How loudly did you protest at Australia's termination of the live export cattle trade to Indonesia, Justin?

There was a rich country suddenly shutting off a vital supply of protein to a poor neighboring country, based on the fact that the poor country didn't come up to our middle class values.

Forget about redistributing our wealth. Get our values straight first

Speaking of Christian ethics, I don't recall anything about Jesus saying "Get a group of armed men, go around to people and threaten to bash their heads in or lock them in a cage if they won't give you as much money as you demand, and then spend it on worthy causes."

Yet what distinguishes the state from all other social groups is that the state is that group claiming a legal monopoly of the use of unprovoked violence or the threat of violence, which is the basis of all taxation and jurisdiction, and from there all policy.

The author has established good reason for *voluntary* help for those in need. But he has made no case whatsoever for any policy response, either on ethical or practical grounds.

Dr Justin you write
'Instead of distributing the profits from this tax to me and other Australians who don't really need it, why don't we use it to benefit people for whom it could actually be a matter of life or death? '

I could not agree more. Instead it will be used to pee up against a wall or to buy another packet of smokes and we will wonder why the Health budget needs increasing. The carbon tax will go to rich corrupt third world leaders while little if any will get to the poor. Thank God for the many Christian organisations making a small difference.

Justin, we pour money into these countries all the time, ostensibly to help them improve their standards of living, health etc., but it seems to me that very little of it ends up out of the hands of the bureaucracy, so why do we bother.

Our own poor are largely responsible for their own destiny. There isn't much we can do to stop them living an unhealthy lifestyle and squandering the resources of the whole community. T'was ever thus.

David

We don't need material eqaulity, for that would be unfair. It would
penalise those who work hard and save, giving to those too lazy to
paddle their own canoe.

What we need is equality of opportunity, and that we have, for those
who bother to try.

Why not work for lunch, rather then demand a free one. It really
doesen't kill people to get off their butts occasionally.

The title, "Applied Christian Ethics" is bemusing. Could the author please follow up with a brief paper explaining the difference between ordinary ethics and Christian ethics,of both the applied and non-applied kind?