tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post8406575193777694946..comments2024-03-27T22:14:41.569+13:00Comments on .: Church and StateCrosbie Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541276600232884176noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post-14270526409663403302015-01-16T01:44:32.624+13:002015-01-16T01:44:32.624+13:00I am extremely impressed along with your writing a...I am extremely impressed along with your writing abilities, Thanks for this great share.<br />Web Developers Delhihttp://www.webgarage.innoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post-16311084297894834462015-01-06T14:26:36.807+13:002015-01-06T14:26:36.807+13:00Got an eMail the other day from someone who descri...Got an eMail the other day from someone who described Fiji as being "demon-cratic" --demon-cratic Fiji.<br />I said that was a bit farfetched. The reply I got back: But it is so poetic. I decided I could not argue very plausibly with that especially when I thought of the sign in Fiji bookstores that say: "No free reading."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12244225641631114936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post-75382254202962053622014-12-24T13:05:55.113+13:002014-12-24T13:05:55.113+13:00Second bite at the apple: The attitude to which yo...Second bite at the apple: The attitude to which you refer, Welcome Home, and encouragement to "question and challenge the nonsense ...." etc. etc. one might have reasonably expected to be the job of the USP but it has fallen mightily short. Just take a look at the string of recent Vice-Chancellors of USP--including the present one--they're a pretty desultory lot. Desultory, small minded, unimaginative Vice-Chancellors tend to run desultory, small minded, unimaginative institutions. The uSP's mission statement seems to say: "We are deeply committed to train and produce mediocre minds who will become good, pliable civil servants and pliable low to mid-level under educated and under informed personnel with degrees in the sciences." I think the fervent hope in the Pacific islands that USP is supposed to serve is that there is a deep and abiding hope that the questioning types will pack their bags and fold their tents and seek the pleasures of exile in far away lands.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12244225641631114936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post-41656208946506223102014-12-23T16:05:48.305+13:002014-12-23T16:05:48.305+13:00Fiji is a sad place when it comes to book stores. ...Fiji is a sad place when it comes to book stores. What you say, Welcome Home, about signs in bookstores that say 'no free reading', if true, is appalling. The last time I checked in Suva there were no book stores except the one at USP which is hardly a real bookstore. There is a lot of "nonsense (in Fiji) that daily passes for reasonable argument"--you are absolutely right.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12244225641631114936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post-25181307492329819952014-12-22T19:52:47.681+13:002014-12-22T19:52:47.681+13:00The late Christopher Hitchens is of course de rigu...The late Christopher Hitchens is of course de rigueur for anyone with the wit and inclination to question the 'status quo' or indeed the 'status quo ante'. But in a land where some bookshops have long had the temerity to post "No Free Reading' signs that is scarcely likely? This kind of foolish attitude must first be fixed and the individual must be encourage to question and to challenge the nonsense that daily passes for reasonable argument.Welcome Homenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post-31659126203830009212014-12-22T14:27:21.225+13:002014-12-22T14:27:21.225+13:00my wish for 2015 - retribution. Those that haven&#...my wish for 2015 - retribution. Those that haven't done the wrong thing and not benefitted themselves from the rise to power of the thugs and cronies, need not worry.beNNynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post-52376977514221997292014-12-19T13:04:33.540+13:002014-12-19T13:04:33.540+13:00A matter that ought also to occupy Kevin Barr'...A matter that ought also to occupy Kevin Barr's attention is the issue of secularizing the governance of religious organizations in Fiji. A good place to start might be the Catholic Church itself. Members of Churches ought to have rights similar to those of citizens in the greater body politic. Is it still too early in the day for Catholic priests to be assigned to Parishes rather than have Parish Priests being elected to their position in a given Parish for a given (possibly renewable) term? A little bit more home rule for Catholics in far flung outliers of the Catholic empire would be nice too.Some vigorous internal open debate between members of the flock and their shepherds would help oil the machinery of intelligent debate which is likely to have a flow on effect in the larger social and political order.<br /><br />The "clergy" who administer and control tax exempt religious organizations ought not to rely simply on their monopoly access to the pulpit from which they can speak unchallenged. Reliance on the power and authority of the clerical collar (even where the 'bula' shirt has become fashionable) and the power to call the shots from the pulpit are hardly very democratic. Members of the lay community in any religious organization ought not to continue to be treated as if they were potted plants--or to tweak the metaphor a bit--as mere hewers of wood and carriers of water--and as contributors to the coffers of their "churches". Comeon, Kevin, taxation with some representation--and not just the smoke and mirrors stuff.<br /><br />And, Kevin, the next time you get a chance to, get a copy of The Wind that Shakes the Barley and watch it closely.<br />There's a point here and a point there that you might find interesting, useful and instructive. There's a dozen frames at least on the Parish Priest spouting off from the pulpit on Sunday and the reaction of several members of the congregation (Irish men and women). No there's a message in that for you--and for Fiji Catholics in general. Please don't patronize me by saying: "We're not ready for that yet." Make us ready, Father, that's a fundamental part of your job--unless you have one standard for the civil polity and another one for the Church.<br /><br />Have a great Christmas and do great, imaginative, bold things in the New Year.<br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12244225641631114936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post-10294929822616436292014-12-18T22:42:42.490+13:002014-12-18T22:42:42.490+13:00Some of your readers ought to be interested in rea...Some of your readers ought to be interested in reading Christopher Hitchens, for example--in the interests of 'balance.'Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12244225641631114936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4727226025187579533.post-21973442637400824032014-12-18T22:37:56.523+13:002014-12-18T22:37:56.523+13:00And where, if anywhere, in a secular state, is th...And where, if anywhere, in a secular state, is there a line, between religious organizations and their spokespersons and the 'business' of politics? Should, for example, religious organizations endorse candidates for political office? Should religious organizations be allowed the license of endorsing one political party as opposed to another one? Should religious doctrine be a part of the curriculum in taxpayer funded or subsided <br />public schools? Under the guise of 'science' should 'creationism' be taught in taxpayer funded or subsidized public schools? These--and many other similar issues--are surely matters for intelligent public debate. Many of these issues may well have to be litigated and settled within the confines of the Judicial system--as has been the case, for example, in the United States (where, by the way, religious organizations have tax exempt status and must abide by certain rules subject to judicial review).<br /><br />The sources that Kevin Barr cites to buttress his arguments are, as one would expect, narrow and very selective. There is a huge body of well reasoned source material (including Judicial decisions) on this touchy subject from which contrary arguments can be drawn.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12244225641631114936noreply@blogger.com