14 November, 2024
Dear Reader,
My only somewhat muted and diplomatic response to the recent US election is to quote one-time presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders (re-elected in Vermont for a fourth term):
‘It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic party which has abandoned working-class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and Black workers as well. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.’
COLONIALISM: A MORAL RECKONING
The Revd Dr NIGEL BIGGAR, Chairman of the Free Speech Union (UK), Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford, was our guest in Hobart on Saturday 19 October. Prof Biggar’s talk was videoed and is now online here.
With best wishes to all, as ever,
David Daintree
FOR FURTHER READING
‘AGAINST CHRISTIAN CIVILISATION’
English writer Paul Kingsnorth, a recent convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, gave the 2024 Erasmus Lecture last month. You can watch it here, but it’s been poorly edited – nothing happens till 26 minutes in! The title is surprising. Kingsnorth wants to distance a pure Christianity from any form of civilisation, western or otherwise. It’s a challenging view, but definitely worth watching. One viewer critiqued thus: ‘I love Paul, and this was an excellent speech. However, I think the notion that Christians have a fundamental dichotomy: fighting to save the Western Civilization or repenting to be not just false, but dangerously false. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for civil rights, and he did it in a Christian way. It seems to me that this is what the times call for.’
MORE ON THE ACU ABORTION WALKOUT
The Director wrote a piece for Mercatornet here, a slightly extended version of the message in the last newsletter. It attracted a vigorous correspondence.
HAS THE UNITED NATIONS LOST ITS WAY?
In this article by Peter Fenwick the focus is on a speech to the General Assembly by Javier Milei, President of Argentina. Milei acknowledges the wonderful work done by the UN since its foundation, but notes that in recent years ‘a toxic relationship has been promoted between global governance policies and international lending agencies, requiring the most neglected countries to commit resources they do not have to programs they do not need, turning them into perpetual debtors to promote the agenda of the global elites’.
HOW THE LNP CRUSHES PRO-LIFE CANDIDATES
In this article Lyle Shelton, National Director of the Family First Party, examines the bullying of aspiring politicians whose ethical views don’t match the accepted ‘norm’.
And on a related matter, Joanna Howe has been banned from the South Australian Parliament for making members feel ‘unsafe’!
CHESTERTON SOCIETY ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Australian Chesterton Society held its 2024 conference on Saturday, November 2, at Campion College in Sydney. The conference marked the 150th anniversary of Chesterton’s birth, and focused on the theme, ‘The Rebirth of G.K. Chesterton – Insight and Foresight’. The various speakers explored his insights that had stood the test of time, particularly in the areas of education and social and economic organisation.
A keynote speaker was the President of the Chesterton Society in America, Dale Ahlquist. He delivered one paper on the Chesterton Schools Network, a new educational movement that has led to the establishment of more than 60 schools throughout America teaching a Catholic and classical curriculum. His second paper reported on the worldwide development of Chesterton societies and centres, embracing countries as different as Italy, Croatia, and Sierra Leone.
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Other speakers were Stephen McInerney, Dean of Studies at Campion College, who highlighted the pioneering influence of John Senior and his development of an Integrated Humanities Program in America; Garrick Small, a property economist and university professor, who discussed the silent alliance uniting big business and big government in modern society; and Karl Schmude, President of the Australian Chesterton Society, who revisited Chesterton’s prophetic insights in various areas, such as human reasoning, economic structures, and sexual freedom. All the papers are online here now. Transcriptions will also be available on request, at a cost of $20.00 (incl. postage), by contacting the Australian Chesterton Society at: kgschmude@gmail.com.
NEW BOOKS
WOKERY – A WAKE-UP CALL FOR THE WEST, the complete proceedings of last year’s Dawson Centre Colloquium, is now on sale: ORDER ONLINE HERE
Wokery is reviewed here by distinguished Australian theologian Prof Tracey Rowland. Prof Rowland, winner of the esteemed Ratzinger Prize for Theology, has recently been appointed general editor of the English edition of the late Pope Benedict’s complete works.
DEFEND THE WEST: THE CULTURE OF FREEDOM, by Kevin Donnelly, is available here. There are some excellent chapters detailing the unique and beneficial nature of the West’s patrimony and explaining why there is cause for optimism.
COMING EVENTS
DEMOCRATIC CONFERENCE 2025
The next Democratic Conference, which will be taking place in Sydney from 7th to 9th February 2025. This year’s theme is Alternative Futures for Australia. Not just be about big ideas or political activism but about that fundamental thing our democracy so desperately needs – engaged citizens capable of principled and evidence-based thought who can work with one another.
You can find out more about the Conference on the DC website: https://democraticconference2025.com.au/. Or contact Augustine – augustine.italiano@ncc.org.au.
LATE AND ECCLESIASTICAL LATIN SUMMER SCHOOL
Monday 6 to Friday 10 January 2025
Notre Dame Priory, Colebrook, Tasmania
The Latin school assumes some prior knowledge of the language and leads participants through a selection of important readings in poetry and prose, sacred and secular, from authors such as Augustine, Jerome, Bede, Peter Abelard, Aquinas, the Carmina Burana, and even Dante. In date our selections range from the poet Virgil to the abdication speech of Pope Benedict! There will also be a segment on palaeography when participants can handle real medieval manuscripts. Accommodation may be available on request to the Priory.