Western Australia: The towns where multiculturalism works, built on a foundation of tolerance

Muslim men praying in mosqueIn front of a gathering in Kuala Lumpur of South-East Asia’s most influential Muslim scholars, the leader of a mosque in country Western Australia took centre stage. Imam Alep Mydie had travelled there from Katanning, a farming town 300 kilometres south of Perth. His message to the conference of ASEAN scholars was clear — that the commitment to multiculturalism in Australia was alive and well. “I put forward how we all live [in Katanning] together, and how the mosque is open to the public,” Mr Mydie said.

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NSW: Buddhist Retreat: Beauty and Sadness

Our lives are often caught between the experience of beauty and sadness, and sometimes we recognise the two in a single experience. The first disciple of the Buddha who entered the path entered through the gate of impermanence (anicca) and the Buddha proclaimed of him, “Kondanna knows”.

Most people avoid sadness and are fearful of anicca and see time as a kind of enemy, and yet it is a primary doorway leading to liberation. This weekend will be an invitation to enter into and to explore our experience of impermanence and its intimate relationship with beauty.

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ABC Life: How to sit with someone who’s dying

When his grandfather died in the emergency department of a Hobart hospital, Andreas was by his side. “I was really frightened.” It was Andreas’s first experience of being with a dying person and it made him anxious.

“As his breathing slowed down and he was taking less and less breaths, I was worried about how I was going to feel when he didn’t take any more,” he says. “And then he had one final really deep inhale and exhale, and it was fine. “I wasn’t panicked at all. I thought ‘Oh, it’s not weird’.

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The Daily Telegraph condemned for provocative headline



The Daily Telegraph, a Sydney based tabloid newspaper published by Nationwide News Pty Ltd has been widely condemned for its Islamophobic headline “ALLAH AK BARRED!” appearing against a background of flag waving ISIS gunmen on its front page published on Thursday 9 August 2018, while reporting on “Five Aussie terrorists stripped of their citizenship.

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South Australia: ‘Faith Matters’ Service Project

Smiles were wide as young adults from different religious backgrounds in Adelaide came together for the third annual ‘Faith Matters’ service project event on Saturday 14 July.

About one hundred young adults (aged 18-30) from LDS, Muslim, Sikh and Catholic communities, together with their faith leaders, took up the invitation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to work together in assembling birthing kits in aid of Birthing Kit Foundation Australia.

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Queensland: Faith and Climate Change

faith-climateJoin the Griffith Climate Change Response Program for a seminar on Tuesday 21 August from 1:30 pm at the Griffith University Gold Coast campus with our special guest Professor Patrick Nunn, Associate Director, Sustainability Research Centre, University of Sunshine Coast explores: Improving the Effectiveness and Sustainability of Climate-Change Adaptation Outcomes in the Pacific Islands: A Role for Faith-Engaged Approaches?

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Queensland Atlas of Religion Community Forums

queensland atlas of religion research project

The Queensland Atlas of Religion (QAR) is a new research project currently commencing at The University of Queensland. Drawing on the expertise of researchers in history and studies in religion, the Atlas aims to document and interpret issues of religious faith, migration, community and identity in the Queensland context.

The Queensland Atlas of Religion Project will conduct community forums at Queensland Atlas of Logan, Toowoomba, Townsville, the State Library of Queensland, and Gladstone during August of 2018.

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