For those unaware, Scott Morrison was recently deposed as PM of Australia. Whilst he commonly tried to present himself as an everyday Aussie (whatever THAT means) he is a Pentecostal and rallied the support of the religious right to depose the previous party leader. He spoke at a somewhat controversial church this week...
https://www.news.com.au/finance/wor...n/news-story/9ce0f13ce2d4270ff26c2c79f7aa2a95
Quick hits:
He referred to anxiety as 'Satan's Plan', seeming to link mental health issues to a combination of brain chemistry, biological issues and spiritual deficit. Yuck.
He stated that he believed in miracles, and that he thought his loss was part of God's plan. That worries me less. All Christians believe in miracles, and that God has a plan. Plenty of our best leaders have been Christians.
He also said that people should be putting their faith in God over 'fallible governments'. Hmm...to me, that's a tough sell when you were PM, and making all sorts of policy that directly impacted on people's lives. Are governments fallible? Hell yes. But when the east coast was being ravaged by bushfire, it was leadership from the Government that people needed. If they're believers, and depending on the nature of their belief, they can certainly turn to God as well. But this either/or proposition is problematic. There were several key social issues that his government fundamentally failed to address, and I wonder if his worldview contributed to that in some direct way. Most notably this was in areas of respect and safety for women in politics, corruption, and protection of LGBT students at schools (please note, these are specific Australian issues, not just general vibes, happy to extrapolate on any/all).
Please note, this is NOT a knock on leaders who are religious. But a PM has to lead the whole nation. Their personal religion shouldn't be an active guide in that. Neither should anti-theism, fwiw.
The new PM, Anthony Albanese, is a self-described non-practising Catholic. In early press conferences, he removed two of the three Australian flags Morrison did press engagements in front of (surely one is enough) and added an Aboriginal flag, and a Torres Straight Islander flag to the mix. Symbolism isn't worth much when it's time for rubber to meet road, but to me this is a clear sign that we have a government whose intent is more inclusive.
I hope they are able to sustain that intent.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/wor...n/news-story/9ce0f13ce2d4270ff26c2c79f7aa2a95
Quick hits:
He referred to anxiety as 'Satan's Plan', seeming to link mental health issues to a combination of brain chemistry, biological issues and spiritual deficit. Yuck.
He stated that he believed in miracles, and that he thought his loss was part of God's plan. That worries me less. All Christians believe in miracles, and that God has a plan. Plenty of our best leaders have been Christians.
He also said that people should be putting their faith in God over 'fallible governments'. Hmm...to me, that's a tough sell when you were PM, and making all sorts of policy that directly impacted on people's lives. Are governments fallible? Hell yes. But when the east coast was being ravaged by bushfire, it was leadership from the Government that people needed. If they're believers, and depending on the nature of their belief, they can certainly turn to God as well. But this either/or proposition is problematic. There were several key social issues that his government fundamentally failed to address, and I wonder if his worldview contributed to that in some direct way. Most notably this was in areas of respect and safety for women in politics, corruption, and protection of LGBT students at schools (please note, these are specific Australian issues, not just general vibes, happy to extrapolate on any/all).
Please note, this is NOT a knock on leaders who are religious. But a PM has to lead the whole nation. Their personal religion shouldn't be an active guide in that. Neither should anti-theism, fwiw.
The new PM, Anthony Albanese, is a self-described non-practising Catholic. In early press conferences, he removed two of the three Australian flags Morrison did press engagements in front of (surely one is enough) and added an Aboriginal flag, and a Torres Straight Islander flag to the mix. Symbolism isn't worth much when it's time for rubber to meet road, but to me this is a clear sign that we have a government whose intent is more inclusive.
I hope they are able to sustain that intent.
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