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SUMMER 2012
11
news
Catholic work ethic
Despite the vaunted Protestant work
ethic, Catholic men aged 25 to 54 earn
6.7 per cent more income than their
Protestant counterparts in Australia, an
analysis of the Household, Income
Labour Dynamics in Australia
(HILDA) Survey has found.
Southern Cross University senior
economics lecturer Michael Kortt, who
conducted the study in conjunction
with University of New England
professor Brian Dollery, said no
statistically significant spike was
observed between Protestants and any
other group, including those with no
religious affiliation.
Dr Kortt said one possible reason was
that being raised Catholic “might instil
in a person a series of characteristics
such as discipline, which may be
rewarded by the labour market”.
Sydney Morning Herald
Islamist threat in Tunisia
An unofficial “committee for the
promotion of virtue and prevention of
vice” has been launched in Tunisia as
the country moves in an increasingly
Islamist direction. The newly-formed
organisation, which is supported by
Salafist groups, does not have
government recognition, but no action
has been taken to stop its activities.
The committee has taken it upon
themselves to see that Islamic virtues
are upheld in public life: they are
aggressive towards women who do not
abide by their code of dress, and they
make their presence felt at mosques and
Koranic schools, where they are trying
to impose imams with Salafist views.
The formation of the committee has
sparked fears among many liberal and
secular Tunisians about the risk it poses
to civil liberties. Highlighting the
example of Saudi Arabia, where official
religious police strictly enforce sharia
law, one Tunisian commentator said,
“Is this the fate of Tunisia? Is this post-
revolutionary Tunisia?”
Barnabas Fund
Brave Christian sacked
A Christian worker at London’s
Heathrow Airport has been dismissed
after she stood up for a colleague who
was bullied and harassed by Islamic
fundamentalists at Britain’s leading
airport and border control.
According to a press release on behalf of
the Christian Legal Centre, despite
working at Terminal 3 for 13 years, and
having many friends among staff of all
religions, Nohad Halawi was
summarily fired following un-
substantiated complaints by five
Muslims about her conduct. Mrs
Halawi had persistently complained to
management over personal religious
abuse and harassment from Islamic
staff, who even used foul language
about Jesus”.
Christian Concern says if Mrs Halawi's
allegations about the influence of
Islamic fundamentalism at Heathrow is
true, this case raises huge issues of
national security, religious
discrimination and the rights and
welfare of thousands of workers.The
Christian Legal Centre has instructed
top human rights barrister Paul
Diamond to represent her.
Church repairs delayed
In 2005, a Muslim mob enraged by
allegations of blasphemy against a
Christian pastor and urged on by
religious leaders torched three churches,
a school, a convent and numerous
Christian homes In Sangla Hill, near
Lahore, Pakistan
Many of those buildings remain in
poor condition, even after nominal
efforts by the government to rebuild
them, say church and school officials,
who have demanded that the
government take action.
Sister Andrea Sardar, principal of St
Anthony’s Girls’ High School, said:
“The windows are still without glass and
students find it difficult to study in cold
weather. Our school and hostel were
renovated but cheap materials were used.
Cracks are now appearing in the newly
cemented floor. Even the doors, which
were fixed instead of replaced, are giving
way.”
Film sparks crackdown
Chinese authorities have confiscated
copies of a new documentary about
overseas Chinese Christians and detained
a chief representative of the company
that produced and distributed them.
Jiang Yaxi of the Flowers in the Desert
Television and Film Co., was seized from
her home by special agents of the
Domestic Security Department.
She had reportedly been under
investigation since August over her
company’s production and distribution
of
Beyond
by a Christian filmmaker, the
Rev. Yuan Zhiming, who was once on
the Chinese government’s most-wanted
list for his part in the Tiananmen Square
democracy movement in 1989. He fled
to the US, and became a Christian two
years later.
Beyond
is a nine-part DVD
series that tells the inspirational stories of
Chinese people whose lives were
transformed when they went to another
country and found Christ.
The police have started formal legal
proceedings against Jiang; she has been
placed under criminal detention, which
is the first step in a process that almost
always results in conviction of a crime.
Barnabas Fund
Protest at shoe insult
More than 3000 angry Pakistani
Christians have held a protest rally in
Lahore condemning sale of shoes
incorporating Christian crosses. Some
Muslim leaders joined the protestors,
who were wearing black armbands and
headbands. The protest ended after
pastors led hymn singing.