How much tax – if any – do religious organisations pay in Australia?
Is it true that religious organisations are exempt from paying tax and from standard accounting and record-keeping obligations?
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The popular TV series encourages us to question how we understand identity and community in light of religion.
Peter Paul Rubens, Lot and his family escaping from the doomed city guided by an angel, circa 1615.
For Muslims generally, as for conservative Christians, homosexual acts are sinful. Christian gays and lesbians have had to work hard for a measure of recognition among fellow-believers; their Muslim counterparts are just beginning that struggle.
The political culture of Australia, unlike the United States, frowns on explicit religiosity.
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Not only is the Australian Christian Lobby losing relevance, it has had to appeal to Bill Shorten to pay attention to the group in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
A detail from Stanisław Wyspiański’s “Macierzynstwo” (1905).
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What are we really talking about when we criticize women who breastfeed in public?
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The number of people who identify with a religion is declining, but that doesn’t mean it’s on its way out.
St Thomas Becket looks down from Canterbury cathedral’s window.
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Henry II wouldn’t be amused – but rehoming relics is a way of making peace with the past.
With attendance at mass continuing to flag, the Catholic bishops’ influence has waned with it.
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The Catholic bishops have exhorted Australians to cast a “vote for the voiceless”, but it is doubtful that their plea will be paid much heed – by politicians or the public.
Both major parties have a platform that could ultimately facilitate same-sex marriage in Australia.
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Experience in the US serves to highlight the potential long-term economic consequences if Australia fails to legalise same-sex marriage.
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Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are helping change the top-down nature of organised Christianity.
Clergymen who conceal sex abuse offences are guilty of betraying the trust vested in them.
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Church cover-ups are extremely serious. Child victims are especially vulnerable and often suffer long-term psychological harm.
The rules for schools could change.
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Local education authorities have mediated the RE syllabus for decades. Now, there might be a free-for-all.
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It looks as if the story of the red priestess Melisandre is only just getting started. But is she a prophet, or a witch?
A photograph from The Sabbat Cycle’s Austin stop, where a screening of ‘The Witch’ was held, followed by a satanic ritual.
The Satantic Temple
What, exactly, are the political goals of The Satanic Temple, which formed in 2013? A religion professor attended a recent satanic ritual to find out.
Preaching to the converted.
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Pope Francis’ mercy mission to a migrant camp in Lesbos is another effort to rescue the tarnished and failing brand of Catholicism.
Charles Manson, pictured during his trial.
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What makes cults so attractive to their followers?
Pope Francis exhorts the faithful to accompany each other on their life journey, and help each other be free in love.
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In his new exhortation, Pope Francis issues the Catholic Church and its followers a bold challenge: to live God’s mercy more authentically.
Feeling blessed?
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The prosperity gospel – a uniquely American strand of Christian theology – creates a dilemma for its adherents.
Brussels Airport bombers Brahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui had previously spent time in prison.
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Apart from having little or no knowledge of religion, the new crop of Islamic State recruits come primed for violence with a different set of skills, honed through criminal activity.
The last census revealed that just over 60% of Australians identified as Christian, but only one in seven of those attended church regularly.
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Church affiliation and attendance is on the wane in Australia – a trend that is unlikely to be reversed be the recent slew of sex abuse scandals.