Monday, August 15, 2005
You can almost guarantee this will happen in New Zealand, too, before long. A lesbian couple are launching a High Court battle to get same-sex marriages legally recognised in Britain. Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson were married while living in Canada in 2003 and now want a legal declaration of the validity of their union in the UK.
Kiwi couples are avoiding making "till death do us part" wedding vows in favour of more cautious promises such as staying together for "as long as love shall last". Marriage celebrants report that traditions such as something old, new, borrowed and blue endure, but vows are getting a shake-up, and some are shying away from promising forever. Catholic Church communications director Lindsay Freer said conditions and disclaimers such as "as long as love lasts" were undermining the commitment of marriage. "It's symptomatic of this disposable mentality society where nothing's for keeps and everything can be changed."
Today's voters judge political parties more by their managerial style than their policies, reckons Colin James. He has an interesting analysis in this article of the differences between the two major parties.
Morality has emerged as the sleeper issue in the election campaign, and the National Party looks set to benefit from a deep dissatisfaction with the country's moral direction, according to the Sunday Star-Times. More than 10,000 people responded to the SST's Great Morality Debate, making it one of the largest polls of its kind in the world.
Top principals predict first-year exams for the secondary school NCEA will be wiped within three years. Their forecasts follow a critical report on the Qualifications Authority's delivery of secondary school qualifications, released 10 days ago, and could mean that millions were spent on a qualification which may last only a few years. The report also found that the amount of assessment in New Zealand was "not sustainable". Auckland Grammar principal John Morris said education sources had told him external exams for level one students - fifth formers - would not survive.
A Chief Constable in the UK is asking his 4,000 officers to wear green ribbons, the traditional colour of Islam, to show solidarity with Muslims after the London bomb attacks. [So what colour ribbon should other citizens ask police to wear to show solidarity with them when a family member is murdered?]
What's the difference between religious tolerance and religious liberty? "For those who advocate tolerance, religion is a purely private matter and therefore it should never intrude upon public affairs. The tolerance crowd also tends to assume that all religions are in reality the same thing. They are merely different paths to the same god. If this be true, adherents of one religion should never attempt to convert others. Anything other than religious indifference is in bad form and considered intolerant by the tolerance police."
When Lutherans in the USA sing from now on, there'll be no "Father", "Son" or "Holy Spirit". Instead, they'll sing of the "Holy Eternal Majesty", "Holy Incarnate Word", "Holy Abiding Spirit". And now for the thorny issue - they'll decide this week whether to allow homosexual priests.
For millennia our technologies — fire, clothes, agriculture, cities, space travel — have been aimed at modifying our environment. Now, for the first time, our technologies are increasingly aimed inward — at altering our minds, memories, metabolisms, personalities and progeny. We must decide how radically we want technology to change the way we live.
Kiwi couples are avoiding making "till death do us part" wedding vows in favour of more cautious promises such as staying together for "as long as love shall last". Marriage celebrants report that traditions such as something old, new, borrowed and blue endure, but vows are getting a shake-up, and some are shying away from promising forever. Catholic Church communications director Lindsay Freer said conditions and disclaimers such as "as long as love lasts" were undermining the commitment of marriage. "It's symptomatic of this disposable mentality society where nothing's for keeps and everything can be changed."
Today's voters judge political parties more by their managerial style than their policies, reckons Colin James. He has an interesting analysis in this article of the differences between the two major parties.
Morality has emerged as the sleeper issue in the election campaign, and the National Party looks set to benefit from a deep dissatisfaction with the country's moral direction, according to the Sunday Star-Times. More than 10,000 people responded to the SST's Great Morality Debate, making it one of the largest polls of its kind in the world.
Top principals predict first-year exams for the secondary school NCEA will be wiped within three years. Their forecasts follow a critical report on the Qualifications Authority's delivery of secondary school qualifications, released 10 days ago, and could mean that millions were spent on a qualification which may last only a few years. The report also found that the amount of assessment in New Zealand was "not sustainable". Auckland Grammar principal John Morris said education sources had told him external exams for level one students - fifth formers - would not survive.
A Chief Constable in the UK is asking his 4,000 officers to wear green ribbons, the traditional colour of Islam, to show solidarity with Muslims after the London bomb attacks. [So what colour ribbon should other citizens ask police to wear to show solidarity with them when a family member is murdered?]
What's the difference between religious tolerance and religious liberty? "For those who advocate tolerance, religion is a purely private matter and therefore it should never intrude upon public affairs. The tolerance crowd also tends to assume that all religions are in reality the same thing. They are merely different paths to the same god. If this be true, adherents of one religion should never attempt to convert others. Anything other than religious indifference is in bad form and considered intolerant by the tolerance police."
When Lutherans in the USA sing from now on, there'll be no "Father", "Son" or "Holy Spirit". Instead, they'll sing of the "Holy Eternal Majesty", "Holy Incarnate Word", "Holy Abiding Spirit". And now for the thorny issue - they'll decide this week whether to allow homosexual priests.
For millennia our technologies — fire, clothes, agriculture, cities, space travel — have been aimed at modifying our environment. Now, for the first time, our technologies are increasingly aimed inward — at altering our minds, memories, metabolisms, personalities and progeny. We must decide how radically we want technology to change the way we live.
