AUSTRALIA
Faith groups: AMUST
NEWS 1-3
BOOMERANG 4-7
COMMUNITY 8 - 15
AUSTRALIA 16 - 19
LIFESTYLE 20 22
the game plan must be for 2030
Thea Ormerod
Faith communities across Australia held vigils on Monday 18 October, outside the offices of members of parliament, including that of the Prime Minister with their unified call for Australia to take stronger climate policies to the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, especially a stronger target for the year 2030. A group of 50 people, including a dozen clergy of various faiths and Catholic Religious, rang bells and held a liturgy outside the office of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Groups from various faiths also held vigils outside the offices of other MPs, some Coalition and some Labor. They included Nationals Leader Barnaby Joyce, Trevor Evans in the seat of Brisbane and Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef, Warren Entsch. were held in 43 countries. With a unified
message about protecting the earth, they were held in places as different from each other as New York and Nairobi, Lilongwe in Malawi and London, some with corporate targets such as BlackRock and others challenging deforestation. Over 120 diverse faith communities across Australia were involved on Sunday and hung banners on their places of worship or held events, calling on Scott Morrison to set much bolder climate targets for 2030. As the Government considers a target of net zero emissions by 2050, faith communities say that only an ambitious near-term goal would make that goal meaningful. Venerable Bhante Sujato, Buddhist monk of Sutta Central, who attended the vigil outside Scott Morrison’s office, said, “We are distressed that the Coalition’s internal debate is about a 2050 target when the main game is slashing pollution this decade. We need targets closer to those of our partners the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union. Indeed, the world needs reductions now.” In Melbourne, Pentecostal Pastor Rob
Buckingham of Bayside Church, said, “Our prayers are for the Morrison Government, that they will take the bold action needed to protect the integrity of God’s creation. We can already see the early but escalating effects of climate change. We must rise to the challenge now, in order to protect the future of humanity.” “We share the Nationals’ concern for regional communities but, with the world moving away from fossil fuels, it is more compassionate to assist these communities to diversify their local economies. Otherwise, we abandon them to an uncertain and bleak future. Especially so because people
in the regions are also bearing the brunt of fires, floods and droughts made worse by climate change,” Pastor Buckingham said. In Australia, actions were organized under the auspices of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC), a founding partner of GreenFaith International. View Photos at https://bit.ly/3oLpVhU. Thea Ormerod is the President of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC), a Catholic Christian, retired social worker and grandmother of eight.
Women Leaders in the Abrahamic Traditions
Kim Chong
The annual Abraham Conference was held on Sunday 10 October 2021 with the theme ‘Women Leaders in the Abrahamic Traditions: Role Models for Our Time’, highlighting the contribution and difference women leaders in the Abrahamic traditions made in their time. The Conference, livestreamed on Zoom for the second year in a row due to COVID-19 restrictions, featured a speaker from each of the Abrahamic faiths: Jacquie Seemann Charak, co-founder and committee member of Or Chadash, a Modern Orthodox Synagogue, and the Sydney’s Women’s Tefila Group; Associate Professor Michele Connolly rsj, lecturer in Biblical Studies at the Catholic Institute of Sydney; and Yamamah Agha, general manager of the Humanitarian Settlement Program at Settlement Services International. Gunditjmara woman, Aunty Shirley Gilbert, opened the Conference with an Acknowledgement to Country. She shared her appreciation for the Aboriginal women who made their Aboriginal communities strong through their generosity and spiritual wisdom. The MC, Jane Jeffes, producer and director of a range of documentaries, former executive producer of The Religion and Ethics
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Jacquie Seemann Charak. Report on ABC Radio, and a mother of two daughters, opened the discussion. The context of this year’s theme was the Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements and the revelations of abuse in our federal parliament early this year, all of which brought thousands of women onto the streets in protest. “[These movements] bring into question patriarchal attitudes. They demand a new 21st century respect for women and have shone a light on the objectification and the abuse of women, whether that’s sexual abuse and domestic abuse or simply the denial of their full participation in society at whatever level,” Ms Jeffes said. “This is about women’s agency and what
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
Associate Professor Michele Connolly. that can do for all society. This theme is particularly relevant now, where we have watched what has been happening in Afghanistan and the impact that will have on Afghan women and girls.” Jacquie Seemann Charak shared the millennia–old stories of two women from Jewish texts, Devorah and Beruriah. Devorah was a prophetess and a judge of Israel, “a woman of valour, diligent in her ways and as quick as a fire torch”. Devorah’s leadership resulted in a sustained period of stability for the Jewish people. The second is Talmudic sage Beruriah, who lived in Israel during the second century of the Christian era. She is one of the few women whose authority in law and ethics and spiritual leadership feature in the Talmud and on par with the male scholars. Associate Professor Michele Connolly rsj spoke of two lay women and one group of women from the 21st century, who inspire her as they live their Catholic faith. For Sr Connolly, these women are inventing new ways to keep their spirituality alive and lead women in their faith, without much support from the official structures of the Church. The women are Andrea Dean, Christina Gomez and the Wagga-based women’s group, Spirit Weavers. Yamamah Agha spoke of the wife of Prophet Muhammed S), Khadija (r), “the first woman of Islam”. A successful businesswoman, Khadija wielded great economic and political power and influence. Impressed by Prophet Muhammed’s (s) character when he worked for her business,
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Yamamah Agha. Khadija (r) proposed to him. During their marriage, when the Prophet told Khadija (r) about his divine revelations, she encouraged him to leave the business and preach full time. Almost every year since 2002, the Abraham Conference has brought together Jews, Christians and Muslims by celebrating the common bonds of ancestry and faith that unite them in their various approaches to Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, who are foundational figures for each of the Abrahamic religions. The Conference seeks to overcome ignorance and prejudice and promotes better mutual understanding and cooperation among them in pursuit of the common good. This year’s Abraham Conference was again organised and hosted by the Coordinating Committee of representatives from Affinity Intercultural Foundation; the Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations; the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies; the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of NSW & ACT; Australasian Muslim Times AMUST; the Diocese of Parramatta; the NSW Ecumenical Council; the Australian Egyptian Forum Council; and the Indian Crescent Society of Australia. The 2021 Abraham Conference is available to view at https://youtu.be/8tLqfaNAwQ0 Kim Chong based in Sydney is Media & Community Liaison, Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations. ISSUE 192 / NOVEMBER 2021
