A controversial radio interview with a young woman about the Roast Busters group did not breach standards, says MediaWorks – and broadcasting authorities have not received an official complaint. John Tamihere and Willie Jackson’s interview with a caller who identified herself as Amy included questions about whether Roast Busters’ alleged victims – some of whom Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Morality’
Babies know right from wrong
Friday, November 22nd, 2013
Several years ago, an energetic young mother, Tia, was out and about with her infant Aimee when disaster struck: a group of men, accompanied by vicious dogs, surrounded the pair, snatched up Aimee, and brutalised Tia. They left her helpless and without her daughter. Aimee was eventually rescued. But Tia was too battered to look Read more
Humanae Vitae 45 years on: a personal story
Tuesday, August 6th, 2013
For the faithful it (birth control) is a sad and agonizing issue, for there is a cleavage between the official teaching of the Church and the contrary practice in most families. — Former Patriarch Maximos IV Saigh of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church quoted in What Happened at Vatican II, by John W. O’Malley. Recalling that Thursday was Read more
Humanae Vitae 45 years on: Paul VI was right
Tuesday, August 6th, 2013
While pondering last week’s sapphire anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life) and the continuing controversy over the so-called “birth control encyclical” throughout both Church and society, I came across a striking passage in an essay by Polish Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz, written shortly before his death in 2004. “Increasingly the institution Read more
Pain, profit and third-party conception
Friday, August 2nd, 2013
The day after Stephanie Blessing learned she had been conceived with the assistance of a sperm donor and that the man she knew and loved as her father for 32 years was not her father, she went into shock. She remembers sitting in her rocking chair, staring into space. It was so bad, her husband Read more
Sex report slams Kiwi lessons
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013Sex education is promoting sexual behaviour among young people and not showing all the risks, a new report claims. The report, released today, concludes that the overall message to young people is that sex is okay as long as you use a condom. But schools and sex education providers say the report – commissioned by Read more
Catholic Church in Samoa opposes a plan to distribute free condoms
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
The Catholic Church is opposed to an initiative by the health authorities in Samoa to distribute free condoms on the campus of the National University of Samoa (NUS). In response to recently reported high rate of STDs in Samoa, the NUS School of Nursing, Samoa Family Health Association and Samoa Red Cross have joined forces Read more
The origin of morals according to Edward O Wilson
Friday, March 1st, 2013
American sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson is championing a controversial new approach for explaining the origins of virtue and sin. In an interview, the world-famous ant reseacher explains why he believes the inner struggle is the characteristic trait of human nature. Edward O. Wilson doesn’t come across as the kind of man who’s looking to pick Read more
Godless yet good
Friday, February 22nd, 2013
There’s something in religious tradition that helps people be ethical. But it isn’t actually their belief in God. A couple of years ago, the idea of God came up, in an incidental way, in the Contemporary Moral Theory course I teach. I generally try not to reveal my particular beliefs and commitments too early in Read more
Is effort to achieve a political solution to abortion counter productive?
Friday, November 30th, 2012
Have we as pro-life Catholics been wrong to invest the lion’s share of our time, talent and energy in the political battle against abortion over the past forty years? Or even if we have not been wrong the whole time, are we wrong now? Perhaps it is obvious that I believe the answer is yes. It Read more