Abstract
What role does religion play in the world in which we live? Is it a positive influence, and one that ought to be supported, encouraged, and restored to some former glory, or is it negative, flawed, past any useful role it might once have played and therefore best left slowly to recede from our attention? The title of this Introduction, and of this book, is instructive for our purposes. It is both statement—religion matters—and interrogatory—does it matter? And, either way, whether it matters or it doesn’t, we have to ask why.
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Notes
- 1.
Amanda Power, ‘Notre Dame should not be restored—let it stand as a symbol of a flawed way of life’, The Conversation (May 1, 2019) https://theconversation.com/notre-dame-should-not-be-restored-let-it-stand-as-a-symbol-of-a-flawed-way-of-life-115930.
- 2.
Vivienne Walt, ‘Inside the Fight Over How Notre Dame Should Rise from the Ashes’, Time (July 25, 2019) https://time.com/5634240/notre-dame-fire-france-battle/.
- 3.
Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel C. Dennett, The Four Horsemen: The Conversation that Sparked an Atheist Revolution (Penguin, 2019).
- 4.
The God Delusion (Houghton Mifflin, 2006); River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (HarperCollins, 1995); The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design (W.W. Norton & Company, 1986); The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed, 1989); The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene (Oxford University Press, 1982, new ed. 1999); Climbing Mount Improbable (W.W. Norton & Company, 1996); Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder (Penguin Books, 1998); and see especially the television documentary The Root of All Evil? (Channel 4, UK, January 2006).
- 5.
See, e.g., Calla Wahlquist, ‘‘It’s the same story’: How Australia and Canada are twinning on bad outcomes for Indigenous people’, The Guardian (Feb 24, 2016) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/25/indigenous-australians-and-canadians-destroyed-by-same-colonialism.
- 6.
See, e.g., Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report (2017); Philip Jenkins, Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis (Oxford University Press, 2001).
- 7.
See Thomas Jay Oord (ed), The Polkinghorne Reader: Science, Faith, and the Search for Meaning (SPCK and Templeton Foundation Press, 2010); David van Biema, God vs. Science, Time (November 13, 2006) 34 (which contains a debate held between Richard Dawkins and Francis Collins); ‘In the beginning’, The Economist (Apr 19th 2007) https://www.economist.com/briefing/2007/04/19/in-the-beginning.
- 8.
These phrases are drawn from F. E. Peters, The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam (Princeton University Press, 2004).
- 9.
Rob Forsaith, Folau content after ditching Mormonism, The Sydney Morning Herald (November 8, 2011) https://www.smh.com.au/sport/folau-content-after-ditching-mormonism-20111108-1n597.html.
- 10.
Gay people go to ‘hell’, says Australian rugby star Israel Folau, sky news (April 6, 2018) https://t.co/Epxb2ym5gO; Israel Folau in trouble again as he says ‘God's plan’ for gay people is to go to ‘hell’, the 42 (April 4, 2018) https://www.the42.ie/israel-folau-homophobic-slur-3939395-Apr2018/.
- 11.
Israel Folau, I’m a Sinner Too, players voice (April 16, 2019) https://www.playersvoice.com.au/israel-folau-im-a-sinner-too/; Carl R. Trueman, Israel Folau, Unlikely Martyr, First Things (April, 23, 2019) https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/04/israel-folau-unlikely-martyr.
- 12.
Tom Decent, Rugby Australia set to sack Israel Folau for anti-gay social media post, the sydney morning herald (April 11, 2019) https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/rugby-australia-set-to-sack-israel-folau-for-anti-gay-social-media-post-20190411-p51dar.html.
- 13.
On the use of such contracts, see Jerome Doraisamy, Are employment contracts increasingly being used to control employees’ lives?, lawyers weekly (June 12, 2019) https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/25814-are-employment-contracts-being-used-to-control-employees-lives.
- 14.
Mike Hynter, Israel Folau sacked over social media posts after panel rules in favour of Rugby Australia, the guardian (May 17, 2019) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/may/17/israel-folau-sacked-after-panel-rules-in-favour-of-rugby-australia.
- 15.
David Mark, Israel Folau to take Rugby Australia to Federal Court over contract termination, msn news (June 6, 2019) https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/israel-folau-to-take-rugby-australia-to-federal-court-over-contract-termination/ar-AACsUzt; Georgina Robinson, Folau set to seek $10 million in damages from Rugby Australia, the sydney morning herald (June 7, 2019) https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/folau-takes-fight-against-rugby-australia-to-fair-work-commission-20190606-p51v53.html.
- 16.
David Mark, Israel Folau's case is heading to the courts—so what happens now?, abc news (July 20, 2019) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-20/why-the-israel-folau-case-is-relevant-to-you/11282386; Samantha Maiden, Talks break down once and for all between Israel Folau and Rugby Australia, the new daily July 20, 2019) https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/07/19/talks-break-down-between-folau-rugby-australia/. And see also Anthony Forsyth, Why the Israel Folau case could set an important precedent for employment law and religious freedom, the conversation (June 11, 2019) https://theconversation.com/why-the-israel-folau-case-could-set-an-important-precedent-for-employment-law-and-religious-freedom-118455; ‘Israel Folau lodges claim seeking $10 m damages and reinstatement by Rugby Australia’, The Guardian (July 31, 2019) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/aug/01/israel-folau-lodges-claim-seeking-10m-damages-and-reinstatement-by-rugby-australia?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other.
- 17.
Rugby Australia, Joint statement by Rugby Australia, NSW Rugby Union and Israel Folau (4 December 2019) https://australia.rugby/news/2019/12/04/if-joint-statement-dec.
- 18.
Julian Drape, ‘NSW board accepts complaint against Folau’, The Sydney Morning Herald (13 December 2019) https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/nsw-board-accepts-complaint-against-folau-20191213-p53jwj.html.
- 19.
See Michael Sexton, Free to do as we say, the australian (May 9, 2019) https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/free-to-do-as-we-say/news-story/d59f68ee9e2cf07152cc0083e96ac67d; Peter Kurti, Something amiss in live-and-let-live Australia https, australian financial review (May 10, 2019) https://www.afr.com/business/sport/something-amiss-in-live-and-let-live-australia-20190509-p51lmp; ‘Might as well sack me’—Tongan Thor leaps to Samu Kerevi’s defence as Reds and Wallabies star apologises for Instagram post, rugby pass (April 30, 2019) https://www.rugbypass.com/news/might-as-well-sack-me-tongan-thor-leaps-samu-kerevis-defence-as-reds-and-wallabies-star-apologises-for-instagram-post/.
- 20.
Kel Richards, Folau’s faith compelled him to shout a warning: repent, anglican church league (June 1, 2019) http://acl.asn.au/folaus-faith-compelled-him-to-shout-a-warning-repent/; Andrew MacLeod, The ‘tolerant’ people attacking Israel Folau are breathtaking hypocrites, the new daily (April 20, 2019) https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/04/20/attacks-against-israel-folau/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Sunday%20Best%2020190421 Cait Kelly, Teammates take their support for Israel Folau onto Instagram, the new daily (June 17, 2019) https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2019/06/17/israel-folau-controversy/; Gillian Triggs, Are you for Israel Folau or against? We love a simple answer but this is not a binary case, the guardian (July 1, 2019) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/commentisfree/2019/jul/01/are-you-for-israel-folau-or-against-we-love-a-simple-answer-but-this-is-not-a-binary-case; Andrew West, Israel Folau and the tension at the heart of religious freedom, the guardian (June 23, 2019) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jun/23/israel-folau-and-the-tension-at-the-heart-of-religious-freedom; Jack Anderson, Explainer: does Rugby Australia have legal grounds to sack Israel Folau for anti-gay social media posts?, the conversation (April 30, 2019) https://theconversation.com/explainer-does-rugby-australia-have-legal-grounds-to-sack-israel-folau-for-anti-gay-social-media-posts-116170; Tracey Holmes, Israel Folau’s sacking from rugby union isn’t the end. Sport must deal with conflicting human rights, abc news (April 15, 2019) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-12/israel-folau-conflicting-human-rights-tracey-holmes/10996228.
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Sarre, R., Babie, P. (2020). Why Religion Matters, or, Does It Matter?. In: Babie, P., Sarre, R. (eds) Religion Matters. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2489-9_1
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