Your Say

Comment left by Colin McGain I am so relieved that with this election Christians debated many more issues than the important but narrow topics of homosexuality and marriage and abortion. Christians were just as interested in the 'so-called' fairness of 'Work Choices', how we treat who the bible says as 'Aliens' or strangers and how we should relate to the most vulnerable in the society. Christians know that life lived to the full does not solely depend on the economy and our material prosperity as was stressed over and over during the election campaign.

Comment left by James Colin makes a good point. Where Howard failed was that he was obsessed with the economy. He always talked about "Australia" and "the economy" as if they were the same thing. But Australia is not an economy, first. Rather: we are a society. We are a community. And the economy is a part of it. Not the be-all and end-all; not the foundation of future happiness; not the only real focus. I love the idea of what is called "the triple bottom line": all decisions should be made by asking 3 questions (not just 1 question - the usual one - how much will it cost?). The 3 questions - the triple bottom line are: how will it affect the community? the economy? and the environment? Howard's narrow focus on materialism and "making more GDP", from a Christian point of view is actually quite idolatorous.

Comment left by Steve I disagree with Colin and James . The result of this election is an apathetic, compromised “church” all based around greed for job security and the hype about climate change . In the last 24 hours the Homosexual Lobby has won a major victory within 48 hours of the new government being sworn into office with New laws to mirror marriage rights for gay couples and a Register for gay, de facto couples. Our new PM Kevin Rudd has stated that ‘Public servants will advise me, not God’ Rudd Signs the Kyoto agreement and locked us all into reducing green house gases to 40% by 2020 (the cost of this will be far higher than Australia can afford) and it's only a week from the election. To come will be legalise Abortion on demand (up to birth), introduce Federal Vilification Laws (eliminating freedom of speech), stop Prayer in Parliament, force Christian schools to employ homosexual teachers under Anti-Discrimination Laws, and the list goes on and on. No, Christians are in for a rocky road from now on.

Comment left by Emma I don't agree Steve, that Christians are 'in for a rocky road from now on'. Got to say I've been punching the air a bit lately listening to the radio on the way to work - I'm hearing discussion re addressing homelessness, speedy processing of applications for refugee status,intorduction of legislation to ensure parlimentarians act with propriety and honesty. Yep, it's all very soon, but discussion and attention to these (as well as other) issues meshes really well with what is important to me as a Christian! At this point it is largely just the fact these things are back on the agenda and being publicly discussed that excites me the most. As pointed out by the Australian Christian Lobby, the result of this election tends to suggest Christians recognise values and morality extend beyond a small pigeon hole of personal morality, to broader issues such as mentioned by Colin and James (another reason to punch the air!). Greens Senator Christine Milne summed this up beautifully, something along the lines of - every piece of legislation is values laden, and the budget is one of the pieces of legislation which demonstrates clearly where a persons (or parties) values lie. Oh, and another thing I find significant about the result of this election - we have a female Deputy Prime Minister! Can't hurt to be moving slowly toward greater balance of gender in the parliament!

Comment left by Steve. No Emma to say homelessness ,refugee applications and the dream that Parliamentarians act with propriety and honesty is worth "punching the air "about over the legalise Abortion on demand (up to birth), introduce Federal Vilification Laws (eliminating freedom of speech), stop Prayer in Parliament, force Christian schools to employ homosexual teachers under Anti-Discrimination Laws,having Our new PM Kevin Rudd state that ‘Public servants will advise me, not God’ is a MAJOR misunderstanding of the scriptures on your and many other Christians behalf with- in Australia.I must assume you are a young voter as this rubbish has been bandied around for many election in one form or another over the past 30 years and by both parties with the same out come "No appearance your honour" In regards to Greens Senator Christine Milne statement "every piece of legislation is values laden, and the budget is one of the pieces of legislation which demonstrates clearly where a persons (or parties) values lie" ,I find that a total contradiction in light of her voting in support of RU 486 when the majority of Australians were against it. Emma you as a woman with maternal instincts ,you must surely see the error of your priorities with homelessness etc over the unborn and the freedom of speech , Homosexuals teaching our Kids in Christian Schools and most of all the Values our lord and Saviour Jesus Christ insists we stand firm against in this present world.Jesus said there will always be poverty so based on this statement ,human life far out ways poverty and at least homeless people had the opportunity to born not like the 100,000 Australian babies that didn't get this opportunity last year.

Comment left by Colin It is good to be able to discuss issues of passion within the safety of anonymity so long as there remains respect. To believe that any one Party holds moral superiority over another is an utterly flawed perception. All major parties will let a majority voice of Christians down. The ‘Christian Voice’ though is quite a diverse one. Every Christian has different priorities each stemming from their own culture (including church) and personal background they have experienced. Even church leaders like Rev. Tim Costello, Archbishop Bell and numerous others so effective in articulating 'Christian Concerns' and advancing 'Godly Principles' will disagree sometimes. The Old Testament Prophets taught us both about personal righteousness as well as corporate responsibility (what we know as social justice) and this remains the greatest challenge to express in our own lives and to live it out in the community. Hopefully who we voted for was a thoughtful synthesis of both.

Comment left by Steve Gundry I hate to hog the lime light but Colin did Christians really Vote with "Thoughtful synthesis" or did they vote with a knee jerk reaction from the brain washing of Australia's corrupt media in this country?

Comment left by a different James I think we've got to look to Jesus to really see how Christians should interact with their leaders and their society, both spiritually and in the physical world. He spent time telling us to look after widows, orphans and children (social justice), and exactly zero time telling us to condemn homosexuals. Not to say that I agree with homosexuality, but I think that if you look at scripture it has to be way down on our agenda. Once all the other injustices in the world are sorted out (the ones that actually hurt and affect people) then we can worry about homosexuality. Abortion is a different issue again, but I think you can still take my point - that it is important to try and see which parties have policies the most similar to Jesus. And I too am heartened to see that (at least some) Christians are recognising that our responsibility to choose wisely rests on more than just a narrow set of 3-4 traditional 'moral issues' and into the much wider spectrum of what makes a country great. And Steve, I must tell you that I am a Christian and I voted with incredible care and attention to what I feel are the important issues. Which made it very, very hard to choose a party, as each one has some 'good' and some 'bad' policies. Colin is right when he makes the point that it's not all so black and white - even knowledgeable Christian leaders sometimes dissent, so there is no way a party could ever simply stand as 'the party with Christian principles' and expect to capture the entire Christian vote. And voting with a 'knee-jerk reaction' is just as bad as voting for a right-wing conservative party just because that's where a handful of traditional Christian values have been said to lie.

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