Opinion

REPENT. JUST one word on the cover of Journey in March 1989 as the revelations about police and political corruption in Queensland reached a crescendo. As the then editor of Journey, I had to see we reported the issues with theological integrity, rather than political partisanship, while avoiding the legal minefields of sub judice and contempt. But the bigger thrills ...

EARLY IN 1985 South East Queensland suffered weeks of power blackouts due to a dispute between electricity workers and the state government over safety and other issues in the power industry. The government sacked 1000 of the workers, including an active member of the Uniting Church, and cancelled their superannuation and other entitlements. A decision was made by Concerned Christians, ...

MY PERSONAL experience of what I call the Fitzgerald phenomenon goes back to the 1970s. I had been studying social ethics at Boston University School of Theology which confirmed in me a vocation to a specialised ministry in social justice and ethical issues. The Methodist Church appointed me Associate Minister at the city church (now Wesley Mission) and Convenor of ...

FIRSTLY, MY special thanks go to John Harrison, Don Whebell, Greg Mackay, and all who contributed to the July edition of Journey. During researching the Fitzgerald era I came to understand that despite (and perhaps due to) the Fitzgerald Inquiry, the majority of Australians live in a society fairly free from corruption. However, there are many issues Fitzgerald brought up for ...

SCHOOL, FOR me, reinforced and complemented the faith that existed within my family. I attended a Methodist boys’ school in Adelaide where I later returned as a teacher. I viewed some of the teachers there as mentors, but school chaplain Kyle Waters made a lasting impression on me and confirmed my faith and involvement in the church. Kyle’s combination of ...

IN MY PRIMARY school in Bundaberg the entire school was separated into denominations for RE lessons. Once a week, about 80 children were sent to a room where one poor lady tried to teach bible stories amongst misbehaving kids. I didn’t listen that much, however I did pay attention when the forms for attending Day Camp were handed out. At ...

SCHOOL AND faith; they interlock like a puzzle for me. My faith was born at school and without my faith I don’t know where I would be at school. My Christian beliefs give me an identity at school, at home and even in the wider community. Without such beliefs my whole life would be leading a different course probably, for ...

WHEN I was told that this month’s Journey would take a retrospective look at the Fitzgerald Inquiry years, I found myself remembering the painful period that led up to that Inquiry and the impact upon the Uniting Church in Queensland. In 1986, John Harrison took a look at the first 10 years of the life of the Uniting Church and ...

THE THREE Rs principle has always annoyed me. My first frustration behind this (now apparently dated) educational catchcry is somewhat obvious and perhaps unscholarly – only one of the Three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic) actually begins with an R. At school I was always terrible at spelling. I loved writing, but often that involved staying back at lunchtime writing out ...

WHEN THE financial bottom line becomes the means of determining the value of everything, education is treated as a commodity to be bought and sold. Its value is seen in its capacity to prepare a person to be a more effective economic unit in the market place. Those fields of study which are more financially productive become the most respected. ...