Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Hey-ho, it's off to work I go!
Work, in this case, takes me out of town for the rest of the week. So no more postings until next Monday. See you then.
Work, in this case, takes me out of town for the rest of the week. So no more postings until next Monday. See you then.
Child-driven parenting produces unhappy misfits
"Child-driven" parenting styles that give even more power to children than the liberal child-centred approach are producing unhappy, anxious children who cannot fit into society, says the Canadian author of a new book, The Pampered Child Syndrome.
"These children expect to be kept happy and stimulated, to be treated equally to adults and to be in charge," says Psychologist Dr Maggie Mamen. "When they run into situations outside the home that challenge these expectations, they have difficulty coping, and may show symptoms of depression, anxiety, hyperactivity or behaviour disorders."
Parents are baffled to find their children are unhappy when they've been given everything they want, says Mamen. That's because giving children everything they want is against the natural order of things, she points out. Unless parents reclaim their own "management" position in the family, kids will grow up unable to successfully manage their own lives.
Dr Mamen blames factors ranging from the anti-authoritarianism of the 1960s to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990) for the child-driven parenting philosophy. To hold out against aggressive marketing, she says, "We need our own values. We need to ask ourselves 'what are the policies and values of our family?'"
"Child-driven" parenting styles that give even more power to children than the liberal child-centred approach are producing unhappy, anxious children who cannot fit into society, says the Canadian author of a new book, The Pampered Child Syndrome.
"These children expect to be kept happy and stimulated, to be treated equally to adults and to be in charge," says Psychologist Dr Maggie Mamen. "When they run into situations outside the home that challenge these expectations, they have difficulty coping, and may show symptoms of depression, anxiety, hyperactivity or behaviour disorders."
Parents are baffled to find their children are unhappy when they've been given everything they want, says Mamen. That's because giving children everything they want is against the natural order of things, she points out. Unless parents reclaim their own "management" position in the family, kids will grow up unable to successfully manage their own lives.
Dr Mamen blames factors ranging from the anti-authoritarianism of the 1960s to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990) for the child-driven parenting philosophy. To hold out against aggressive marketing, she says, "We need our own values. We need to ask ourselves 'what are the policies and values of our family?'"
Anglican report on homosexual ordination slates both sides
The Archbishop of Canterbury has called on the Anglican church to unite, after a report warned that the row over ordaining gay priests could split the church in two. Dr Rowan Williams called on pro and anti factions to join together to renew and re-energise the Anglican Communion worldwide, following the publication of the Lambeth Commission’s Windsor Report. The archbishop conceded however that there was no simple solution to the crisis.
The report, published today, called on those in the US Episcopal Church who took part in a "deeply offensive" consecration of a gay bishop to apologise for their actions or withdraw from the Anglican Communion. The commission, headed by the Irish primate Robin Eames, also proposed in its 121-page report that the 38 national churches that constitute the communion should sign a resolution which called for the reassessment of the churches' "care for and attitude towards persons of homosexual orientation".
The commission is dealing with a deep split among Anglican national churches caused by the election of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire last November and the decision of the western Canadian diocese of New Westminster to bless gay relationships. In consecrating Bishop Robinson, the report said, the Episcopal bishops “caused deep offence to many faithful Anglican Christians."
The report also invited the Episcopal Church to call a moratorium on promoting any other person living in a same-gender union to the bishopric "until some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges."
The Archbishop of Canterbury has called on the Anglican church to unite, after a report warned that the row over ordaining gay priests could split the church in two. Dr Rowan Williams called on pro and anti factions to join together to renew and re-energise the Anglican Communion worldwide, following the publication of the Lambeth Commission’s Windsor Report. The archbishop conceded however that there was no simple solution to the crisis.
The report, published today, called on those in the US Episcopal Church who took part in a "deeply offensive" consecration of a gay bishop to apologise for their actions or withdraw from the Anglican Communion. The commission, headed by the Irish primate Robin Eames, also proposed in its 121-page report that the 38 national churches that constitute the communion should sign a resolution which called for the reassessment of the churches' "care for and attitude towards persons of homosexual orientation".
The commission is dealing with a deep split among Anglican national churches caused by the election of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire last November and the decision of the western Canadian diocese of New Westminster to bless gay relationships. In consecrating Bishop Robinson, the report said, the Episcopal bishops “caused deep offence to many faithful Anglican Christians."
The report also invited the Episcopal Church to call a moratorium on promoting any other person living in a same-gender union to the bishopric "until some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges."
Monday, October 18, 2004
Prison inmates converting to IslamMaori prison inmates, many of them gang members, are converting to a militant, politicised brand of Islam, raising concerns among sections of the Muslim community, the Sunday Star-Times reports.
Converts are being drawn to the faith through anti-Pakeha sentiment and a fascination with al Qaeda and the radical chic of African-American Muslim icons such as Malcolm X. "The ones coming in, their reasons are they admire Osama bin Laden," says Te Amorangi Izhaq Kireka-Whaanga, leader of the Aotearoa Maori Muslim Association. "They think it's all about fighting Europeans."
An Islamic convert of seven years and a staunch Maori nationalist, he sees tino rangatiratanga as a jihad, and says Islam is the perfect vehicle for Maori nationalism.
"We (Muslims) have the principle of taqwa...being godfearing. We fear nothing and no one but God. We don't fear Helen Clark, we don't fear George Bush."What God says, we do."
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I get very cautious when I hear people of any religious persuasion claim that God has told them to do something. Not because I don't believe that God can speak to people - He can. But my experience is that a high proportion of those who speak that way are not accountable to anyone. When people submit what they believe they have heard from God to someone else for validation, they tend to speak a lot more circumspectly. The trouble is, when someone dogmatically declares "God told me", there is no way to counter the declaration - no discussion is possible. I fear that these Muslim converts will not be prepared to admit that just maybe God didn't tell them what they are planning to do.
Converts are being drawn to the faith through anti-Pakeha sentiment and a fascination with al Qaeda and the radical chic of African-American Muslim icons such as Malcolm X. "The ones coming in, their reasons are they admire Osama bin Laden," says Te Amorangi Izhaq Kireka-Whaanga, leader of the Aotearoa Maori Muslim Association. "They think it's all about fighting Europeans."
An Islamic convert of seven years and a staunch Maori nationalist, he sees tino rangatiratanga as a jihad, and says Islam is the perfect vehicle for Maori nationalism.
"We (Muslims) have the principle of taqwa...being godfearing. We fear nothing and no one but God. We don't fear Helen Clark, we don't fear George Bush."What God says, we do."
................
I get very cautious when I hear people of any religious persuasion claim that God has told them to do something. Not because I don't believe that God can speak to people - He can. But my experience is that a high proportion of those who speak that way are not accountable to anyone. When people submit what they believe they have heard from God to someone else for validation, they tend to speak a lot more circumspectly. The trouble is, when someone dogmatically declares "God told me", there is no way to counter the declaration - no discussion is possible. I fear that these Muslim converts will not be prepared to admit that just maybe God didn't tell them what they are planning to do.
Science discovers money really doesn't buy happiness
Economists have started looking at surveys that basically ask people how happy they are. An important finding: Money spent on "stuff" - tangible status symbols like bigger homes and cars - doesn't increase a society's happiness.
"If we use an increase in our incomes, as many of us do, simply to buy bigger houses and more expensive cars, then we do not end up any happier than before," wrote Robert Frank, professor of economics at Cornell University, in a recent essay.
On an individual level, there's no denying that money does do some good. A recent Associated Press poll showed that people who make more than $US75,000 a year are far more likely than those who make $25,000 or less to say are "very satisfied" with their lives - 56 per cent of the higher-income group compared with 24 per cent of the lower-income group.
However, average incomes have more than tripled in the last 50 years, while average life satisfaction has held steady. The economy has grown substantially, but somehow it left happiness behind.
"The evidence thus suggests that if income affects happiness, it is relative, not absolute income that matters," Frank wrote. In other words, more money will make you happier, but only as long as those around you don't also earn more. Also, you get used to earning more money, so after a while it doesn't cheer you up as much as it did at first.
Economists have started looking at surveys that basically ask people how happy they are. An important finding: Money spent on "stuff" - tangible status symbols like bigger homes and cars - doesn't increase a society's happiness.
"If we use an increase in our incomes, as many of us do, simply to buy bigger houses and more expensive cars, then we do not end up any happier than before," wrote Robert Frank, professor of economics at Cornell University, in a recent essay.
On an individual level, there's no denying that money does do some good. A recent Associated Press poll showed that people who make more than $US75,000 a year are far more likely than those who make $25,000 or less to say are "very satisfied" with their lives - 56 per cent of the higher-income group compared with 24 per cent of the lower-income group.
However, average incomes have more than tripled in the last 50 years, while average life satisfaction has held steady. The economy has grown substantially, but somehow it left happiness behind.
"The evidence thus suggests that if income affects happiness, it is relative, not absolute income that matters," Frank wrote. In other words, more money will make you happier, but only as long as those around you don't also earn more. Also, you get used to earning more money, so after a while it doesn't cheer you up as much as it did at first.
