Let us by all means make the "Ground Zero" debate a test of tolerance. But this will be a one-way street unless it is to be a test of Muslim tolerance as well.

It turns out that two Irish bishops implicated in that country's sexual abuse crisis, Dublin auxiliaries Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, won't be resigning after all, because Pope Benedict XVI wants them to stay on.

The Marriage Ideal

Ross Douthat, NYT

So what are gay marriage's opponents really defending, if not some universal, biologically inevitable institution? It's a particular vision of marriage, rooted in a particular tradition, that establishes a particular sexual ideal.

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Disaster economics

A natural disaster like the New Zealand earthquake can provide a bizarre boost to the economy.

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Independents tear us all a new paradigm

News Online | 07 Sep 10

Julia Gillard has been returned as Prime Minister, to preside over a parliament in which every MP is now a potential swinging voter.More

Pope Benedict XVI said people who argue that liturgy should be about bringing God down to the level

Benedict XVI and the banality of sacro-pop

By Tracey Rowland | 07 Sep 10

One of the most banal but dreadful ways in which theculture of destruction of liturgical life is

A vision of the city of God: Restoring the revolutionary language of worship

By Barry Spurr | 07 Sep 10

Blog

This is the way the election ends, not with a bang but a whimper

Scott Stephens | 7 Sep 2010

Australia's seemingly interminable political hiatus is now over, and it ended with all the silliness, the self-interest and the promiscuity that characterized the interregnum.More

Comment:

What did you think of the election result? What will the next three years under the "new paradigm" be like? I'm keen to see what you think.

Opinion

Those who support the idea of human-induced climate change are said to "believe" in it, while those

Believers and sceptics: the quasi-religion of climate change

By Jonathan Lusthaus | 06 Sep 10

For a generation we have witnessed the sheer absurdity of middle aged and elderly congregations

Deliver us from idiocy! Recovering inspiration in liturgical language

By Barry Spurr | 07 Sep 10

News

The Labor party position in Queensland is parlous and it has to be rebuilt: Beattie

Beattie says Qld Labor needs rebuilding

News Online | 07 Sep 10

Petraeus slams church's plan to burn Koran

News Online | 07 Sep 10

Telling whites what they want to hear

ABC Unleashed | 07 Sep 10

Kiss Me Like You Mean It: Negotiating in the New Paradigm

News Online | 07 Sep 10

Features

One often hears that because New Zealand and Australia do not have an "established church" that

Religion, government and free speech: The case of New Zealand

By Max Wallace | 01 Sep 10

Pakistanis affected by the floods walk through floodwaters in Thatta

The Pakistan floods and the mystery of suffering

By Richard Shumack | 02 Sep 10

The threat to marriage comes not from the same-sex partners who seek to uphold its values but from

Beyond equality: the deeper case for allowing same-sex couples to marry

By Rodney Croome | 30 Aug 10

Close-up TV still of of Scales of Justice statue outside Brisbane CBD Law Courts complex

Forgiveness and the justice of God

By Samuel Wells | 27 Aug 10

Audio

David Burchell: People, politics and pundits

Through his books and a regular column in The Australian newspaper David Burchell has been challenging and scrutinising many of the assumptions journalists and others have made about our political and social life. In a wide ranging discussion he looks at politics, the recent elec ...

Counterpoint | 07 Sep 10

Eric Kaufman - Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?

With all the current talk about the revival of religion, political Scientist Eric Kaufmann takes a look at the statistics and muses that if demography is any guide, the world to come will be much more religious and much more conservative.

Sunday Nights NLR | 06 Sep 10

Seven Vital Virtues: Hope

Is hope the last refuge of the desperate, or is it the eternal light in the darkness that can turn everyday fear into joy? Sr. Yeshe Chodron is an Australian Buddhist nun who works with street children in India, Fr. Chris Riley is a Catholic priest who runs Youth Off the Streets ...

The Spirit of Things | 02 Sep 10

Church and state in Latin America

New technologies, travel and TV have profound implications for the Catholic church in Latin America. Gay rights, human rights, and women's rights - even abortion - are confronting centuries of Catholic thinking and the clergy is slowly being pushed out of politics. Reporter Steph ...

Background Briefing | 06 Sep 10

They Say I Can Wear Shorts

With the Australian political parties being urged to commit to long-term aged care reform, Encounter this week goes behind the politicking, and into the Mater Aged Care Home at Forbes in western NSW. Nursing homes are a hidden world, veiled by our fear of death and ageing. But cl ...

Encounter | 03 Sep 10

Spoilt for choice or spoilt by choice? Renata Salecl

Now that Australia has made its choice - sort of - The Philosopher's Zone looks as the very idea of choice. Much more than previous generations, we can pick and choose where we live, how many children we have or don't have, what type of bread we would like to eat and even what ou ...

Philosophers Zone | 24 Aug 10

Video

Leaders face 'painful' foreign policy hurdles

Lateline | 06 Sep 10

Professor Hugh White discusses the foreign policy challenges facing Australia's leaders, including how the rise of China will impact Australia's relationship with America.More

Leaders face 'painful' foreign policy hurdles

Lateline | 06 Sep 10

Professor Hugh White discusses the foreign policy challenges facing Australia's leaders, including how the rise of China will impact Australia's relationship with America.More

Bob Katter fires up on Q and A

News Video | 07 Sep 10

Independent MP Bob Katter took time out to field questions from the Q and A audience on the eve of his decision on which side of politics to support. More

Smart card or dumb move?

7.30 Report | 06 Sep 10

The poker machine deal between Independent MP Andrew Wilkie and the Labor Party has been hailed as a big step forward in tackling problem gambling. But the move to introduce a smart card to limit funds to problem gamblers has the pokies industry up in arms.More

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Infidel

ABC FORA | 07 Sep 10

Controversial author and self proclaimed "infidel" Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells Jennifer Byrne how she came to reject Islam and explains why she is willing to risk her life to be an outspoken critic of the religion she grew up with.More

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Leaders face 'painful' foreign policy hurdles