If you're a really cool blogger then it looks like you get "tagged" for different things Arthur at Five Public opinions has tagged me for The National Day of Secularism. As far as I can tell my obligations are to tag 5 other people and write a post "about the separation of Church and State in Australia". Well I'm not going to tag anyone else, sorry. But I will post something.
Looking at who else Arthur has tagged I'm probably one of the few Xns who has been asked to post something. As a Xn I absolutely take a stand against Theocracy. I do however believe Xns need to be involved in politics and society The Big Question is How?
Our Xn Heritage?
I think that Xns can agree that our "Xn heritage" is at best debatable and at least checkered. Just because most of the first settlers in 1788 might have ticked Xn on the religion box doesn't make us a Xn nation. To say that it is our heritage rudely ignores the Indigenous population that was here long before the English arrived and other non Xns who have arrived since.
None the less even if it was true that Australia did have a Xn Heritage (what ever that means) I cannot see how it would be in any way helpful even to mention this. Firstly, it tries to completely invalidate any other way of thinking solely because from 1788 to federation (or there about) most people would have ticked Xn on the religion box of a census. Secondly, it ignores that we also have a racist (white Australia) heritage and a criminal (convict) heritage which we ignore and rightly so, because issues of ethnicity and law should be debated purely on their merits. We do not refer back to history for precedents when we make judgements about them.
Xns do not have a monopoly on morality, kindness or social responsibility.
This is something I think is really, really important for Xns to recognise. The reality is that much evil has been done in the name of Xy and that many good people have not been Xn, Gandhi is but one example. Phillip Adams is a good current public example of a moral atheist with a strong social conscious. Because of this Xns can learn a lot of great stuff from non Xns. We can learn how to love better and how achieve justice to ignore non-Xns in any conversation about morality, kindness or social responsibility would be like taking the Samaritan out of the story of the good Samaritan.
What political issues should Xns get involved in?
Personally, I think that it is important that Xns are engaged with politics. However, I tend to engage with politics on a different level to many other more prominent conservative Xns. I can even remember my wife (who one this occasion voted the same way as me) being told by a conservative Xn representing the Christian Democrats that she was going to be voting for the enemy. What I think he meant was that my wife would be primarily voting about justice and not personal morality.
The overriding principal for all my political involvement is to defend someones right to freewill and freedom. The reason for this is this is the one thing that God gave us in the garden of Eden regardless of the consequences. So, I will fight to give someone the right to freedom of thought, like the freedom to celebrate a day of Secularism and will also fight against anything that impinges on someone else's freewill. This is how this manifests itself in particular issues.
Getting in bed with the state?
I work for a Xn organisation that receives money from the state, which I am happy to do. However, the idea of chaplains receiving money makes me nervous. The difference between the tow is that my overriding principal is that the money received from the state is to carry out a task that could be done by anyone. It just so happens that the Drug and Alcohol organisation I work for is working in areas where no one else wants to, but if another organisation was to take over (apart from losing my job) I would not mind. I don't think most supporters of Chaplains in schools could say this and this is because one of the roles of a chaplain is usually some kind of spiritual guidance. If a church is not happy for anyone to receive this funding and not to be positively discriminated because they are Xn then we should not accept the money.
Well there you have it a bit of a rushed post because I had to do it all in one sitting, which is unusual for me, so apologies if it's a bit hard to follow.
Thanks Arthur for tagging me and always having a great blog.
Looking at who else Arthur has tagged I'm probably one of the few Xns who has been asked to post something. As a Xn I absolutely take a stand against Theocracy. I do however believe Xns need to be involved in politics and society The Big Question is How?
Our Xn Heritage?
I think that Xns can agree that our "Xn heritage" is at best debatable and at least checkered. Just because most of the first settlers in 1788 might have ticked Xn on the religion box doesn't make us a Xn nation. To say that it is our heritage rudely ignores the Indigenous population that was here long before the English arrived and other non Xns who have arrived since.
None the less even if it was true that Australia did have a Xn Heritage (what ever that means) I cannot see how it would be in any way helpful even to mention this. Firstly, it tries to completely invalidate any other way of thinking solely because from 1788 to federation (or there about) most people would have ticked Xn on the religion box of a census. Secondly, it ignores that we also have a racist (white Australia) heritage and a criminal (convict) heritage which we ignore and rightly so, because issues of ethnicity and law should be debated purely on their merits. We do not refer back to history for precedents when we make judgements about them.
Xns do not have a monopoly on morality, kindness or social responsibility.
This is something I think is really, really important for Xns to recognise. The reality is that much evil has been done in the name of Xy and that many good people have not been Xn, Gandhi is but one example. Phillip Adams is a good current public example of a moral atheist with a strong social conscious. Because of this Xns can learn a lot of great stuff from non Xns. We can learn how to love better and how achieve justice to ignore non-Xns in any conversation about morality, kindness or social responsibility would be like taking the Samaritan out of the story of the good Samaritan.
What political issues should Xns get involved in?
Personally, I think that it is important that Xns are engaged with politics. However, I tend to engage with politics on a different level to many other more prominent conservative Xns. I can even remember my wife (who one this occasion voted the same way as me) being told by a conservative Xn representing the Christian Democrats that she was going to be voting for the enemy. What I think he meant was that my wife would be primarily voting about justice and not personal morality.
The overriding principal for all my political involvement is to defend someones right to freewill and freedom. The reason for this is this is the one thing that God gave us in the garden of Eden regardless of the consequences. So, I will fight to give someone the right to freedom of thought, like the freedom to celebrate a day of Secularism and will also fight against anything that impinges on someone else's freewill. This is how this manifests itself in particular issues.
- I will be pro legislation for homosexual marriage and legislation that gives homosexual couple the same legal rights as married couples. I see this as someones freedom to do as they like and it does not affect any one else's freewill.
- I will be pro legislation that eliminates third world debt or alleviates the third world like conditions Aboriginal Australians live in. I see this issue as about the freedom for all people to have the same freedoms as everyone else in the world and that the colour of their skin or the religion that they were brought up in having no effect on their quality of life.
Getting in bed with the state?
I work for a Xn organisation that receives money from the state, which I am happy to do. However, the idea of chaplains receiving money makes me nervous. The difference between the tow is that my overriding principal is that the money received from the state is to carry out a task that could be done by anyone. It just so happens that the Drug and Alcohol organisation I work for is working in areas where no one else wants to, but if another organisation was to take over (apart from losing my job) I would not mind. I don't think most supporters of Chaplains in schools could say this and this is because one of the roles of a chaplain is usually some kind of spiritual guidance. If a church is not happy for anyone to receive this funding and not to be positively discriminated because they are Xn then we should not accept the money.
Well there you have it a bit of a rushed post because I had to do it all in one sitting, which is unusual for me, so apologies if it's a bit hard to follow.
Thanks Arthur for tagging me and always having a great blog.
2 comments:
Chris, thanks for a great post, and sorry I didn't check on it sooner.
However, the idea of chaplains receiving money makes me nervous. The difference between the tow is that my overriding principal is that the money received from the state is to carry out a task that could be done by anyone. It just so happens that the Drug and Alcohol organisation I work for is working in areas where no one else wants to, but if another organisation was to take over (apart from losing my job) I would not mind.
Exactly, and to be more precise (correct me if I'm wrong, of course) the organisation you work for doesn't proselytise.
It's a moot point, however--given that we don't really have church-state separation in Australia.
Hey there Arthur,
Thanks for reading and yes that is correct.
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