Joel Johnson | Biblical History & Theology

  When I was at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory a few years ago, I came across this newspaper clipping - a piece by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle promoting “reform” of the divorce laws that existed at the time (ca. 1914). This was actually a shock to me, as I only knew Doyle through the Sherlock Holmes series - and although single, Sherlock stays within the social norms of a classic English gentleman.  Although I couldn't find the exact date, this newspaper piece wasn't a one-off case for Doyle; he was president of the Divorce Law Reform Union. He called the Separation Act of 1895 “the most ingenious Bill for producing immorality that could ever have been devised” and said that police magistrates that the lower classes were rotten through and through owing to this law. Doyle claimed that divorce was a deplorable cure for a deplorable state of things. Chaining a woman to a lunatic, drunkard or criminal for life was not conducive to human flourishing. His proposed ...

In April 2024, I completed my goal of running a total of 200 km throughout the month to raise funds for Destiny Rescue. They are an Australian-based  organisation with a mission to rescue children from sexual exploitation and human trafficking and help them stay free. They have rescued over 14,000 trafficking victims to date and supported their re-integration into society. Most of their work is in the Asian region, but their efforts extend to Africa and Central America.  There are over 1 million children currently trapped in commercial sexual exploitation, so it has never been more important to do something about this issue.  If you would like to contribute to the cause, please check out my page at:  https://movetorescue.com.au/joel-johnson Please also check out the great work that Destiny Rescue is doing at  https://www.destinyrescue.org.au/ .  Thank you, Joel