Aid Needed More than Ever

~Content warning, discretion advised~ A disturbing university sexual assault trial (details deliberately left vague) is redefining how we view predators and victims. LifeNet director and podcaster Brendan Malone unpacks the gender-based groupthink now shaping public reactions to cases of crime and immorality. He posits that rather than asking "What is true?", society has split into tribal camps, echoing decades of campus tolerance —and promotion— of hedonistic behaviour among students. The Christian anthropologist and Andrew Urquhart discuss how a libertarian "consent-only" ethic assumes a level playing field between men and women and that private character doesn't affect public life. He points out that true consent only makes sense within a Christian sexual ethic that upholds human dignity; whereas stripping out morality under the guise of absolute bodily autonomy has bankrupted Western culture, which is still in denial about the catastrophic effects of the sexual revolution, much like the failed Soviet experiment ([lifenet.org.nz) . Tune into Thoughts & Comments from 10:00am - 2:00pm on the Rhema Media App. For more from the show, visit the Thoughts & Comments page at rhema.co.nz. Produced using AI tools under human supervision. Support Rhema: https://donate.rhemamedia.co.nz/?brand=rhema&utm_source=omnystudio&utm_medium=link See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Public theologian Dr Craig Heilman joins Andrew Urquhart to unpack the unrest sweeping French cities, where protests over crumbling schools and spiralling public debt have spilled into street violence. Dr Heilman warns France's debt, now around 120% of GDP, is a "wake-up call" for all heavily indebted Western nations, including his own Australia, as governments struggle to tax or spend their way out of trouble.

Matt Perry, executive director of the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC), updates Andrew Curtis on the deepening crisis in Ukraine as the war enters its fifth year. He reveals that FEBC's roughly forty Kyiv-based staff are now being evacuated westward to Chernihiv amid a relentless new Russian bombing campaign targeting bridges, roads and transport infrastructure, causing severe sleep deprivation and psychological strain across the civilian population.

Thu 8 Oct ~ Geopolitical analyst Dr Jeffrey Miller, editor of Gulf States Insight, reflects with host Andrew Curtis on the two years since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, which killed around 1200 people and took 250 hostages before triggering a devastating war in Gaza. Dr Miller notes the conflict reshaped global attention away from Ukraine, hardened divisions over who counts as victim or aggressor, and has since spread into Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran, with Hamas and Israel now locked in a stalemate over disarmament and occupation.

Simon O'Connor of Family First joins host Davina to discuss New Zealand's retirement income landscape, covering the rising cost of superannuation, proposed KiwiSaver hikes, and the five-year anniversary of the End of Life Choice Act. He warns the country is heading towards a fiscal "cliff" as an ageing population drives up the superannuation bill, arguing successive governments of both colours have avoided the politically unpopular step of raising the pension age.