The sexual abuse crisis has polarised the Church, and injured us all. Those who have survived clerical and other sexual abuse need the Church's healing power, but they are often alienated and unwelcome because they are seen as troublemakers. Innocent people scandalised by the crisis also need the Church's healing power, but they are sometimes unable to forgive the victims for coming forward. So how can we bridge this apparently unbridgeable gap? This presentation will examine the impact of sexual abuse on the individual, the impact of trauma, and how we as a Church - all of us - can begin to help restore to victims their full dignity in Christ. It will also describe Grief to Grace, a new sensory-based model for healing sexual abuse that follows the Sorrowful Mysteries."

Christopher Dawson Society - Audio Library

Healing the Wounds of Sexual Abuse in the Church - Dr Theresa Burke

What is a Catholic person to do in the face of so much turmoil in public life? Should we retreat, or should we respond by entering more fully into the public square? St. Augustine of Hippo was perpetually preoccupied with such questions. This presentation will explore some of what he has to say, and some of what we can learn from him, about maintaining a spiritual life while becoming involved in matters of public concern. Renee Kohler-Ryan is trained in philosophy and is the Dean of the School of Philosophy and Theology, University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney. She has a forthcoming book on the thought of St. Augustine and contemporary philosopher, William Desmond, on moral and political philosophy. She teaches in areas of Catholic Thought including Philosophy of the Human Person, Moral Philosophy, and Philosophy of Art. She is writing a book on the Catholic Imagination, to be considered by Catholic University of America Press.

Catholic Public Life in Hard Times; An Augustinian Response - Renee Kohler-Ryan

Abstract: We often associate sloth with laziness, but is it possible for a culture to be productive and still be slothful? In this talk, Dr Matthew Tan explores how Sloth is arguably the most pervasive of the deadly sins first by understanding it by its original name, the vice of Acedia. Taking its cue from the writings of the desert father, Evagrius of Pontus, the talk would take a deep dive into what the vices do to the life of monastic virtue, and how acedia acts as a spiritual opiate whose affects are more than just spiritual. It will end by looking at how monastic practice can give us clues into providing new responses to this ancient vice. Bio: Dr Matthew Tan is the private secretary of Bishop Tony Randazzo in the Archdiocese of Sydney, and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in a Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He received his doctorate in Theology from the Australian Catholic University and his License in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He is the author of two books, the most recent of which is "Redeeming Flesh: The Way of the Cross with Zombie Jesus". He runs the blog "the Divine Wedgie" on the Patheos Catholic blog channel, and will soon be launching his theological side project "AwkwardAsianTheologian.com".

"Dreaming with Demons" - Matt Tan

Dreams form the flipside of human consciousness: they are perennially fascinating and unpredictable. They have shaped history, art, culture, science, and religion in countless ways. Christianity accepts them as sometimes divinely inspired, but early psychology saw them as ‘the royal road to the unconscious’, or as a primordial soup of symbolism. So what are dreams? Why do we have them? Do Christians dream of Biblical sheep? And what attention – if any – should we pay to them?

"I Sleep But My Heart Wakes" - Dr Philippa Martyr

Anthony Krohn has practised in administrative law since 1990, as a solicitor from 1990 to 1997, and as a barrister from 1997 to the present. He has appeared in many refugee and migration cases in the Federal Circuit Court, the Federal Court and the High Court of Australia, and the Supreme Court of Nauru. His migration and refugee practice has also taken him to the High Court of Australia - in its original and also its appellate jurisdictions - and to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Who Is my Neighbour? Refugees and Dignity of the Human Person’ - Anthony Krohn

This Speaker's Forum featured a presentation of a paper entitled “The Duty to Disagree: Recovering the Art of Moral Disagreement" by Scott Stephens, editor of the ABC Religion & Ethics blog, and co-host of the Radio National show 'The Minefield' with Waleed Aly.

The Duty to Disagree: Recovering the Art of Moral Disagreement - Scott Stephens

In the face of atheist critiques many believers seek to downplay the relationship between religion and violence. In contrast the work of acclaimed thinker Rene Girard suggests a more complex relationship than is often assumed, one that challenges modern assumptions about human nature and which proposes new significance for Judeo-Christian revelation.

How Religious Belief leads to Violence - Fr Mark Baumgarten

John Joseph Haldane is a Scottish philosopher, commentator and broadcaster. He is a papal adviser to the Vatican and is credited with coining the term Analytical Thomism. He is himself a Thomist in the analytic tradition. Haldane is associated with The Veritas Forum and is the current chairman of the Royal Institute of Philosophy. John Haldane spoke for the Dawson Society in Perth in 2016 on the topic of “Holding Fast through Stormy Waters”.

Holding Fast through Stormy Waters - Professor John Haldane

From the spheres of business to medicine we are often tempted with cooperating with morally evil actions in order to save our jobs and careers.Sometimes these decisions can even be legitimate, but sometimes too we simply cannot choose to perform actions that will make us cooperators with evil. With a special emphasis on the medical fields, Dr Helen Watt explores moral dilemmas as we ask "How do good people contribute to a culture of death"

Complicity and Cooperation in Evil - Dr Helen Watt

Evangelisation is not activism. It has nothing to do with the techniques, programs, and lobbying that defines social and political activism. Instead, it has everything to do with the witness of one who lives and embodies a kind of feeling, tasting, and savoring relationship with the faith they profess. To evangelize effectively, is to be a hobbit: it is to embody the small way, the long way, the slow encounter, the deep abiding. It is to first receive faith as a culture and practice of love, to be immersed and transformed here, and only then to offer this faith to the world as an act of love. “For the time will soon come when Hobbits will shape the fortune of all”.

The New Evangelisation: How to Be a Hobbit - Dr Conor Sweeney

The Dawson Society was delighted to host Mr Karl Schmude as the presenter at our sixth Speakers Forum for 2014. Speaking on the thought on and work of two giants of 20th century Catholic, the great Gilbert Kieth Chesterton and  the namesake of our organisation, Christopher Dawson, Schmude drew out the complimentary extant in their respective works and highlighted significant points of difference, not only in their physical stature, but also in their writing. Schmude has combined a long career in university libraries with freelance writing and speaking, both in Australia and overseas.  He served for 16 years as University Librarian at the University of New England in Armidale NSW.    In 2000, he began working full-time on establishing Campion College Australia,  the private Liberal Arts college of Catholic inspiration which opened in Sydney in 2006. He has published extensively on subjects associated with religion and culture – particularly literature, history, and education.  His feature articles and book reviews have appeared in national newspapers and journals as well as international periodicals in the USA, England, South America and New Zealand. He is President of the Australian Chesterton Society, which has held several major conferences at Campion College.

The Artist and the Architect: G.K. Chesterton & Christopher Dawson – Karl Schmude

On 2 December, The Dawson Society for Philosophy and Culture was delighted to host Mrs Anna Krohn as the presenter at our seventh and final Speakers Forum for 2014. Speaking on Christian responses to political fundamentalism and dogmatic relativism, the Academic Skills Counselor and Doctoral Candidate of Melbourne’s John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family used the examples of two Catholic men who fought the Nazi menace in 1920s and 1930s Germany and Austria – philosopher Dietrich von HIldebrand and the Catholic bishop of Münster, Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen.

The Christian Response to Political Fundamentalism – Mrs Anna Krohn

The following lecture was delivered by Fr Scot Armstrong of the diocese of Wagga Wagga at the Dawson Society Speakers Forum on 25 June 2013.

Christopher Dawson and the Modern Dilemma - Fr Scot Armstrong

Following on from an introductory lecture given at the Dawson Society Speakers Forum, Professor Kinder expliored themes of experience, desire and sanctification in the Divine Comedy, working particularly from the recent translation by Clive James.

Dante's Divine Comedy: Heaven Part Two - Professor John Kinder

Dante's Divine Comedy: Heaven Part One - Professor John Kinder

The Christopher Dawson Society for Philosophy and Culture is an incorporated association founded to encourage lay Christian engagement with contemporary philosophical and cultural issues. The Society takes its name from Christopher Dawson, the great English historian of the 20th century who throughout his work saw the world of spiritual belief “as the dynamic element in history and as a real world-transforming power.” It is the hope of the founders that in some small way the Dawson Society may uphold and continue the work of its namesake. The Dawson Society is based in Perth, Western Australia and hosts regular lectures and other cultural events. You can read more about the Dawson Society at http://dawsonsociety.com.au/about/

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Christopher Dawson Society - Audio Library

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