1. Many items on this list are not Christian values at all. Take #22 - 'Oppose all illicit drugs and fund abstinence based rehabilitation'. Why is abstinence based rehab the christian way? Is God opposed to methadone programs? Or #21. Christians have different views on the charter of rights. Or #10 - Why should same sex relationships not be registered? Or #7 with the education voucher things?
2. The list is disproportionately obsessed with issues of sex and reproduction. 11 items!
3. The re-writing of Australia's history required for #2 sounds a bit silly. Didn't think we had much of a christian heritage.
4. All of the parties get a tick for 'support greater care of God's environment'. Do they really want to care more for the environment? Are they all willing to make the costly and unpopular decisions that may be necessary? Certain parties that got the tick for this one voted against the ETS and don't believe in global warming. A much softer line seems to be taken on this than on any other item on the list.
5. The biggest problem with this list is not what it says, but what it leaves unsaid. The things (apart from repentence and faith) that God has told us he cares about most are not on the list. What about showing respect for the elderly? the poor? the sick? the outcast (refugees...)
Anyone want to add more to my list?
Wow.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that, though. I'm dismayed that it's pretty much telling Christians to vote CDP, even though they're blatantly anti-Muslim (as well as anti- pretty much anyone else who's not white!) And I just can't believe how many parties have as one of their major policies the rejection of asylum seekers (either implicitly or explicitly). Seriously?
I've been trying to find out where the parties stand on issues like abortion and refugees and it is really hard to get that information from many of them. So, in that sense, something like this would be kind of helpful for Christians. But it's scary that many Christians would probably swallow that whole thing, school vouchers and all.
In short, totally agree with your #5. Surely it's a little bit strange how often "Christian values" and "my own interests" seem to overlap.
I think voting Christianly is really important. But I wish people realised that that means being informed and thoughtful more than it does being selfish!
I liked this this article:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/in-the-political-realm-birds-of-a-feather-dont-necessarily-flock-together-20100728-10vy3.html
Only five things? You know what we need - a Christian conference MC'd by a Christian political candidate to set the record straight. We sure don't want an atheist running the country...
ReplyDeleteJust wondering if free speech is a Christian value. The whole thing is couched in the wrong terms. It all starts off on the wrong foot assuming that 64% of Aussies are Christians. If you start from that perspective, with that definition of what a "Christian" is, then maybe it all makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteGood one Simone. I'm exploring what a Christian vote for the Greens looks like... :)
ReplyDeleteArthur
They should have a "chance of winning a seat" column too.
ReplyDeleteWhy is there no column for the Republican party?
ReplyDeleteFrankly it's bizarre. Christians, apparently, don't mind abortion so long as people pay for it themselves. Because, as we well know, that system worked so well in the past.
Don't forget the orphans, or kids in general. They're nearly as important as having MPs pretend to pray on a regular basis, right?
Australian Conservative Values Checklist. Or is it beyond conservatism?
ReplyDeleteDespite being married to a teacher, I'm not au fait with the education vouchers - would there be some restriction on which (type of) school they could be used for?
ReplyDeleteI'm more concerned by no. 8 - there are studies that show that "equal parenting" makes the parents feel good about themselves at the potential expense of the child's sense of stability and education.