Aussies and God, a brief conversation

SPARTY - sent an excerpt from a Catholic publication which indicted that the new Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, is quite a religious fellow, as is the opposition to the Rudd government. The article was making the point that

"All the media interviews I did during the week were eager to explore the issues of faith and politics, both in the U.S. and in Australia. For a "secular" country, the social and political impact of faith seems to have become a hot topic."

Sparty knows that one of our most loyal readers is an Australian, and wondered what she would have to say about this.

IRENE has answered:

Religion is not a major player in our political landscape. Few people regularly go to church here - the weekly attendance figure is less than 8%. Public figures don't mention God, they don't invite people to pray to God in tough times. People don't thank God when they win the Superbowl (or Grand Final). You could be prime minister and be agnostic, even an atheist. Kevin Rudd may pray, but it's a personal thing, and no one believes he's in office doing God's will. The belief that the country is blessed by God isn't part of the national identity here.

IRENE goes on to evaluate the author of the religious claim:

"The author of the article ... Christopher Pearson, is a conservative "journalist" whose dream job would be a regular spot on Fox News. He's a Murdoch press tool, used to push the ultra-right wing view, and as usual, his article is at best disingenuous. For example, he lumps in the Uniting Church members to come up with a figure of 10% of Australians in Evangelical/Pentecostal churches. The Uniting Church is a union of Presbyterians and Methodists - I doubt if the Uniting church identifies with the evangelical churches - and the Uniting Church makes up more than half of his 10% figure. Less than 5% of Australians are evangelicals or Pentecostals. They aren’t an organised political force pushing their agendas."

Finally, Irene makes this conclusory statement:

"There may have been a swing in the evangelical vote in key electorates. However, coming to the conclusion that it was a change of agenda of the evangelical movement is a bit far fetched. There were a lot of other issues in the election that weighed heavily with people in these same electorates..."

====

Comment: BIRCHES is a strong supporter of separation of church and state in the U.S. We believe that governments designed by churches and ruled by theocrats are inherently undemocratic and unjust. This is no reflection of the situation in Australia of which we are woefully lacking in knowledge. We depend on Irene for what we know. :)

Footnote: Further comment is welcome.