lev.lafayette's blog

A Moment Wisdom Of From The Torah ...

Originally this address was going to be on the Australia's Future Tax System Review, more commonly known as the Henry Review, and in particular on the subject of the mining tax which has generated significant public debate. However as events have taken their own priority, as they often do, an opportunity has arisen to take a step back and look at the entire package within the context of public finance and draw a parallel with a wisdom found in first books of of the Christian Bible or the Jewish Torah.

A longer version of the above 'blog commentary that was published in the ANZUUA newsletter.

THOUGHTS ON A UU SEMINARY IN AUSTRALIA

By Lev Lafayette

A surprise study published in The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion and reported by Scientific American suggests that the so-called Generation X group are more loyal to their religious background than the "Baby Boomers". By the same token the survey of some 37,000 Americans also noted that the number with no religious affiliation doubled in the 1990s and continues to increase.

Pew has conducted a poll which reveals that 18% of U.S. residents believe that Barack Obama is Muslim, up from between 11% from March 2009 to August 2010, whilst the number who believe he is a Christian has declined from 48% to 34%, whereas the number who don't know his religion has increased from 34% to 43%.

Service (opening words, reading, closing words) to an address by Kenneth Davidson, economics and public policy write for The Age, August 8, 2010

Opening Words

The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.

John Maynard Keynes "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money"

Address of August 1st, 2010

Evil and Grace

Address to the Melbourne Unitarian Church, June 27, 2010

Development and Spirit

Service (opening words, reading, closing words) to an address by Jennifer Bishop, Director of Education Australian Esperanto Association, Melbourne Unitarian Church, June 13, 2010

Saluton. Bonan matenon, kaj bonvenon la Eklezion Unectarios Paca Memoro.

Service to an address by Dr. Rob Watts, Melbourne Unitarian Church, April 18, 2010

Opening Words

From a letter to "The Age"

One can have a great deal of sympathy for Michael Perusco ("Bible bashing the homeless, Abbott style"). When asking Tony Abbot whether he'd join the Prime Minister's goal of halving homelessness by 2020, Tony Abbot responded that he would not, using a biblical quote "The poor will always be with us" and claiming that there is little a government can do for people who choose to be homeless.

Service (opening words, reading, closing words) to an address by Dr. James Brown on "Alternative Energy", Melbourne Unitarian Church, February 7, 2010