A Christian Vision for the Marketplace

Dr Ian Harper is one of Australia’s best known economists. He has worked closely with governments, banks, and corporations at the highest level. He is sought after as a commentator and public speaker on economics and financial issues and has been described as “one of those relatively rare academics who can communicate extremely well with both the business community and the academic community”.

In 2008, following a 25-year academic career – including 16 years in various roles at Melbourne Business School – Ian left academic life to become a director of Access Economics. In recognition of his service to the University of Melbourne, Ian was elected Emeritus Professor on his departure. More recently, he joined Deloitte Access Economics as a Partner when Deloitte acquired Access Economics in March 2011.

From December 2005 to July 2009, Ian served as inaugural Chairman of the Australian Fair Pay Commission, an independent statutory body whose role was to set and adjust minimum wages in Australia. In January 2011, he was appointed by the Baillieu Government of Victoria as one of three panelists to the Independent Review of State Finances.

He’s currently in Perth to speak about a Christian Vision for the Marketplace at Vose College. He joined me in the studio yesterday morning during my radio program on 98five Sonshine FM.

We live in an age when we’re being told more and more that we can believe what we want but that we should leave our beliefs at home when we head off to work. How then do we begin to create a Christian Vision for the Marketplace? I asked Ian the question and enjoyed hearing his perspective on faith in the workplace.

You can listen to our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



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Sex, Children and Purity

I’ve posted a couple of times before about children growing up too fast and the oversexualisation of young children. I still get regular search engine hits on my blog from people looking for answers about how to deal with sensitive subjects with their children.

How old should my kids be before I talk to them about sex? What should I tell them? Are my children being influenced by what they see on television or the internet? How can I help my children to stay pure? These are some of the questions with which many parents struggle.

Our kids are having their sexuality awakened a long time before they’re mature enough to make responsible decisions regarding their bodies. Can’t we just let kids be kids?

I was amused a couple of years back when we were having a family picnic in a park to see a group of very young girls, perhaps around the age of 11 or 12, who were all dressed in skimpy skirts and tiny tops playing on the playground equipment. They had bought the lie that they had to look ’sexy’ but deep inside what they really wanted to do was play like the children that they were.

Padded bras and lacy underwear sets are just a couple of the items that are being sold and aggresively marketed to girls aged from 7 to 12 in our shopping centres. Sex is being used to sell pretty much everything and it seems that it doesn’t matter who a product is being marketed to, sex sells.

“If the message is that you should be sexy and grown up, instead of being a kid – then kids aren’t practicing and learning how to be whole human beings that will actually make them into great adults. They are instead only imitating adult behaviour, without understanding it – and that’s very dangerous for their development”. – Amanda Gordon. President, Australian Psychology Society.

“I tell parents, ‘don’t buy sexy clothes for your children’. There’s nothing smart about having a 4 yr old in a little bra. It’s time for adults to take a stand, for parents to take a stand and say ‘this is what we want for our children’ – instead of children saying ‘this is what I want for me”. – Amanda Gordon. President, Australian Psychology Society.

“There is a concern that we are sending very conflicting messages to people. On the one hand, we’re telling people that children need to be protected – that paedophilia is regarded as one of the most heinous crimes – on the other hand we allow advertisers and marketers to present images and saturate our media with images that might be sexually arousing to some paedophiles in the community.” – Dr Louise Newman. Director, Institute of Psychiatry.

“Childhood is shrinking. We are exposing children to adult concepts that they can’t manage, that are developmentally inappropriate, and I think we are going to pay the cost for this in a range of emotional and psychological costs down the track.” – Dr Joe Tucci. Australian Childhood Foundation.

“Sex is being used to grab the attention of not just adults but kids as well. If the multibillion dollar ‘tween’ market is any indication, it’s a sales pitch that’s working”. – Dr Karen Brooks. Senior Lecturer Communication & Cultural Studies, University of Sunshine Coast.

“It is folly for us to pretend that the trend towards sexualisation of childrens fashion and advertising is harmless. It is part of a cynical but savage fight for our spending dollar, and the earlier children are pressed into thinking sexually, the earlier they will act sexually”. –
Rob Robertson. Ministerial co-ordinator, Australia. Setting Captives Free.

In this sex saturated society, avoiding the topic with our children simply hands the responsibility to someone else. Our kids will hear about sex one way or another so we need to decide if we want our children to hear about our values or the values of Holywood and the marketers.

If you’re struggling with what to say and do in this regard, you may be interested in a couple of new websites.

Purity Paradigm is a website dedicated to a Christian understanding of purity. This is not just a ‘say no’ kind of website. It’s a site that comes from a real understanding of the issues. It’s written by Heather McEwan and it comes from life experience and a true desire to understand how to help young people make choices that won’t come back and bite them in later life. I wrote an endorsement for Heather after having her as a guest on my morning radio programme some time ago.

Heather McEwan is so obviously passionate about ‘doing family well’ especially in matters of purity. That passion is displayed not only in the way that she presents her material but in the material itself.

Heather speaks from experience backed up by exhaustive research. When Heather talks about a subject you can guarantee that she has consulted a number of sources to ensure she is presenting the very best.

Heather’s heart is burdened by her desire to see young people growing into mature adults, free from the emotional hurts and scars that can come from wrong decisions.

She is also passionate about seeing people of all ages find healing and release from past decisions, allowing them to move confidently into the future God has planned for them.

If you want to keep up with some of the other things that occupy Heather’s heart and mind, check out her new blog Mama Frazzle.



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