Claims extracted
26
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
3 of 26 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
It’s interesting to see how far back we can go when tracing still familiar sayings, such as: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
asserted
nothing → ’ → death
American statesman Benjamin Franklin popularised the saying in 1789, but is said to have quoted from a play written by Christopher Bullock in 1716.
asserted
Franklin → popularise → 1716
In 2026 I think I’m safe in adding a third certainty, namely “change”.
asserted
I → think → certainty
Not that change wasn’t causing concern back in Franklin’s day.
asserted
change → cause → day
Scottish Anglican cleric Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847), who wrote the much-loved hymn Abide with Me, included the words “Change and decay in all around I see.
asserted
I → write → words
Oh thou who changest not, abide with me.”
asserted
who → changest → me
Which raises the question: Are change and decay necessarily synonymous?
asserted
change → raise → question
These days the word change is mostly preceded by “climate”.
asserted
change → precede → climate
Life stages themselves bring necessary and potentially rewarding changes.
asserted
stages → bring → changes
Growing up, seeking our vocation, discovering our sexuality, each generates and demands change.
asserted
each → grow → change
Loss of employment, relationship breakdown and the deaths of loved ones over the years can easily derail.
asserted
Loss → love → years
Change can bring both joy and heartache, hope and sorrow.
asserted
Change → bring → joy
Our senior years may bring a time of adapting to changes in health or moving into aged care.
uncertain
years → bring → care
As in life generally, long-held beliefs can be challenged by what we experience as we age.
asserted
we → hold → what
Coping with changed circumstances is at the heart of much spiritual support and pastoral care across all ages and stages.
asserted
Coping → cop → ages
Change for the better is inevitably intermixed with the drawbacks.
asserted
Change → intermix → drawbacks
Societal, political, organisational and family changes are ideally aimed at improving life’s circumstances for the wider community or the individual.
asserted
changes → aim → community
Throughout its history the Christian church has been interacting with this world of change with varying degrees of insight and enthusiasm.
asserted
church → interact → insight
We will always walk a somewhat wobbly line between change that renews and maintaining principles of faith and practice which we believe to be eternal or non-negotiable.
asserted
we → walk → faith
Change should not necessarily be equated with decay.
asserted
Change → equate → decay
Which changes are potentially destructive in the long term and which are not is the more precise question to ask.
asserted
which → ask → term
Obviously, it’s not only a question for people of faith.
asserted
it → ’ → faith
As Christians it’s incongruous for us to pray to be led by the Holy Spirit on the one hand and refuse to budge on the other.
asserted
us → ’ → other
What that may mean for the wider church, and for the various expressions of it, is a vexed question.
uncertain
mean → mean → it
A willingness to be led demands both faith and courage.
asserted
willingness → lead → faith
To misquote Henry Francis Lyte, May God abide with us in the process.
uncertain
God → misquote → process
The Aporia
