Country bumpkin

Australian Political Quiz Your Result: National Party   The smaller coalition partner with the Liberal Party.  Despite sharing most policies, the Nationals focus on rural and country policy as opposed to urban and city policies and subsequently during coalition governments they hold rural ministries, policies include; -Reform and simplification of regulations. -Individual labour bargaining. -Tax cuts for business, upper and lower income earners. -Protection of farmers and miners from cheaper foreign imports. -Strong immigration and border patrol systems.
Liberal Party	 
Family First Party	 
Australian Labor Party	 
Australian Greens	 
Australian Political Quiz Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Goodness knows how accurate they are, but these quizzes are a bit of fun in quiet patches during the day. Considering I have always been a city dweller, I was very surprised to find myself categorised as a National Party voter. For the benefit of this blog's reader who is not from Australia, in Australian politics the Nationals are a conservative party that aims to represent the interests of rural communities.

In all my nineteen years of voting, I have never lived in a rural electorate, so I've never voted for them. One good thing about voting in Australia is that you may vote for any party you wish. At times I have voted for all of the parties on this list, with the exception of the radical left-wing Australian Greens. Last year I voted in both federal and state elections, and each time I deliberately put the Greens last on my ballot paper. I put a far right nationalist party second last, from memory.

5.30 pm weeknights on ABC TV

In younger days my brother and I were avid viewers of the Japanese animated science fiction series Star Blazers, also known as Space Battleship Yamato. Whilst wasting time online one day, I found out that a live action Star Blazers film was released in Japan late last year, and has also been released on DVD and Blu-Ray. Since it looks like an Australian distributor will not be securing the theatrical rights for this film (unless they did but didn't publicise it), it looks like I will have to settle for the DVD. If the trailer is anything to go by, it looks amazing.

Matters controversial

Catching up with Bill Muehlenberg at his book launch

This afternoon I was one of 70 people who had the privilege of attending the launch of Strained Relations: The Challenge of Homosexuality. Its author, Bill Muehlenberg, is one of Australia's foremost Christian social commentators, and has lectured in ethics and social issues at various theological colleges. He is generally respected in Christian circles for his boldness and courage in speaking out against current cultural trends in permissive Western society, but outside of the Christian world, and even sometimes within it, he is a figure of derision and hatred. 

As a friend of the author, I went along to his book launch to express my support for him and his important work. This post is written for the same reason, as an expression of solidarity with him. I genuinely like and respect him, uphold him in my prayers, and considering the difficult circumstances under which he works, I see him as an exemplar of God-given resilience and faithfulness to his special calling. We need more Christians like him, with unswerving commitment and dedication. I am very much looking forward to reading this book, and engaging with its explosive content that reveals a side of the homosexual rights movement that the mainstream media deliberately chooses to ignore.

Reach for the stars and rule your own planet

I write this in hope that a musical theatre promoter with a sense of humour brings this show to Australia. Until yesterday I had no idea that Trey Parker and Matt Stone, best known as the creators of South Park, have created a successful Broadway musical about Mormomism called The Book of Mormon, and they also plan to do a film version. The musical is about a couple of Mormon missionaries and their adventures in Uganda.

Here's a clip of a song from the show, I Believe. One thing that is evident from this clip is how well actor Andrew Rannells uses facial expressions and voice to convey the earnestness and dedication of his character. 

This isn't the first time Parker and Stone have satirized Mormonism. I blogged here a couple of years ago about the South Park episode All About Mormons. I don't normally watch that show, but  if you appreciate satire that episode was hilarious. Before that Trey Parker created the black comedy Cannibal!: The Musical, which had a 19th century Mormon as its main character.

I have never been a Mormon, nor do I ever want to be. They probably regard me and my ilk as apostates. My interest in them, which is and shall always remain purely academic, was first sparked by random and sometimes unpleasant encounters with Mormon missionaries on the streets of different cities around Australia. These prompted me to read widely on a number of cults and new religious movements, including Mormonism.

The church has a strong musical pedigree, which encompasses the world famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and of course the Osmonds, a Mormon boy band who were massively popular in the 1970s. It's a pity these musical ambassadors are not using their talent to honour the one true God, but that's another issue that I have also written about in a more serious fashion elsewhere.