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Keywords: Complicit

  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The disquieting lessons of Ian McEwan

    • Peter Craven
    • 14 June 2023

    Ian McEwan's Lessons marked a sharp twist in a five-decade literary career, and presents an opportunity to reflect on his expansive body of work. The one-time literary rogue and Booker laureate now stands as the unquestioned doyen of modern English fiction, his audacious work perpetually navigating undercurrents of unease.

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  • RELIGION

    The unlikely hope of Easter

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 03 April 2023
    6 Comments

    Easter is a story of unlikely victory, which underlies the hope that inspires Christians to link the Palm Sunday March to the plight of refugees and to walk with them. This hope acknowledges the power of evil in the world which drives people out of their country, yet it refuses to be intimidated by such evil or to allow it to pass unchallenged. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Culture wars are for tin soldiers

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 02 February 2023
    6 Comments

    Any discussion of the ethics of culture war should begin with the basic reality of human communication: to flourish, human beings rely on cooperation with other people. Speaking abusively about others weakens the necessary trust that lies at the foundation of a well-functioning society and inhibits the conversation about values necessary in a humane society.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    When raising a flag means death

    • Susan Connelly
    • 01 December 2022
    2 Comments

    Filep Karma was found dead on a beach on 1 November, 2022. He was a respected and long-time activist for Papuan freedom. He was jailed in July 1998 and then released after eighteen months. In December 2004 he was again arrested and charged, being sentenced to fifteen years in prison. His crimes? Repeatedly raising the Morning Star flag.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The Bolshie Cup

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 08 November 2022

    The Cup is stacked with horses from everywhere but Australia, is designed for celebrities and would-be celebrities to be seen rather than to see, and now restricts the space where the plebeians can ape the dress and the excesses of the privileged. Fortunately, the rain still falls on the rich and the poor alike.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Gloria

    • Jamie Dawe
    • 03 November 2022

    Mum had unshakeable graciousness, although her hand executing cigarette /  ballet pirouettes put the fear of foreign emulsification in brothy ox tongue  soups / Strong foundations based on love, respect and loyalty with times of grieving — an empath for a neighbour or relative

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Turning back Australia’s refugee policy

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 21 September 2022
    1 Comment

    July marked the tenth anniversary since offshore refugee processing was introduced in Australia, a step that marked a change in Australian policy from an uneasy balance between respect for people in need and the pressure to deter further arrivals. The principle of deterrence is deeply corrupting because it is based on the conviction that it is acceptable to punish one group of people in order to deter others.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Legitimised judicial captivity: The Assange case

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 16 December 2021
    18 Comments

    The legal pursuit of Assange is disturbingly unique not only for using an archaic law against a non-US national; it is also the first instance of an international application of it against a publisher. The law, if applied in the way suggested by the charges, criminalise the receipt, dissemination and publication of national security information, irrespective of motive. If the US Espionage Act 1917 were applied in this way, it would appear to subvert the free press provision in the United States Constitution.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    If life is not sacred...

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 06 October 2021
    40 Comments

    Some weeks ago I wrote about the taking of human life and of the loss of its sacred connotations.  I argued that the decisive consideration governing recent legislation in such issues as abortion and assisted dying has been the appeal to individual choice, supported by compassion for people who suffer from their denial. Whether we welcome this trend or regret it, as I do, we all have an interest in asking what effect it will have on society. In this article I would like to explore this question in a way that opens rather than closes conversation.  

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  • RELIGION

    Critical Race Theory and the question of social sin

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 05 August 2021
    60 Comments

    Critical Race Theory, which has recently been banned ineffectively by the Australian Senate from the National Curriculum, has everything going for it as a lightning rod. It has an acronym (CRT), opacity and an air of self-importance. It is also associated with a controversial social movement: Black Lives Matter. The theory does not need to be understood before generating heat.

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  • RELIGION

    Why thinking Indigenously is important for Australian theology

    • Garry Deverell
    • 18 May 2021
    19 Comments

    It is no coincidence that white ‘settler’ theology in this country has barely begun to engage with Indigenous people. Arguably, it has only begun to do so because the Indigenous citizens of the churches have begun to cast off the imaginative shackles made for us by our white gubbas and find our own voice.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Mobile phone bill threatens dignity and decency

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 24 September 2020
    21 Comments

    The objections to the legislation focus correctly on the infringement of human rights. That phrase, however, is bloodless. It might suggest that rights form a list to be ticked off. Human rights are better conceived as a way of speaking about the conditions necessary for people to live decent human lives. The proper place from which to reflect on them is the actual lives of the people who are affected.

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