Muslim migrants in the Western world WHEN ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY MEET:Muslims in Europe and in the United Statesby Jocelyne Cesari(Palgrave Macmillian)Paperback: 280 pagesRec. price: AUD$53.90 A headline in a national newspaper last year proclaimed, “Prophet not perfect, says Islamic scholar” (The Australian, October 4, 2006). In the subsequent article, Perth economist and chairman of Prime…
William Wilberforce’s titanic struggle against the British slave trade is the subject of a new film, Amazing Grace, reviewed here by John Ballantyne. Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce. Are you ever tempted to despair at the state of the world around you? Do you feel the wrong people seem to be in charge, and it’s almost futile to continue struggling to make the world a better place? If so, take heart from the career of the anti-slavery campaigner, William Wilberforce (1759-1833), subject of an inspiring new film, with a stellar cast. Amazing Grace is brought to the silver screen by Walden Media…
Many Taiwanese would willingly accept boring politics in exchange for an expanding economic pie and reduced tension with China, reports Jeffry Babb. The people of Taiwan will go to the polls to elect a new president early next year, probably in March. For many, it will be a great relief to see the end of President Chen Shui-bian, who has based his policies on creating a division between the Taiwanese – those who settled on the island from mainland China’s Fujian Province, beginning in the 16th century – and the later arrivals, the Mainlanders, who arrived from China after the 1949…
The Chinese Government’s horrific practice of killing Falun Gong practitioners for their organs was the subject of a human rights forum, sponsored by the Epoch Times newspaper and hosted by The Thomas More Centre, North Melbourne, on June 20. In his address to the forum, Peter Westmore suggested that the Australian Government is publicly playing…
The latest WTO trade talks have collapsed, but the Australian Government is behaving as if nothing has changed. The collapse of the latest round of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks aimed at liberalising world trade, particularly in agriculture, will have serious consequences for Australia. Over the past 10 to 15 years, the Australian Government has…
The gaping hole in Europe’s soul MENACE IN EUROPE:Why the Continent’s Crisis is America’sby Claire Berlinski.(New York: Crown Forum)Hardback: 288 pagesRec. price: AUD$49.95 These are not good days for Europe. It has lost its way and seems incapable of recognising the many dangers and threats it is facing. Many Europeans recognise that an ideological, spiritual…
