VoxBrief

WHY EVERY CHILD NEEDS A MUM AND A DAD. Edited by Roslyn Phillips B Sc, Dip Ed.        During a public hearing arranged by the federal Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC - now called the Human Rights Commission) for its 2006 inquiry into same-sex couple entitlements, a woman was giving evidence. All was calm until she said: "I believe that every child has the right to grow up with both a mother and a father role model."

HUMAN RIGHTS CHARTERS: Do they protect our rights? By Dr David Phillips.        The Rudd Labor government of Australia elected in 2007, like the earlier Whitlam and Hawke Labor governments, soon began pushing for a national bill of charter of rights. Nearly $3 million over two years was set aside in the May 2008 federal budget to pay for a nationwide consultation on human rights and the best way to protect them. This move followed a decision by the Australian Labor Party at its 2007 national conference to "initiate a public inquiry about how best to recognise and protect the human rights and freedoms enjoyed by all Australians".

HOME EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA. By Terry Harding BA, DipEd, DipCDP, MEd, MACE. Manager, Schools Department, Christian Education Ministries; home educator for 15 years with wife Diane; former principal of the Australian Christian Academy.       In all Australian states and territories and across the Western world, especially the US, Europe, NZ and South Africa, increasing numbers of parents are choosing to educate their own children at home. The home education movement has flourished over the past 30 years as families have been increasingly able to access distance education, home schooling networks, high quality curriculum materials and a wide variety of information via the internet.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM UNDER ATTACK. By Richard Egan BA, GradDipLibSc.       It seems to happen every ten years. Governments, or government-appointed bodies, think it is time to launch another attack on freedom of religion in Australia. They never call it an "attack", of course - it is usually dressed up, like a wolf in sheep's clothing, as an "extension" of our religious freedom. Christians need to be aware of these past attacks so they can remain vigilant now and in the future. 

THE 'TRANSGENDER' PROBLEM. By Roslyn Phillips BSc, DipEd.        In 1967 the parents of baby Bruce Reimer, whose penis had been destroyed in a botched circumcision, turned for help to Dr John Money at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr Money advised them to have their son raised as a girl. Bruce was renamed "Brenda". Surgeons castrated him and fashioned an artifical vagina. He was dressed as a girl and given female hormones.

DO PARLIAMENTS NEED UPPER HOUSES? By Roslyn Phillips BSc, DipEd and Richard Egan BA, GradDipLibSc.        Australia's federal parliament is bicameral ("two chambered"). It has two houses - a lower house called the House of Representatives and an upper house called the Senate. Legislation must be passed by both houses, and signed by the Governor-General, before it can become law.

FAMILYVOICE AND THE CULTURAL COMMISSION. By Dr David Phillips BSc, MSc, PhD, Tha.        Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life, is one of the best-selling non-fiction books of all time. It topped the Wall Street Journal best-seller charts as well as Publisher's Weekly charts with over 30 million copies in print by 2006. Why? Why has it been so successful?

TAQIYYA: ISLAM'S DOCTRINE OF DECEPTION. An edited extract from Mark Durie's book: The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom.         One of the most controversial television documentaries on Islam ever made in Britain was Undercover Mosque, which first aired on 15 January 2007.     The documentary, produced by the independent television company Hardcash Productions for Channel 4 series Dispatches presents film footage gathered from 12 months of secret investigation into msques throughout britain.

FUNDING FOR PARENTS - WHAT IS FAIR? By Roslyn Phillips, BSc, Dip Ed, National Research Officer & Richard Egan, BA, GradDipLibSc, National Policy Officer, FamilyVoice Australia.         Some businesses, and many Western governments, give women in the workforce an allowance equivalent to several months' pay after they have a baby.     Some people claim that paid parental leave is a "workplace entitlement" like holiday or sick pay, and all businesses should be required to fund it.

PRIORITIES FOR CHRISTIANS ENGAGING OUR CULTURE. By Dr David Phillips, BSc, PhD, ThA, National President, FamilyVoice Australia.         Christians who step out of the comfort zone of the church and into the world of cultural engagement are confronted by a bewildering array of issues. Should we be concerned about the economy, health education, the environment, abortion, defence, housing, violence, the family, corruption, democracy or what?     When constrained by limited time and resources, are some issues more worthy of being addressed by Christians than others? If so, what are the priority issues for Christians engaging our culture?

CARE - OR KILLING? THE EUTHANASIA DEBATE. By Richard Egan, BA, GradDipLibSc, National Policy Officer, FamilyVoice Australia.         All proposals to legalise euthanasia or assisted suicide would create an exeption to the laws which projibit murder and assisting suicide.     Such proposals rely on the assertion of a "right to die" combined with the idea that some people would be "better off dead".

THE GREENS AGENDA, IN THEIR OWN WORDS. By Hon Kevin Andrews MP, Shadow Minster for Families, Housing and Human Services. Edited from of a speech delivered on 10 November 2010         For years, the Greens have been treated as a political curisity. They won a spot or two in the Senate, but were absent from the real place of political power, the House of Representatives. That has now changed. They will have more senators from July 2011, and a seat in the House. They are in an alliance with the minority Labor government nationally and in Tasmania.     Despite their environmentalism, "the Greens are not a single issue part." Their objective is: "to transform politics and bring about Green government." They are part of a worldwide movement that is actively engaged in the political process and aims at a radical transformation of the culture that underpins Western civilisation.