Author: Philip Jenkins ABC Religion and Ethics 21 Aug 2012 (Source: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/08/21/3572305.htm) It sounds like a scriptwriter’s dream. Here we have Russia, a vastly powerful country with a floundering democracy, facing the imminent threat of tyranny. That danger is personified by Vladimir Putin, a former KGB man who looks like, well, a former KGB man, as imagined by John Le …

Family breakdown and decreasing marriage rates is costing New Zealand taxpayers at least $1 billion a year, according to new research. Prepared by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), the research was commissioned by Family First NZ. “The study shows that the decline of marriage, New Zealand’s high teenage fertility rate, and our rate of solo parenthood is …

WHY do those who seek long-term partners seem to be finding it so difficult? Over the past few years I have observed a pattern, reading and hearing comments from people in the up-to-35 age bracket that they cannot find partners. This view was reinforced around a dinner table recently, and I can’t easily identify the exact factors behind this situation. …

  THE Premier, Barry O’Farrell, will allow Liberal MPs a conscience vote on a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, which a cross-party group of MPs will introduce this year. Liberal, Nationals, Labor and Greens MPs have formed a working party to draw up a bill to allow gay and lesbian couples in NSW to marry, if legislation before Federal Parliament is voted down, …

A Hamilton (Canada) -area Christian father is suing his children’s public school board after they refused to allow him to withdraw his children from controversial lessons on homosexuality. Dr. Steve Tourloukis, a dentist, says the suit comes after he has been asking for accommodation from the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board since Sept. 2010. A member of the Greek Orthodox Church, he …

FACTS IN BRIEF Title: God’s Power within You: Attitudes for Living Author: Dr. Peter M. Kalellis, PhD. Publisher: Paulist Press (New York/Mahwah NJ: 2010) ISBN Number: 9780809146550 Pages: 100 REVIEW The Roman Catholic publishing house “Paulist Press”, has usually been quite adept at selecting and publishing good quality works of theology, Christian spirituality and pastoral ministry. This particular work under …

Prot. No. 758 †BARTHOLOMEW By the Mercy of God Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarchate To the Plenitude of the Church Grace and Peace from the Creator, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ *  *  * Beloved children in the Lord, God’s grace renders us worthy today to commence yet another ecclesiastical year, one more festive cycle, within whose …

Introductory Remarks Within our present-day globalised societies whereby nations and peoples are all closely interlinked it has become common practice to accept the 1st of January as the beginning of a New Year, often ignoring local, cultural, religious or national customs.  However, the origins of this practice, is drawn specifically from the tradition of those who worshipped the sun at …

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS The Feast of the Transfiguration (Metamorphosis) of Our Lord Saviour, Jesus Christ, is one of the major events that took place within the travelling ministry of Christ, and is recorded within the gospels of Matthew (17:1-18), Mark (9:2-8), and Luke (9:28-36). Within the Scriptural narratives of all three cited gospels, the Transfiguration takes place immediately after the recognition …

Dearly beloved readers of Mode of Life,   Our message today is directed to our fellow Australian brethren and more specifically to that of the Melbourne faithful. During the course of this week, within the dead of night and without much publicity, our Federal politicians are voting upon the question of same-sex marriage. Because of this fact, this matter has gone …