18 May 2009

ACU goes for a public policy institute.

| johnboy
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The Canberra Times brings news that the Australian Catholic University is going to set up a public policy institute.

The sort of public policy they’ll be promulgating no doubt to be of a Catholic bent. Something confirmed by dean Patrick McArdle’s promise to provide “an explicitly religious voice”.

One supposes they have the right to articulate their opinions.

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Jim Jones said :

I’d have to agree with VY – it’s just as bad to call the Catholic Church ‘the church of pedophilia’ as it is to call Islam ‘the church of terrorism’. Implying that *all* adherents of each church are pedophiles or terrorists respectively does little more than perpetuate false stereotypes.

That said, I think it’s eminently reasonable to characterize both religions as anachronistic superstitions that promulgate a medieval belief-system which perpetuates a staggering amount of stupidity in all fields of endeavour. Because, they are.

The belief in a higher deity of choice is a personal one. the behaviour of the church / temple / place of worship should follow the tenets of the teachings that they are trying to instill into the congregation. If they are engaging in wrongful acts, be it terrorism, paedophilia, etc, then they are not a true representative of that faith. I enjoy a joke as much as the next person, but it is starting to wear thin that all catholic priests are kiddy fiddlers, and all moslems are terrorists.

Good luck to the ACU with setting up the institute. it doesn’t effect me, and probably never will.

I have to say that as an atheist I’ve had about 15 years experience working in Catholic welfare institutions, and apart from once being told that I couldn’t support clients who wanted to have abortions, I found the Catholics’ social justice tradition alive and kicking, in both the religious orders and in the laity, noitable in comparison to the other mainstream churches. But the dark side is there too, weaving its pernicious influence and damaging the vulnerable.

Just saying, don’t typecast them all.

I’d have to agree with VY – it’s just as bad to call the Catholic Church ‘the church of pedophilia’ as it is to call Islam ‘the church of terrorism’. Implying that *all* adherents of each church are pedophiles or terrorists respectively does little more than perpetuate false stereotypes.

That said, I think it’s eminently reasonable to characterize both religions as anachronistic superstitions that promulgate a medieval belief-system which perpetuates a staggering amount of stupidity in all fields of endeavour. Because, they are.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy10:54 am 19 May 09

Why not? It seems perfectly acceptable to call the Catholics whatever we like.

I reckon we could come up with some really good ones, if we try…

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

Gee, the Church of Pedophilia giving its perspective on public policy.

Interesting generalisation. In the same vein, perhaps we should call Islam the Church of Terrorism?

let’s not, hey?

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy10:26 am 19 May 09

Gee, the Church of Pedophilia giving its perspective on public policy.

Interesting generalisation. In the same vein, perhaps we should call Islam the Church of Terrorism?

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster said :

Gee, the Church of Pedophilia giving its perspective on public policy. Hopefully they can drag themselves away from the altar boys long enough to send out the press releases.

the altar boys will be sending them out – why should the adults have to work?

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster9:27 am 19 May 09

Gee, the Church of Pedophilia giving its perspective on public policy. Hopefully they can drag themselves away from the altar boys long enough to send out the press releases.

The cat did it7:20 pm 18 May 09

Yes, yes, but will the Institute have ‘Comfy Chairs’ ?????

The Catholic Church is quite simply the most evil institution ever created by man and it should simply be stamped out of existence by reason and common sense.

Like many institutions its survival as an entity is far more important to it than any benefit it may have bestowed on people centuries ago.

They continue to cause mass human suffering for no logical reason other than some misguided and mistranslated manuscripts. In a more enlightened time they will be charged with crimes against humanity.

It’ll be a joke. How can an organisation that works by decree possibly call itself a thinking institution? I look forward to discussions on condom bans in Africa.

he obviously has friends in high places, this mcardle…

I just can’t believe that McArdle was named dean.

He was useless as a lecturer and discussed student work with non-academic or ACU staff and then openly admitted so in a lecture.

Then again, this is the same university that rewarded him with ‘Lecturer of the Year’ in the same year the event above took place.

This is all so the Australasian Institute of Applied and Cultivated Enlightenment (or whatever they want to call it) can be equivalent to Nine out of Ten Experts Pty Ltd, but in political circles.

caf said :

A “Don’t Think Tank” would be snappier.

Or at least a “Blinkered-Thinking Tank”.

Anyway, was the 15th Century really so bad?

There’s a difference between lobbying behind closed doors and putting out media releases along the lines of “Research released today by the Institute of Warm Fuzzies shows that implementing universal such-and-such will cause a 15% increase in sunshine and rainbows over the next three years.”

johnboy said :

Well now they’ll have shiny letterhead to put on their media releases and a veneer of academic integrity.

Journalists will feel obligated to seek out their views to provide balance, and they’ll be able to host nice functions for their fellow travellers.

what scares me sometimes, john, is that even when you are being sarcastic, you are also probably right.

Well now they’ll have shiny letterhead to put on their media releases and a veneer of academic integrity.

Journalists will feel obligated to seek out their views to provide balance, and they’ll be able to host nice functions for their fellow travellers.

johnboy said :

Peter if you know nothing about government relations, as suggested by your comment, best not to speculate on it.

Influencing both parliament and parliamentary press gallery with cunning arguments in support of Catholic social objectives would appear to be the major objective of this institute.

how is that different to the existing environments that have lesser profile in the current media focus? It seems to be an attempt by the ACU to increase awareness of the ACU, not further the catholic social objectives. The catholic education office and other groups within the catholic church have been engaging with ministers and lobbyists for years.

Peter if you know nothing about government relations, as suggested by your comment, best not to speculate on it.

Influencing both parliament and parliamentary press gallery with cunning arguments in support of Catholic social objectives would appear to be the major objective of this institute.

what, on toast?

I always believed that the church was the place for meaningful discussions and policy for the congregation. why would the formation of an institute benefit the catholic church? or is there some way to incorporate it into the political landscape and change the focus within and outside the church – perhaps to encourage new members to come in, whilst retaining existing members by a show of public good?

Gungahlin Al2:24 pm 18 May 09

Is it a think tank or a lobbying group? “Providing an explicitly religious [there’s a curious combo of words!] voice” seems to indicate the latter. Perhaps they need to do this now they don’t have Tony Abbott on the inside?

On reflection, I personally would prefer such lobbying outside the political circles like this, than to have (as we did with Abbott) elected reps pushing strong religious agendas inside a parliament. The separation of church and state is I think something that makes our country so much more stable than many others around the world.

John Lennon anyone?

A “Don’t Think Tank” would be snappier.

caf said :

Independently commissions and publishes policy research. Also known as a “think-tank”.

So a Catholic version would presumably be a “do-what-the-pope-says-tank”.

Independently commissions and publishes policy research. Also known as a “think-tank”.

What does a public policy institute do?

an explicitly catholic voice? a public policy instuitute? isn’t that found in church?

funny, that is where i would expect to find them.

The cat did it11:31 am 18 May 09

Looks like there is some church politics involved, and the Catholics have decided that they need an explicitly Catholic voice, rather than being part of (or confused with?) the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. It would be interesting to know which faction is behind it- is it a Pope Ratzinger/Cardinal Pell initiative, or something else- like Opus Dei?

No doubt we’ll see lots of impeccably argued moral positions. Problem is that moral positions based on superstition are founded on sand. They’ll need to say more than ‘because the Pope/Bible says so’

It’s good to see the Church finding new disciplinary fields in which to make themselves a laughing stock.

Well, obviously the religious think their perspective needs better representation.

And it’s their money they’re spending.

can mcardle first make a good case that we need a religious perspective in public policy making? and, whose ‘religion’? presumably his [catholic] – wouldn’t a cross-cultural think-tank to ensure the stands of all religions are taken into account in making policy be more worthwhile??

or am i not supposed to critices on religious grounds?

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