austudy on less than a third!
Now I know there are some in the community - including, sadly, many Christians - who have little sympathy for those on welfare, often seeing them as nothing more than bludgers. One Christian even told me once that “everyone has exactly the amount of money they deserve.” I would like her to tell that to the starving millions in Africa and Asia!
The reality is that, yes, sometimes people make foolish decisions and bring poverty on themselves. And yes, there are those - I believe they are the minority - who would rather just get a handout than work. But there are also many who find themselves in pressing financial circumstances through no fault of their own.
The important issue for us as Christians is that Jesus’ attitude was one of compassion for the poor - no matter how they got that way.
I believe that hard work and initiative should be rewarded, and I don’t begrudge anyone a fair wage that he or she has earned. However, somewhere along the line there has to come a balance.
I have long believed that a large part of the reason that the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer is that every increase, whether of wages or of pensions, is based on percentages rather than real figures.
Because of this, if for instance it is estimated that the cost of living has increased by 5%, and if it is decided to increase wages and pensions by that much, then the person on $200 per week gets a $10 increase, whilst the person on $2000 per week gets a $100 increase. Immediately, the difference between them has increased by $90 per week!
Sadly, the land of the “fair go” gets less so every week!
)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11 English: World English Bible - WEB 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The following information comes from the Australian Prayer Network. This would be a good thing for young Christian Australians to get involved in.
Public concern for the sexualisation of children is gaining momentum. Earlier this year, a group of young people from Victoria and NSW started a petition to remove sexualised advertising from roads and public spaces in NSW and Victoria which effectively launched the youth-driven “Say NO to sex ads” campaign. The campaign has continued to gather momentum and the petition now has over 4,000r 4,000 English: World English Bible - WEB Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z 1! Vrstica 0 ne obstaja!
signatures from across NSW and Victoria. But it’s now time to take the campaign to the next level.
The Australian Family Association and the Fatherhood Foundation are jointly hosting a Sexual Integrity Youth Leaders Forum in December, 2008 and would like to invite youth leaders from across Australia to attend.
WHERE: Room 1S2, Parliament House, Canberra;
WHEN: Wednesday, 3 December 2008;
TIME: 9.30am to 4.30pm
The goal of the Sexual Integrity Youth Leaders Forum is to plan to prepare the groundwork for a fully fledged Sexual Integrity Youth Summit scheduled for 12-13 August 2009, also to be held at Parliament House in Canberra.
Matters to be discussed at the Planning Forum will be:
Confirm dates & times for 2009
Confirm overall strategy
Marketing & communication strategy
Confirm Australia-wide lead-up campaign for Sexual Integrity Youth Summit 2009
Confirm expected numbers & venue requirements
Confirm speakers and contributors
Issues to be addressed
Policy outcomes
Media campaigns
Expected results
It is envisaged that at the Youth Leaders Forum a nationally representative youth taskforce with strong Christian representation would be formed to facilitate the planning and organizing of the Sexual Integrity Youth Summit in 2009.
The purpose of the proposed Sexual Integrity Youth Summit in August 2009 is:
1. To further plans to see implemented a Sexual Integrity Strategic Policy Plan.
2. To encourage the process of positive national debate and further policy formation to promote quality relationships between men and women for the purpose of ending the sexual exploitation of men, women and children in the 21st century both in Australia and other parts of the world.
The aim of the Australian Family Association and the Fatherhood Foundation is that the Sexual Integrity Youth Summit would be organized and chaired by young people with a heart for greater levels of sexual integrity in Australian society for the greater good of all. It is the hope of the Australian Family Association and the Fatherhood Foundation that the Sexual Integrity Youth Summit will act as a springboard and platform for young people who would like to have a greater say in government and a voice in national affairs.
Youth leaders are invited to consider attending or sending a representative to the Sexual Integrity Youth Leaders Forum on 3rd December at Parliament House Canberra to further the cause of sexual integrity in our nation.
If you are interested in attending the Youth Leaders Forum please immediately contact Bridget Spinks at bridgetspinks@gmail.com as planning arrangements are in their final stages
Bridget Spinks Thomas More Centre 0408 496 610
Warwick Marsh Fatherhood Foundation 0418 225 212/02 4272 6677
Mary-Louise Fowler Australian Family Association 02 6383 4242
)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11 English: World English Bible - WEB 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Editors note: This review is presented as being about protecting religious freedom in this country. The past record of the Human Rights Commission however does not exude confidence that the review will come out in favour of greater religious freedom. Indeed the comments of the Commissioner when announcing the enquiry would give the impression it is tailored to try and find ways of limiting the voice of “fundamentalist” Christians on moral and social issues of the day where they do not accord with the secular humanist agenda seemingly propagated by such bodies as the Human Rights Commission. This issue requires much prayer.)
A national review of what Australians think about religious freedom is being launched by the Human Rights Commission. The commission’s race discrimination commissioner Tom Calma says Australia needs to understand what religious freedom means in the 21st century. He says in a secular, multifaith society, people sometimes have different expectations about the way laws reflect those beliefs. Mr Calma says there is evidence of a growing fundamentalist religious lobby, in areas such as same-sex relationships, stem-cell research and abortion.
Mr Calma says there is a balance to be struck between the freedom to practice a religion and not pushing those beliefs on the rest of society. “The fundamental human right of freedom of religion and belief is protected by a number of international treaties and declarations,” said Commissioner Calma. “It encompasses freedom of thought on all matters and the freedom to demonstrate and express our religion and belief individually, with others, in private or in public.”
In calling for submissions from the public, the Commissioner pointed out that the intersection of religion and belief with human rights is illustrated daily in our news headlines. “The involvement of religious institutions in school curriculums and practices, religious and ethical concerns about scientific research, the status of Muslim communities in society , the involvement of religion in debates about homosexuality or abortion - these are just some of the stories that involve us every day at the intersection of religion and belief with human rights,” said Commissioner Calma.
“Given that these issues are continually in the headlines, it is timely that they be comprehensively evaluated in terms of their impacts on the practice, expression and perception of religion and spirituality in Australia,” said Mr Calma. “A better understanding of the way they influence our attitudes and laws will assist us as to advance our nation’s social and cultural prosperity.” Commissioner Calma emphasised that gaining a comprehensive understanding of these issues could not be achieved merely by consultation with academics, religious institutions and government.
“To achieve the intention of our discussion paper, we need to hear from as many people as possible, from as many walks of life, with as many different experiences to share as we can.” Mr Calma said. Submissions close on 31 January 2009. Electronic submissions are encouraged by visiting www.humanrights.gov.au/frb or emailing frb@humanrights.gov.au
Submissions can also be made by post to
Race Discrimination Unit: Education and Partnerships Section,
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001.
For enquiries, call (02) 9284 9600 or 1800 620 241.
The Freedom of religion and belief in the 21st century project is being run by the Australian Multicultural Foundation, RMIT University and Monash University, in partnership. The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has expressed concern at the calling for such a review, saying that it appeared to be biased before it even started and aimed at undermining the rights of people with faith to have an influence in the public sphere.
ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said that comments from the Commission’s race discrimination commissioner Tom Calma questioned whether religious beliefs should influence policies being determined in Australia. “It is unbelievable that an organisation supposedly working to “respect, protect and promote” human rights should bring into question the basic rights of people of faith to freedom of expression and political participation,” Mr Wallace said. “Unless there is another agenda here, we are clearly short of reasons to justify such a review,” he said.
“Everyone, whether of faith, no faith, or a faith in secular humanism, has a right to bring their views into the public square,” Mr Wallace said. “I expect the Human Rights Commission to be protecting that right - not challenging it.” Mr Wallace said that, historically, Australian society had been founded on Christian values and people of faith have contributed a great deal to the laws and government of our nation.
Source: Compiled by APN from information provided by the ACL
PLEASE DO NOT NEGLECT THIS. IF THE BODY OF CHRIST DOES NOT RESPOND TO THIS, OUR FREEDOM TO PREACH THE GOSPEL COULD BE SEVERELY CURTAILED!
) and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11 English: World English Bible - WEB 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
