This is a comprehensive book that explores issues of religion and state such as what role should religions have vis-a-vis the state, the role of secularism in government and society and how the state can deal fairly with the various religions. The author, Veit Bader, is an emeritus professor of sociology and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. This is an academically … [Read more...] about Book Review: Secularism or Democracy? by Veit Bader
Religion in schools
The Regime of the Coin Tea Has Come…
"The regime of the coin tea has come", declared 'Sympathiser' in the Brisbane Courier in 1909. This announcement was apt. If you do a search for 'coin tea' on the National Library of Australia's online newspaper database (Trove) you will be struck by how popular this form of fundraising appears to have been in Queensland during the early twentieth century until the outbreak … [Read more...] about The Regime of the Coin Tea Has Come…
Know Your Database
If you are interested in reading more about digital humanities, check out my other blog at http://stumblingfuture.wordpress.com Over the last week I finally got a chance to try out the tools that Wragge (aka Tim Sherratt) has devised to mine digitised historic Australian newspapers accessed through Trove. This post is about the results of applying his tools. If you want to do … [Read more...] about Know Your Database
The Transformation of a Word
We all know that the meaning of words can change over time. Words such as gay and cool are used in ways not contemplated one hundred years ago. Historians need to be aware of this when reading old texts. In my research of the education debates in the Australasian colonies from the 1860s to 1914, I had to understand what the word 'secular' meant at the time. It is much more … [Read more...] about The Transformation of a Word
And the Speeches Went On and On and on and….
I had no trouble listening to Rob Oakeshott's speech yesterday when he took over sixteen minutes to tell us he was going to support Labor in parliament. Announcing his decision at the end of the speech rather than the beginning was a sure way to keep our attention. Would we have listened to his comments if he had announced his decision first? Oakeshott's speech was nothing … [Read more...] about And the Speeches Went On and On and on and….
