The Aristophrenium

Proclaiming the truth of the gospel and the centrality of Christ in all things

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Monday

4

March 2013

2

COMMENTS

Still the West’s most extreme abortion law reform

Written by , Posted in Pro-Life / Abortion

Last October I wrote a piece (“Pro-choice is pro-life” … or so the logic goes) following my involvement in a peaceful march through the Melbourne CBD, protesting the Victorian Abortion Law Reform Act (2008) [1] that legislated perhaps the most permissive laws on abortion in the Western world. The 2008 bill that was voted into law not only decriminalised abortion up to the day of birth, but permits partial-birth abortion and makes no provision for the medical care of infants born alive following unsuccessful abortive procedures – such infants can simply be left to die. Further, the bill denies medical practitioners any right of conscientious objection, mandating by law that all qualified medical practitioners, registered nurses and pharmacists must be complicit in the act of abortion. All proposed amendments to the bill were rejected by the Victorian Parliament. Such proposed amendments included, but were not limited to: 1). mandating medical [...]

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Monday

24

December 2012

0

COMMENTS

Christmas: A “festivus” for all of us

Written by , Posted in Society & Culture

End of year celebrations. Cries of Happy Holidays. People in the streets wearing Santa hats, reindeer antlers or elf-ears. Carollers singing about magical snowmen, a red-nosed reindeer and a jolly-fat guy in a red suit who squeezes down chimneys, pilfering milk and cookies, stuffing stockings and sneaking a pash with your mother. Snow-filled, feel-good, luke warm, b-grade family movies showing in cinemas or being re-run on TV for the umpteenth dozen time. Crazed, 3am zombie shoppers, milling through malls. Variations of egg-nog recipes; decorated ginger-bread houses. Candy canes; tinsel; baubles; and fake, plastic trees. Roast turkeys; roast geese. Wishes on stars and sneaking kisses under mistletoe. Outlandish, homespun woollen green and red sweaters. Fastidious – and bordering on obsessive-compulsive – displays of lights on houses and roof tops and trees. Oddly-shaped gifts; magnificently wrapped gifts; poorly wrapped gifts; unwrapped gifts! Family feuds; carols by candlelight; Kris Kringles and office parties. [...]

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Sunday

18

November 2012

9

COMMENTS

Gay Big Brother contestant proposes but passes on parenting

Written by , Posted in Marriage & Family, Sexuality, Society & Culture

The winner of this year’s reality show, Big Brother (Australia), surprised many when he popped the question to his partner in the dying moments of the season’s finale. Reality TV is no stranger when it comes to such outspoken displays of romance, but Ben Norris’s proposal was just as much a political statement as it was a declaration of love. His partner, to whom he presented a diamond ring that his grandfather had given his grandmother, is his boyfriend, also named Ben. In a country where the traditional definition of marriage has been challenged twice in the last few years (to no avail), Ben’s proposal is very political indeed, even if he didn’t intend it to be. But the pro same-sex ‘marriage’ media loved it. After all, when rational arguments fail, there’s nothing like a good ol’ public, emotional display that tugs at the heartstrings of the populace to make [...]

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Monday

12

November 2012

1

COMMENTS

God’s Chisel

Written by , Posted in Soteriology, Witnessing

Friend and occasional commenter on The Aristophrenium, Rick Baskett, had shared this skit via Facebook two or three years ago. This is a ‘remastered’ version. It’s a great clip and I still find it quite moving even to this day.

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Tuesday

30

October 2012

6

COMMENTS

Championing pro-life views in the public square

Written by , Posted in Christian activism, Misc, Politics, Pro-Life / Abortion

As I alluded to in response to a comment made on my post reporting on the recent pro-life rally in Melbourne, there are a couple of things that I felt would have been beneficial to exclude from the event. I mention what those are in the below paragraphs. One of the more interesting points I noted with regards to the pro-abortion protesters in my previous article was the tactical angle of their messages: Shame, bigots, shame! Shame, bigots, shame! We won, you lost! We won, you lost! God raped Mary. She should have aborted Black, white, queer, straight! Women will control our fate! F*ck off, bigots, f*ck off! F*ck off, bigots, f*ck off! Jesus was a gay sheila who was pro-choice! You have 99 problems. They are all misogyny I had an abortion because I chose life Pro-choice is pro-life Not every ejaculation needs a name If the foetus you [...]

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Monday

15

October 2012

0

COMMENTS

Saturday

13

October 2012

15

COMMENTS

“Pro-choice is pro-life” … or so the logic goes

Written by , Posted in Christian activism, Politics, Pro-Life / Abortion, Society & Culture

Today in Melbourne, VIC, Australia, the fourth annual March for the Babies rally took place, winding itself through the streets of the CBD to stage a peaceful protest on the steps of Parliament House. Four years ago, on 10 October 2008, the Victorian Parliament passed the Abortion Law Reform Act, which legalised abortion at any stage of a mother’s pregnancy. Not only did the killing – without restriction – of the unborn up until birth become legal in the state, but medical practitioners were stripped of any conscientious objections to take no part in abortion. The law forces them to refer women through to practitioners who hold no such objections, removing from them the option of referral to crisis pregnancy centers in line with their conscience. Estimates of the size of the pro-life crowd vary in reports, but I believe a figure upwards of 2,500 protesters would be a conservative [...]

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Sunday

10

June 2012

0

COMMENTS

The Greatest Evil

Written by , Posted in Quotables

The greatest evil has not come from people zealous for God. It has resulted when people are convinced there is no God to answer to. – Greg Koukl, from his book Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions, in response to the claim that religion is responsible for more evils and atrocities any other ideologies. See many other great resources at his Stand to Reason website – www.str.org You could also add that evil results and flourishes when Christians refuse to take a stand for God’s truth amidst the culture of their day, sort of like the adage of boiling a frog in water …

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Thursday

31

May 2012

1

COMMENTS

The problem of sex-selective abortions for pro-abortion advocates

Written by , Posted in Pro-Life / Abortion, Society & Culture

Pro-abortion advocates are big on “choice”. On their view, abortion empowers women, giving them autonomy over their bodies, allowing them to control their body’s reproduction. But, as a recent undercover video (below) released by pro-life activist Lila Rose and the Live Action team reveals that Planned Parenthood will permit abortions based on gender1, pro-abortion advocates must fess up to the reality that their worldview necesitates the inclusion of sex-selective abortions. (And there’s been talk in the IVF industry about the issue of customising your baby. Want a boy with blue eyes? IVF can eliminate all the embryos that don’t have that trait and hey-presto! A blue-eyed baby boy2.) And, without doubt, when sex-selective abortions take place, the majority of them terminate the lives of unborn females3. So much for empowering women, huh? But those pro-abortion advocates who object to the mere notion of sex-selective abortions are faced with a dilemma: [...]

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Saturday

19

May 2012

1

COMMENTS

Why can’t the gay brothers be wed?

Written by , Posted in Ethics, Marriage & Family, Politics, Sexuality, Society & Culture

The title is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. However, in light of the arguments often advanced in support of legalising same-sex “marriage”, I believe it is a pertinent question. Why not let the gay brothers wed? If society and culture redefine marriage so that “any two persons can marry”, it seems no stretch of the argument at all to campaign for the legal wedding of two gay brothers to each other, or the wedding of an uncle to his adult nephew. In the Australian context, considering that our government is currently inquiring into the issue of legalizing same-sex “marriage” (see my last month’s post, Australian Senate considers marriage equality bill), our law enforces the following restrictions on people desiring to enter marriage: You must be an adult You must not be currently married You must not marry a close blood relation You must marry a member of the opposite sex Advocates of same-sex [...]

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