Last night we saw the unedifying spectacle of several senior politicians from both sides of politics, led by would-be Prime Minister Peter Costello, ingratiating themselves with the happy-clappers of Hillsong:
Costello soaks up Hillsong’s praise The Age, 5-Jul-2005.

No doubt taking the lead from George Bush and Tony Blair, they’ve decided that wearing their faith on their sleeve, if not on their forehead, is good politics. Well maybe it is, in certain quarters. No doubt the Hillsong believers are warm supporters of Costello, if the rapturous welcome they gave him is any guide (this is his second trip to Hillsong). But what of the rest of the population? The pollies are saying faith is good, God is good, Christianity is good, while conveniently ignoring the divisiveness of such platitudes, and the huge divisions that exist within Christianity let alone between Christianity and other faiths. And does that mean that the 25+% of non-believers in Australia, or the 19.8 million people who don’t support fundamentalist Pentecostal Christianity, are now regarded by our potential future PM as second-class citizens?

As Marion Maddox, author of God under Howard said on ABC Radio this evening:

When a treasurer argues, as Peter Costello did at the National Day of Thanksgiving in May 2004, that interreligious tensions would be solved if everyone shared Christian values (forgetting the history of wars between different Christian traditions), or that social problems require a return to the Ten Commandments, it is time to question religious privacy. When the Deputy Prime Minister tells a Christian magazine that, until saved by Jesus, we are “a mob of dirty rotten sinners and we’re on a path to hell”, it is time for a discussion about the range of beliefs in Australian society.

Every Australian is entitled to practise whatever belief system attracts them. But politicians need to be wary of being seen to side with particular faiths, especially faiths that promote the teaching of anti-science propaganda in schools. The drafters of our Constitution wisely prohibited the intrusion of religion into public life, as did America’s Founding Fathers. Yet is seems there is a danger that Australia may well follow America into faith-based politics, producing the disastrous crevasse that splits America down the middle today.

In contrast to Costello’s fawning praise for Hillsong (an AOG church), there are signs that the Coalition’s “family impact” agreement with the AOG-backed Family First Party may already be foundering:
Family First signals Costello showdown The Age, 5-Jul-2005.

Costello seems to believe that spending taxpayer funds on military hardware is not an issue that has a family impact. Perhaps the families of those who lose their lives fighting politician’s wars might have a different view.

Let’s work to make sure that the Australian people let their leaders know that religion is a personal matter, not something to be exploited for grubby political gain.

Filed in: Christian Right, Pentecostalism, Politics