Roundup: Religion and politics, Occupy spirituality, gay marriage, climate change and activism

United Methodists see Occupy protest ties

They may have begun as a protest against corporations and greed, but for a growing number of United Methodists taking part in the Occupy Wall Street movement, the protests are a statement about the spiritual bankruptcy of materialism as well as a call to transform the world.

Conscience vote on gay marriage not enough

Though I respect the right of some Australians to hold the biblical or religious view that marriage can only be the union of man and a woman, and the right of religious organisations to restrict ceremonies to that form of relationship, Australia should recognise that marriage is now predominantly a civil institution and apply standard principles of equal treatment at least to civil ceremonies.

World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns

If fossil fuel infrastructure is not rapidly changed, the world will ‘lose for ever’ the chance to avoid dangerous climate change.

Fueling Activism: An Interview with Bill McKibben

There’s absolutely nothing we can do in terms of supporting “development” that makes up for the damage we’re doing with carbon.

God under Gillard: Rethinking religion and politics in Australia

In Australia, religious rhetoric in the political sphere seems designed almost specifically not to speak first, or most directly, to the religiously committed, who are likely to be already quite politically engaged and to have fixed their vote fairly firmly to one side of politics or the other.