Religious pulpit is no political bull-pit
ALEXANDER Downer has issued a long-overdue jeremiad against church leaders who seek headlines by spouting forth on political issues about which they have no expertise. Predictably, some church leaders have accused the Foreign Minister of trying to silence them. He was doing no such thing. Mr Downer criticised church leaders who prefer the political limelight to their pastoral duties, and find it by grandstanding "on issues where the mind of the church itself is unresolved or not yet engaged". His gripe is not with church people who address the great issues of our time, but with those who indulge in partisan politicking, and apply to that activity a sense of moral certainty that simply does not translate from the spiritual plane.
During the debate over the military campaign to topple Saddam Hussein, some Christian church leaders seemed more certain about the infamy of the campaign than they are about the resurrection. The Anglican Primate of Australia, Peter Carnley, who has declared "you can't be a conservative and a genuine Christian", could find nothing worse to say about Hussein than that he is "morally suspect". Mr Downer expressed his amazement at Dr Carnley's claim after the Bali bombing that Australians were targeted because of the Howard Government's preparedness to take action against Iraq. Dr Carnley's remarks were not only inflammatory – it has since become obvious they were also dead wrong.
Mr Downer said he found remarks by the outgoing president of the Uniting Church, James Haire, on the "political depravity" shown by both major parties over the Tampa boatpeople, "profoundly personally offensive as well as foolish". Professor Haire, who has a capacity to sound like a walking anti-globalisation website, was concluding his tenure as he began it: in his inaugural address in 2000, he referred to capitalism as "an evil empire". All that Mr Downer asks of religious leaders is that they "forgo the opportunity to be amateur commentators on all manner of secular issues on which they inevitably lack expertise, and instead find the spark of inspiration to give our lives greater moral and spiritual meaning".
Amen.
The cartoon is good but: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/cartoon/(our elenie should get it framed and hung over her desk)
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Stephen Webb Media Officer Communications Unit NSW Synod, Uniting Church in Australia Box A2178, Sydney South, NSW 1235, Australia email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: +61 2 82674308; Fax: 92674716; Web: nsw.uca.org.au/cu/ & insights.uca.org.au/ ------------------ The Communications Unit publishes the monthly magazine Insights, conducts public relations for the NSW Synod of the Uniting Church, and provides a variety of communications services. These include writing, editing, web consultation and development, desktop publishing and graphic design, public relations and advertising. For a consultation or free estimate on your project call the Communications Unit at (02) 8267 4307.
