AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER * HOWARD AND RUDD SPEAK TO THE CHRISTIANS OF AUSTRALIA * HOW THE LIQUOR INDUSTRY IS ENSNARING OUR YOUTH * BRINGING HOME THE PRODIGALS ----------------------------------------------- HOWARD AND RUDD SPEAK TO THE CHRISTIANS OF AUSTRALIA Both John Howard and Kevin Rudd courted the Christian vote in a webcast to up to 100,000 people representing 880 participating congregations gathered in 702 venues across the country last Thursday night. The Australian Christian Lobby organised and hosted the event with 200 church and national Christian ministry leaders providing a live audience at the National Press Club to quiz the political leaders.The prime minister and opposition leader each took turns to tell the audience how Christianity had shaped their lives and their politics. Labor and the Coalition have been keen to tap into the voter base represented by the church, particularly in light of the faith-based support that helped Family First's Steve Fielding win a place in the Senate. Mr Rudd has made it clear he wants to engage churches in the political debate. Although Kim Beazley also had a strong religious faith, the elevation of Mr Rudd to the leadership has put a stronger spotlight on the role of religion in politics. Catholic-baptised Mr Rudd is now a churchgoing Anglican convert. Mr Howard, who goes to church, is also an Anglican.In his speech Mr Howard took the opportunity to announce a $189 million initiative to provide free internet filtering software for parents and bolster the federal police's efforts to combat sexual exploitation of children online.Every Australian family will be provided with a free internet filter under the programme that will see a Howard Government enter an unprecedented partnership with service providers to filter pornography at the source. Communications and Australian Federal Police resources will be boosted immediately to expand checks on internet chat rooms to detect child predators, and privacy laws masking sex offenders on the net will be altered.Terrorist groups also will be placed under further pressure with the technology to be used to block sites.Mr Howard reminded Christian voters of his bid to prevent gay marriage by reaffirming marriage as being between a man and a woman. He also promised that under a Howard government, Christian prayers before Parliament would not be replaced with prayers of other religious faiths as occurred recently in the United States Congress.Mr Howard enjoyed rounds of applause from the audience when he spoke against gay marriage and expressed support for one parent remaining at home during a child's early years.Both tried to persuade the faithful that their respective policies met Christian virtues. "I acknowledge of course that God is neither Liberal nor Labor," Mr Howard said. "There are people of good faith in all political parties and I don't in any way come to propound a superiority or a claim on the Christian religion by my party.Mr Howard also spoke out against giving up Christian traditions in order to show tolerance to other religions, giving the example of calls to ban Nativity scenes in department stores. "I always find if odd that you have to demonstrate your tolerance by denying your own heritage," Mr Howard said to loud applause. "It's an absurd political correctness of which I have been something of a critic as you know."The prime minister also rejected criticism that his government did not care about marginalised people in the community. "I am especially proud of the fact that contrary to many things that were said about me and my party 11 and a half years ago, we haven't destroyed the social security safety net, we haven't destroyed Medicare. "I don't deny that the rich have got richer, that is inevitable in a prosperous country. "But they have not got richer at the expense of the poor getting poorer."Mr Rudd could not trump the multi-million-dollar internet safety package but did promise a family impact statement would be prepared for every submission to cabinet. He hammered home his social justice agenda, saying a sense of fairness and balance was "very much in the Australian soul", Mr Rudd took aim at the Government's Work Choices laws, which he said had "gone too far" suggesting that changes of shifts with short notice could prevent workers from taking their families to church on Sundays.. He also praised Australia's churches for their work in education, health and welfare development.Mr Rudd described himself as having been a "garden variety" Christian for the past 30 years. "For me the question of personal faith also provides a compass point for my life, it also therefore helps shape the values which I hold to be true. It also helps shape the view I try to bring to the public space as well, not always successfully." The opposition leader said during moments of quiet prayer when in Canberra, he reflected "on what I can do constructively to make this a better and more humane country, recognising that all those that sit opposite are not sons of the anti-Christ." Asked about his vision for Australia, Mr Rudd said: "How can we be a country which has hard heads and soft hearts? "I think that sums up so much of what the nation actually wants to be like." He also committed a Labor government to boosting foreign aid. On foreign policy, the Labor leader said he wanted Australia to be a "creative and human middle power actor" in the world. He said the nation had a responsibility to help Iraqi refugees given Australia's role in invading the Middle East country. "If you're going to go into a country and bust it up in a war you do have an enduring humanitarian responsibility to assist those who have become victims of that war, including the refugee community.A Labor government would particularly seek to help members of Iraq's Christian minority who had fled the country. "I want to initiate a multilateral conference involving as many states as possible who would participate in deciding how we would deal with the needs of that refugee community in Syria and in Jordan and beyond. "The threat of violence being suffered on a daily basis by this Christian minority in a raging Sunni-Shia civil war that is erupting is terrifying."He reaffirmed his belief that marriage should be an institution between a man and a woman, but said he supported relationship registers for gay couples. And while he did not rule out racial vilification laws, he promised to consult with the Christian community if a Labor government wanted to make any change to the law in this area.Churches from all Christian denominations in every State and Territory participated in the event. ACL managing director Jim Wallace said the aim was to engender policies "for an increasingly moral and caring society. This was a landmark event for the Christian constituency and its success is a testament to the commitment of Christians right across Australia to being a positive influence on our government and community." Source: Compiled by APN from various reports. ----------------------------------------------- HOW THE LIQUOR INDUSTRY IS ENSNARING OUR YOUTH An alcohol industry insider has admitted companies deliberately target young people by sweetening ready-to-drink alcopops to mask the taste of alcohol and appeal to the "younger palate". A marketing executive behind the vodka-based drink Absolut Cut said the market was booming for high-strength pre-mixed drinks that "get young people drunk faster".Cheap, sugary drinks packaged in bright colours are the best way to start people drinking at an early age, said Mat Baxter, a partner in the media planning agency Naked Communications. "It's a more effective and easier way to get drunk faster and that's a conclusion that we've drawn from understanding the category dynamics," he said."It's one of the few drinks where you don't necessarily know you're drinking alcohol and that's a conscious effort to make those drinks more appealing to young people. The drinks are very much about masking the alcohol taste."Mr Baxter's views were expressed in the advertising journal B&T, in which he remarked on Absolut Cut - a ready-to-drink (RTD) product, with an alcohol content of 5.5 per cent - being taken off the market. He said it was a sign that the market for these drinks was dominated by stronger, 7 per cent alcohol, drinks with appeal to young people on a budget. Ready-to-drink manufacturers have insisted they do not target underage drinkers. And Mr Baxter said yesterday there was no overt marketing that encouraged anything other than responsible drinking. The industry was simply responding to consumer demand. "When you're young, your palate is tuned for sugary drinks such as juices or carbonated drinks," Mr Baxter said. "To retune the palate, when they get older and you start introducing alcohol, the easiest entry point to getting people to drink at the age of 18 is by continuing that same format."Australians were the most prolific RTD drinkers in the world, Mr Baxter said. The 2005 national secondary schools survey showed that 47 per cent of 12- to 17-year-old girls and 14 per cent of boys had drunk pre-mixed spirits in the last week. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures revealed a 9 per cent jump in RTDs on the market between 2005 and 2006.Health groups say Mr Baxter's comments prove the industry encourages alcohol abuse. "They know that binge drinkers are using this product to get off their face really fast," said Geoff Munro, director of the Community Alcohol Action Network. "The alcohol advertising code states that alcohol must be marketed in a mature and responsible way. Producing drinks that are tailored for binge drinking is the opposite of responsible marketing." Source: Compiled by APN from media reports ----------------------------------------------- BRINGING HOME THE PRODIGALS Focus on the Family Australia is excited to share Bringing Home the Prodigals, in cities across Australia. This is a message for families - a place where people can come together in prayer for their prodigals. There’s hardly anyone who doesn’t have a prodigal on their heart. They could be a child, a brother, sister, friend or even a parent. Those who have prodigals often experience fear, sadness and often guilt, yet the parable of the prodigal son is a story of hope.Prodigals are on the heart of God and by his Spirit, he is doing something in our nation that will affect the kind of churches we have, the way we view those who have wandered away, and perhaps above all, raise faith in our hearts for their return. This powerful one evening event will include worship, corporate prayer, a brilliant drama , a new film of the old parable, plus a message by Rob Parsons, Executive Director of Care for the Family, culminating with an opportunity to lay the name of a prodigal close to your heart at the foot of the cross. Whether your prodigal is a son or daughter, sister or brother, husband or wife, friend or parent, Bringing Home the Prodigals will give you a fresh sense of hope and encouragement. Discover: Why some of our prodigals are not as far away as we think they are We have made prodigals of some who never were A release from guilt – God has trouble with His children too The power of praying for your children early The need for prodigal-friendly churches and a call for us to get ready for our prodigals to come home We hope you take some time to browse the website, http://www.families.org.au/prodigals to find out more about this exciting event. Have you visited our Web Site? http://www.ausprayernet.org.au/
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