the tyranny of normality

Every quarter TEAR Australia puts out a magazine called Target which focuses on news and issues in aid and development. I was privileged to be able to write a short Bible study for the latest edition.

This quarter’s theme is (dis)Ability, and as you might guess it addresses disability and the creation of an inclusive world.

My study is called ‘The Tyranny of Normality‘. Feel free to give it a read, along with the rest of the latest Target.

MCA

the neutrality of atheism

I don’t normally write about atheism and belief in God. I believe such discussions should generally be left to the context of personal relationships; public debates on the topic change no one’s opinion (people have almost always made up their mind before the often shrill debates begin).

However after watching Scott Stephens’ Compass interview with The Chaser’s Julian Morrow on the topic of Life’s Big Questions, I thought I would make a brief comment about atheist “non-belief”.

Morrow, speaking about his Jesuit Catholic upbringing, recalls:

So you know that’s a lot of inculcation and indoctrination time that I was exposed to.
… I think it is indoctrination. And I remember seeing it in my little brother; seeing a little baby who had absolutely no conception of these ideas of God or the devil or Jesus or resurrection and they’re simply inculcated into a person to the point that they accept them.