Author: Nathan Campbell

Nathan runs St Eutychus. He loves Jesus. His wife. His daughter. His son. His other daughter. His dog. Coffee. And the Internet. He is the pastor of City South Presbyterian Church, a church in Brisbane, a graduate of Queensland Theological College (M. Div) and the Queensland University of Technology (B. Journ). He spent a significant portion of his pre-ministry-as-a-full-time-job life working in Public Relations, and now loves promoting Jesus in Brisbane and online. He can't believe how great it is that people pay him to talk and think about Jesus. If you'd like to support his writing financially you can do that by giving to his church.

Crime and punishment

It seems odd to me that Matthew Johns could engage in dubious, but legal, conduct and lose his job – and future employability – on that basis. He’ll probably never work in the areas he was, until today, employed in again. Fair? I’m not so sure.

What Johns did wasn’t nice. It was wrong by most definitions of the word, and It will cost the NRL money, it will cost Channel Nine money. But the media witch hunt has been appalling.

It seems particularly hypocritical for the network that brought us “turkey slapping” to stick a turkey with a microphone under John’s nose at an airport demanding an apology on behalf of a girl the reporter doesn’t know and has never met.

It also seems somewhat hypocritical for Australia’s leading newspapers to run such a witch hunt while they have these stories driving their online advertising revenue:

hotnews

Update: Matthew Johns has now apologised to the woman in question in a pretty contrite interview with ACA (reported here).

“Johns, who was earlier stood down indefinitely from Channel Nine and the Melbourne Storm, said the incident was morally wrong but claimed the woman involved was not acting against her will.

“I did not commit an act of abuse to that woman,” Johns said in the taped interview with A Current Affair. “I am guilty of infidelity to my wife and guilty of absolute stupidity.”

“I would say that on the night when she came back to the room, she was a willing participant in everything that occurred.”

He also said that he was unaware of the effect the incident had caused the woman since the night, which he apologised for.

“Any trauma and embarrassment that she’s gone through as a result of this I’m extremely sorry for.”

May 13, 2009

Budget froth and bubbles

Ahh, budget night, a night that has traditionally, for me, been an excuse for some solo TV watching complete with a cold beer. But not last night. Last night I didn’t watch any of the coverage until after NCIS* and Lie to Me**. I figured forensic crime investigations and a show examining honesty would be more interesting viewing than forensic accounting and a show full of lies.

But, I have been pretty interested in the whole alcopops debacle – which would most certainly be the most trivial issue to trigger a double dissolution ever. Some alcopops companies found a loophole and started brewing pre-mix drinks with beer as the alcoholic base, circumventing the tax. So now, the Government, in Budget Papers number 2, have promised to ensure that beer remains bitter… thanks to the SMH’s Annabel Crabb for the hot tip…

“The Government will alter the taxation definitions of beer and wine to ensure that beer and wine‑based products that attempt to mimic spirit based products are taxed as a spirit product, with effect from 1 July 2009. This measure has an ongoing gain to revenue which is estimated to be $125 million over the forward estimates period.

The definition of beer will be changed to ensure that beer has a certain level of bitterness, and to clarify that the addition of sugar, artificial sweeteners and spirits may result in the resultant product being taxed as a spirit based product.

The definition of grape wine products will be changed to exclude products that add the flavour of any alcoholic beverage, other than wine. Other changes to the definition of grape wine products will act to provide certainty as to the circumstances where alcohol can be added to a grape wine product.”

* Why can’t NCIS get corpses not to breathe during their autopsy scenes?
** I am fascinated by this show and the nuanced expressions of deception and emotions, provided it’s accurate and not a complete work of fiction…

May 13, 2009

More on atheists

I’ve had a pretty long debate stretching over two days with my atheist friends. I have some observations I’d like to make… they are generalisations so come with the standard general disclaimer.

  1. Atheists being branded as they are will always immediately dismiss Christianity on the basis that they’ve made the debate occur a step before Christianity – this means not engaging with any Christian material (ie the Bible)…
  2. They’re a-theist not a-Christian. If you argue the questions from a Christian perspective they dismiss them immediately because you’re not tackling the issue at the root.
  3. They will also refer to God as “it” and remove any Christian terminology from the argument – which makes arguing from a Christian perspective difficult. The Christian then becomes an apologist for Islam, and any other theistic world view in the process. In fact, by doing this they bring in every non-credible and crazy religion and ask you to defend them on equal footing – which is why the “atheist movement” for want of better nomenclature – have invented the Flying Spaghetti Monster and describe Jesus as a Zombie Carpenter…
  4. In attacking the rhetoric this way they’ve moved the goal posts – and apologists must adjust accordingly.
  5. The fundamental differences between the two positions are, in my mind best expressed as follows: Theists look at a complex universe and say a big creator must have made this, atheists look at the complex universe and say it’s too complex for a big creator, it must have been small particles accidentally colliding, or its complexity is a product of infinite possibilities occurring in infinite time. Alternatively, as expressed by one of the atheists in the discussion:

Theism uses the impossible to explain the rational.
Science uses the possible to explain the irrational.

Where somehow, if I understand that point correctly, science is equal to atheism. Which comes as a surprise to me, and no doubt to many Christian scientists.

May 13, 2009

A bunch of links – May 12, 2009

May 12, 2009

Prayer fail

One of the proofs that one of my atheist friends suggests would swing him towards faith is some sort of observable scientific testing of prayer.

The problem with this is that too often they then demand the test meet some “observable” criteria, that they set, like growing an amputee’s limb back…

I think prayer works, my personal experience of prayer suggest that it works, but then I tend to pray within the constraints of rational possibilities (eg not that an amputee will grow a limb back) consistent with instructions on prayer from the Bible.

There is however, another side of the coin. Where people can pray in stupid ways that just lend themselves to atheists pointing and laughing.

Like this 63 year old Indian man who has refused to bathe for 35 years as part of his regular prayer ritual.

I would suggest, that if you’re hanging on to some sort of superstition in order to achieve a particular, and stated aim, that 35 years is too long. Particularly if the aim is to have a male child.

An Indian man who fathered seven daughters has not washed for 35 years in an apparent attempt to ensure his next child is a boy, newspapers report.

Kailash “Kalau” Singh replaces bathing and brushing his teeth with a “fire bath” every evening when he stands on one leg beside a bonfire, smokes marijuana and says prayers to Lord Shiva, according to the Hindustan Times.

May 12, 2009

YouTube Tuesday: An Atheist on evangelism

This has been floating around for a while – but I haven’t posted it yet. It’s timely based on the emails I’ve had flying back and forth between my atheist friends and myself today…

It’s magician Penn Teller, renowned atheist, encouraging people who believe in hell to evangelise – and presenting an interesting set of instructions for evangelistic methodology.

“How much do you have to hate somebody not to evangelise…”

May 12, 2009

Wikimedia

I think I mentioned once before that one of my sister’s uni lecturers once punk’d her class by banning the use of wikipedia in assignments and then placing false information in the relevant entries to track who ignored their instructions.

The growing reliance of mainstream media on the user generated encyclopedia has been beautifully exploited by one man’s little piece of poetic justice.

Shane Fitzgerald edited the entry for French composer Maurice Jarre hours after his death to include the following quote:

“One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head that only I can hear.”

This quote hit obituaries in major media outlets all over the country almost immediately – although it was removed from the wikipedia entry within hours.

Fitzgerald came clean – and here’s the story being reported in the SMH – with this quote:

“I am 100 per cent convinced that if I hadn’t come forward, that quote would have gone down in history as something Maurice Jarre said, instead of something I made up,” he said. “It would have become another example where, once anything is printed enough times in the media without challenge, it becomes fact.”

While I’m not suggesting that there’s a culture of feeding purposefully false information into wikipedia one only has to look through the history of changes to Scott Minto’s profile to know that it’s a pretty regular occurrence.

The bit in Fitzgerald’s quote about stuff being printed becoming “truth” is interesting, and it makes Wikipedia an important element of a PR campaign if you want a nice endorsement of your key messages. Wikipedia is a triumph in post-modern market driven thinking where truth really is up in the air and able to be determined by the market – which is perfect if your job is to manipulate or shape a message.

That is all.

May 12, 2009

Pour taste?

These Pepsi Max ads are apparently quite controversial – dealing as they do with the sensitive topic of Suicide.

I don’t personally have a problem with them – they’re just a more colourful version of the Little Book(s) of Bunny Suicides – perennial favourites in the Campbell household…

Apparently those books were inspiring copy cats (or rabbits) in China so were pulled off some shelves… I wouldn’t have thought they were a particularly useful how to guide – given the elaborate nature of the set ups involved.

If, by chance, you’ve reached this post by googling “how to” – and “suicide” please don’t do it. Instead call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

May 12, 2009

Bird strike

It’s not only teachers striking in Townsville – apparently we’ve got the highest incidence of “bird strike” in an Australian regional city. 

BIRDS have hit more planes at Townsville airport than at any other regional centre in the country, a new report shows.

From 2000 until the end of March, 324 bird strikes at Townsville airport were reported to the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, with 17 strikes in the first three months of this year.

The figures were higher than at Rockhampton with 263 and Alice Springs on 160.

I only really posted on this because I saw that great Pelican picture in the Wall Street Journal’s photoblog.

May 12, 2009

Man flu


I have come down with a case of what a friend describes as man flu. It’s gender specific terminology. It’s the “flu” you have when you’ve got a cold that’s bad enough taking the day off work – and the male threshold for such a malady is apparently significantly lower than the female variety.

All the research suggests you’re better off staying home in these sorts of cases anyway – as is your employer.

The flu mask picture is from here – which also features a bunch of other nifty designs.

May 12, 2009

A bunch of links – May 11, 2009

May 11, 2009

Houstons, we have a problem…

So the Hillsong takeover of the Garden City Church is in full swing – with the church to be renamed: Hillsong Brisbane Campus.

The Houstons are turning their global domination strategies back to Australian shores and focusing on “multisite” expansion – ala Mark Driscoll.

Here’s how the previous minister of Garden City felt about the expansion – this is an excerpt of an article in the SMH today:

Garden City’s senior pastor for eight years, Bruce Hills, was forced out before the arrival of the Houstons. Garden City Christian Church announced Mr Hills’s resignation in December, amid criticism that the church was not growing enough. Yet in an address to a Christian conference at Easter, Mr Hills revealed he had a nervous breakdown last September. “Emotionally I just imploded,” he said.

When he returned from eight weeks’ leave, Garden City Christian Church elders told him: “We’d rather have more of a CEO leader than you. We’d like you to resign.”

Describing it as “the deepest, darkest experience I’ve ever been through”, Mr Hills said he was “really angry about what these people had done”.

Steve Dixon, who has been acting pastor at Garden City since Mr Hills’s resignation, will now be “campus pastor” of Hillsong Brisbane.

I love the way this church – and Hillsong – have been so caring and compassionate to their leader. Very biblical. Especially the bit where they sacked him because the church was not growing enough… I assume they mean numerically, because this would certainly indicate a level of spiritual immaturity.

Oh, and Craig reckons they’re now a denomination. In completely unrelated news – have you ever noticed that you only have to switch one letter in denomination to make it demonination? That would be a Freudian slip if ever I saw one…

May 11, 2009

Plumbing new depths

Turns out the farting office chair – or more correctly the tweeting fart detecting office chair – wasn’t the lowest you can go with new technologies.

Here’s how to make a toilet that tweets on each flush…and here’s the Twitter account for you to follow. Here are some samples:

  1. plop plop fizz fizzabout 9 hours ago from web
  2. blue?! WHAT were you eating?about 10 hours ago from web
  3. plop plop fizz fizzabout 12 hours ago from web
  4. you sank my battleshipabout 13 hours ago from web
  5. hey tweeps, i just wanted to share this awesome moment with youabout 15 hours ago from web

What can I say – I’m all about enriching your day to day lives.

May 10, 2009

A bunch of links – May 10, 2009

May 10, 2009

At the movies…

My fixation with ninjas is well documented… but did you also know that I’m fascinated with assassins – largely due to two of my favourite game franchises – Hitman and Assassins Creed, and martial arts movies… So something bringing all of those elements together is enough to warrant a Sunday afternoon post. I give you the poster for “Ninja Assassin” possibly the most eagerly anticipated movie release of 2009 (except for Transformers 2)…

It’s directed by the guy who directed V for Vendetta, and the special effects were put together by the guy who did the Matrix and Speed Racer – so it should be awesome.

May 10, 2009