Australia: Politics and Religion, Again
By Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
There has been a lot of discussion about religion and politics in the media during the past several days. Much of the material centres on the new Federal opposition leader. Because he is a conscientious Catholic, and a conservative to boot, a spate of articles – many of them bordering on paranoia – have appeared.
As usual, our secular left is foaming at the mouth, warning about a theocracy about to be unleashed on Australia. One gets the impression from reading some of these anti-religious crusaders that if we don’t act quickly and decisively, soon all Australians will be forced to attend regular church services and all copies of The God Delusion will be burned.
Of course the blatant hypocrisy and double standards here is simply mind-boggling. We have had for several years now a Prime Minister who constantly and proudly displays his religiosity. He conspicuously trumpeted his faith in order to woo Christian voters before the last federal election, and he is quite happy to offer photo ops outside of church each Sunday.
In many ways he has been far more vocal and outspoken about his faith than previous PMs, certainly more so that John Howard. Yet while Howard – and now Abbott – are regularly being bashed for daring to in any way bring their faith to the political arena, Rudd has been allowed to get away with it for years now. How come?
Quite simple really. Rudd is a lefty, and secular leftists do not mind the public expression of religion beliefs, as long as it matches their own viewpoint. It is conservative Christianity that the secular left most detests. Thus Howard and Abbott are enemies of the state, and about to unleash a holy war on Australia. But Rudd offers no such worry.
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