Sugar and venom: pitfalls of the freedom to buy and sell sex
More than 19 years ago, the Netherlands experimented with legalising prostitution, an approach that many countries looked at with interest and curiosity. After all, after the failure of the "noble experiment" of American prohibition, people wanted to see the result of the opposite approach with regards to sex.
Laughter, not noise: the benefits of good humour
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones, says a well-known biblical proverb. We don't have to be practicing Christians to recognise its truth.
Insomnia and God’s bird
Carolynn Yakush inherited her taste for the good life from her Czech grandparents, and her interest in faith from her mother and the Christian schools she went to. For many years, the desire for money and a life of luxury overshadowed her spiritual and religious concerns. One day, almost without thinking about it, she entered a church again, and was amazed at the...
Single parents and children’s religious education
Is it possible, as single parents, to instil in our children a love for God and for the church?
“In the ferocious world beneath the heavens”
Looking back, I realize how the ferocious world beneath the heavens is tamed, at crucial moments, through communication on that biblical Ladder of Jacob.
Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin surely struck gold when he began writing A Song of Ice and Fire.
“The backbone of our well-being” | Social interaction and its benefits
“We shrivel when we are not able to interact. We depend on the other in order for us to be fully who we are” (Desmond Tutu).
How to be a good listener
The portrait of a good listener contains skills that are formed over time, through an honest interaction with others, motivated by the desire to understand and help them.
Divorce among conservative Christians
In America, conservative Protestants seem to divorce at least as often as people of other religious orientations. The idea has become an opportunity for finger-pointing and accusations of hypocrisy, but this is only proof that the statistics are misinterpreted.
What we can learn from our children
The relationship between a parent and their child is one of the most significant in their lives, with its primary role being education.
Trust, the resource of intelligent people
In a study published in the journal PLOS One, researchers came to the counterintuitive conclusion that people with higher intelligence have higher levels of generalised trust.
The social media trap
Two recent stories in Australian media shocked me to my core. Two 12-year-olds in different states took their own lives after being bullied at school.
Online fighting, a new subject of scientific study
An argument with people who seem deaf to opposing views, instigating conflict, tribe against tribe, is probably a common experience for social media users. Some believe that it is so common that it should be the subject of a new field of research‒erisology, named after Eris, the goddess of discord in Greek mythology.
Parenting lessons from imperfect parents
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a young woman who was good at everything. Although she was only in her early twenties, she was an expert in the kitchen, passionate about cleaning, attentive to the needs of children, had a green thumb, was skilled at raising animals and was able to give an articulate speech in her field of...
The dance of the “wolves”
Beyond the artistic accolades of "The Wolf of Wall Street" lies a troubling “recognition”—that of the real man who inspired the character Jordan Belfort and who, after 22 months in prison, presented his exploits in an autobiographical book.


























