Former British prime minister Tony Blair has launched a new Faith Foundation to promote interfaith initiatives to tackle global poverty and conflict, and promote understanding between the world’s major religions. "Globalisation is pushing people together. Interdependence is reality. Peaceful co-existence is essential," Blair said at the 30 May launch of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation at the Time Warner Media ...

If the Dalai Lama wasn’t a revered spiritual leader he’d make a great "ham actor", Anne Treneman, a columnist with London’s The Times newspaper wrote about one of the world’s best known and most celebrated religious leaders, as he entered the final stage of an 11-day visit to Britain. "He’s a Drama – Lama, that’s for sure," said the columnist ...

The Methodist Church in Zimbabwe has condemned mounting post-election violence which has left at least 50 people dead and displaced thousands of villagers, according to rights groups and the main opposition political party. At the same time police tried to prevent worshipers entering Harare’s Christ Church in the suburb of Borrowdale despite them being granted a court order to pray ...

The Australian Christian Lobby group (ACL) has launched a campaign against a Bill of Rights for Australia on the pretext that such a charter would undermine existing freedoms people now take for granted. "A bill or charter of rights can … be a Trojan horse for minority agendas which have failed to make the grade with voters," said Jim Wallace, managing ...

The Uniting Church in Australia has congratulated the Rudd Government on its decisions to abolish the Temporary Protection Visa regime and to increase the number of places in the offshore Humanitarian Program. Rev Elenie Poulos, National Director of UnitingJustice Australia, wrote to Senator Christopher Evans, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, commending the Australian Government’s decisions. The Uniting Church has campaigned ...

The Moderator of the Uniting Church , Robert Watson, today said he was appalled by reports the Burmese military junta is planning to move ahead with a constitutional referendum, despite the fact that thousands of Burmese people have been killed, injured and left homeless by a major hurricane disaster over the weekend. “We welcome the news that some humanitarian groups ...

The Uniting Church in Australia has vowed to fight for the abolition of the nation’s recently introduced citizenship test, saying that it is not relevant and it appears that the main purpose "is to assess competence in English". The test was introduced in November during the last days of the government led by John Howard, who headed a right-of-centre coalition. ...

Citing India and China as the world centres of slavery, a corporate social responsibility guru has called on Queensland Christians to take up the call to be abolitionists. Professor of Ethics and anti-slavery campaigner David Batstone is author of the book Not for Sale: the Return of the Global Slave Trade — and How to Fight It, and estimates up ...

It’s the largest celebration of Easter in the country; it heralds a kaleidoscope of music, debate, art and extreme games in one destination, boasts it’s very own ‘canvas’ city, and has people from across this nation and around the globe flocking to southeast Queensland by the tens of thousands. In 2008, this event turned ten, embraced a new name and ...

Some church-backed non governmental organizations and church groupings are calling for action to stop what some observers say is an attempt by President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party to steal power following the country’s 29 March polls. Both the Christian Alliance and the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, a network of civil society, church and political parties, issued statements urging ...