Cultural Issues

In our last study of Habermas’ thought we concluded with Habermas’ movement from the paradigm of consciousness to the paradigm of language and his emphasis on communicative action: that the human species maintains itself through the socially coordinated activities of its members and this coordination is established through communication. Indeed, fundamental to Habermas’ thought is [...]

This is my summary of Stephen Rhodes’ very helpful book, packed full of illustrations often drawn from the lives of members of his multicultural church. Rhodes Where Nations Meet

This is my summary of Livermore’s helpful book. Livermore Cultural Intelligence www.facetofaceintercultural.com.au

Welcome to one of the classics in missiology. This book extends to 445 pages and is so dense that my summary runs for 65 pages. Although this book was first written in 1938 it is not dated. Even Kraemer’s portrait of where the Church currently stands is very much “on the money.” Speaking from an [...]

It is not right and wrong, but shame and honour that motivate behaviour in our region. The two are diametrically opposed. You only have to listen to the parents admonishing children here to realise this. ‘No. Don’t throw that stone! It’s shameful to do that: Conversely, a parent in our society might say, ‘No. Don’t [...]

In an article from the Daily Telegraph (May 26, 2008) the following positive portrayal of halal food was presented: EVERY kid knows how to get what they want – and in Sydney’s west it was only persistent badgering that brought halal food to the school tuckshop. The technique worked at Lurnea Public School, which has [...]

Today, I appreciated reading Paul Sheehan’s column in the Sydney Morning Herald: “Feminism’s failure to lend a hand.” He was commenting on a book about feminism (Living Doll: the Return of Sexism, by Natasha Walter) and a conference on feminism he attended at Sydney University. He found he could drive a truck through what was missing [...]

It is interesting to read in the latest issue of Philosophy Now that a Northwestern University (Chicago) study has found a correlation between the extent to which a country is individualistic and the level of depression experienced by its residents. The study identified Britain, USA, Australia and Western European nations to be the world’s most [...]

Last night I attended a David Livermore seminar on Cultural Intelligence (CQ). David provided a helpful way of thinking about helping people to develop competency in relating and ministering across cultures. His own particular focus in relation to CQ has concerned short term missions. He cited research indicating that in those organisations which have a good track [...]

During September 2007 some men from a small tribal group called the Kastam traveled from Tanna, Vanuatu to visit London. This was at the invitation of a British TV company. The Kastam people have some peculiar religious beliefs. For example, they believe that England and Tanna were once the same country, both erupting from a volcano [...]