The Religion and Ethics Report - Separate stories podcast

MARLEY KROK grew up in the Mormon faith but is now secular and MAGGIE PAUL is an Indian-born Catholic-turned-Buddhist, who’s in an interfaith marriage to a Muslim husband. They discuss how their faith lives have shaped their academic interests, the relevance of their PhD research to the upcoming election, and the challenges and rewards of being mature students in 2025.Sociologist Dr Anna Halafoff of Deakin University looks at some US research suggesting pious students have higher grades and delves into the growth of non-Christian faith-based schools in Australia.Related Material2024 Educating for a diverse Australia

In our Students Week panel this week, MARLEY KROK grew up in the Mormon faith but is now secular and MAGGIE PAUL is an Indian-born Catholic-turned-Buddhist, who’s in an interfaith marriage to a Muslim husband. They discuss how their faith lives have shaped their academic interests, the relevance of their PhD research to the upcoming election, and the challenges and rewards of being mature students in 2025.

It’s a crime many thought was a relic of decades past. But South Australian police have charged a man … with sacrilege.In an election campaign dominated by cost-of-living pressures, energy supplies, and an assertive China, is there any room for religion as a political issue?Paying extra on a loan is also known as usury. It’s an ancient concept with Biblical roots.GUESTS:Professor JOSHUA ROOSE of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation.Dr RENAE BARKER is a senior lecturer specialising in law and religion at the University of Western Australia.PETER KURTI of the Centre for Independent Studies. His paper, co-authored with Ian Harper is Interest, Usury and the Common Good.

In 2025, in a country that’s now minority Christian, a South Australian man who allegedly broke into a church faces a charge … of sacrilege.It’s an offence many probably thought had long disappeared from the law. Dr RENAE BARKER is a senior lecturer specialising in law and religion at the University of Western Australia.

Australia’s Reserve Bank has left interest rates on hold. In an election, especially, interest rates are always a political challenge.But paying extra on a loan is also known as usury. It’s an ancient concept with Biblical roots.GUEST:PETER KURTI is co-author of a new paper for the Centre for Independent Studies. It’s called Interest, Usury and the Common Good.

In an election campaign dominated by cost-of-living pressures, energy supplies, and an assertive China, is there any room for religion as a political issue?GUEST:Professor JOSHUA ROOSE of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. 

What’s the verdict on the 2025 budget, announced this week by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, from those who work with Australia’s most vulnerable people? SUE KING is manager of advocacy and research at the faith-based welfare agency Anglicare Sydney.Mass demonstrations have roiled Turkiye’s biggest city of Istanbul. Protesters are angry at the jailing of the popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, on corruption charges that they say are concocted. The mayor was shaping up as the strongest rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who’s been in power for 22 years. While public support for Erdogan has slipped markedly, for much of his rule, he’s been popular. In large measure, that’s because Erdogan’s leaned heavily into Turkiye’s religious culture. David Tonge is author of the new book, The Enduring Hold of Islam in Turkey: The Revival of Religious Orders and the Rise of Erdogan.

What’s the verdict on the 2025 budget, announced this week by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, from those who work with Australia’s most vulnerable people? 

Mass demonstrations have roiled Turkiye’s biggest city of Istanbul. Protesters are angry at the jailing of the popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, on corruption charges that they say are concocted. The mayor was shaping up as the strongest rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who’s been in power for 22 years.

Australia’s High Court recently upheld a long-standing law that says priests are not employees of their churches. They are “office holders”. So where does this leave the large majority of clergy ?