The irony of the West’s close relationship with Saudi Arabia would be laughable, if it weren’t so troubling. When King Abdullah, of the ruling al-Saud family, died in January 2015, tributes gushed forth from world leaders. Prince Charles, David Cameron and Barack Obama, among others, flew to Riyadh to pay their respects to a man…
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A seventh generation White Witch, Sarah Kulkens uses timeless rituals and spells to help people. This eccentric religion which was once thought of as evil and satanic proves to be quite opposite to its stereotypes. Unfortunately, Sarah is still being bombarded with hate mail for practising witchcraft. Hailing from a long line of witches since…
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The week before Christmas, worshipers arrived in Sydney’s Shirelive Church carrying gifts. They were for children in Villawood detention centre. Churchgoers sat in pews, wrapped presents between their feet; amongst them was Scott Morrison, ‘looking like any modern Dad in shorts and loafers’. Yes, the very same Immigration Minister responsible for imprisoning children is…
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Shakerism is a religion on its way to extinction. Its three surviving members occupy a crumbling old house in rural New England, where they are surrounded by historical settlements, tourist museums and libraries devoted to their faith. At its peak in the 1800s, six thousand Shakers lived in this region. They were led there by…
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Religious and Christian education for both primary and secondary school-aged children has always been a provocative subject for debate, often with strong arguments for both its necessity as a compulsory school subject, for it being a matter of individual and familial faith, or being better off outside of the classroom. However, following a recent publication…
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So, the internet exploded recently with debate about a certain video – the ‘Mipsterz’ video. ‘Mipsterz’, or ‘Muslim Hipsters’ are a group/collective of American Muslims who also identify as hipsters. The video features a group of Muslim women wearing their hijabs in unconventional ways and styled in the cutting edge of fashion, dancing, skateboarding, fencing…
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Before I start I just want to clarify that the Calvary Hospital in Canberra is a public hospital. More to the point, it is funded by public money. You see, due to some wonderful decision making by the Commonwealth Government, the construction and operation of the only public hospital on Canberra’s north-side (if you are not…
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A new law has been introduced into Western Australia’s state parliament that would require Muslim women to remove their burqas or niqabs to prove their identity, if required. It would also apply to hats, scarves and other headwear or clothing that obstructs the ability to identify an individual. The law was drafted in response to…
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Norwegian woman Marte Deborah Dalelv was granted a pardon last week against her sixteen month jail sentence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dalelv had reported being raped by a co-worker in Dubai four months earlier and was subsequently jailed by officials for having extramarital sex, an act that is illegal in the UAE. Following…
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Over the last century, women’s rights movements in Western culture have led to a challenge of the patriarchy and in particular the religious patriarchal structures that have governed laws and cultural expectations for thousands of years. Mainstream Western religions – particularly Christianity and Judaism – have been criticised by feminists for both excluding women and…
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Amina is a 19 year old Tunisian woman who risked imprisonment and corporal punishment for baring her breasts in defiance. Reports suggest she has been committed to a psychiatric hospital by her family after she appeared on Tunisian television explaining her decision to join the radical feminist group, Femen. A video posted on Free Thought…
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Name: Ebonie Hyland Age: 21 Occupation: Student, Writer How would you describe yourself and your life? I spent the first 18 years of my life in Warrnambool, in the same little house with a white picket fence on the top of a hill near the sea. It was a humble, quiet existence, driven by music,…
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So you may have heard about or perhaps even read the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney’s opinions about marriage. The Anglicans decided to keep up with the times by updating their marriage vows – they changed the part about a new wife “obeying” her husband to her just “submitting”. Did someone remember to put up streamers?…
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Now I want to start off by saying that I while I’m not religious myself, I have nothing against religion. I understand that people have different beliefs to me and I respect that. Besides, even if I didn’t, it’s not any of my business anyway and certainly not my place to say so. But I…
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