VoxBrief

ARE HOMOSEXUALS BORN THAT WAY? By Dr David Phillips, BSc, PhD, ThA, National President, FamilyVoice Australia.         When Lady Gaga released the song Born This Way in February 2011, the response was phenomenal. The song reached number one in 19 countries, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and Sweden. In the United States, it topped the billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks. And it became the fastest-selling song in iTunes history, selling one million copies in five days. Why?     After repeating the chorus line "I was born this way" umpteen times, Lady Gaga goes on to equate homosexuality with race...

TECHNOLOGY: WHY DID CHRISTIANS DEVELOP IT? Condensed from chapter 7 of Vishal Mangalwadi's book: The Book That Made Your World, Thomas Nelson, 2011.         When I visited Jinja, Uganda in 2000, I stayed on the shores of Lake Victoria - the world's second largest freshwater lake. Observing hundreds of women and children hauling water on their heads, I was struck by a puzzling question: Why were women staying near an abundant source of water and electrity, carrying water on their heads, morning and evening, 365 days a year?     Were they unaware of pumping technology? That couldn't be the case, becuase across the fields from my residence was an industrial complex that pumped water 2,000 homes directly from Lake Victoria.

TRUTH AND FREEDOM: THE IMPORTANCE OF ROBUST DEBATE. By Dr David Phillips, BSc, PhD, ThA, National President, FamilyVoice Australia.         I will never forget the day when I was called to give evidence in a defamation case being heard in the Adelaide Supreme Court. An offical ushered me into the witness box, asked me to place my right hand on a Bible, and say "I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing by the truth."     Most of us have watched television dramas where witnesses have been sworn in court using similar words. This requirement to tell the truth in court procceedings is part of our culture, not just here in Australia but in Britain, America and throughout the English speaking world.

THE CASE AGAINST SAME-SEX 'MARRIAGE'. By Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch. www.billmuehlenberg.com         One of the most disconcerting items on the homosexual agenda is the demand for marriage rights for same-sex relationships. But the Orwellian attempt to equate same-sex relationships with traditional marriage is doomed from the outset. Homosexual marriage is simply an oxymoron. There are many reasons why this move to destroy marriage must be resisted. Here are some of them.

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.

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".

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.