Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…
- John Lennon “Imagine” 1971.

 

unBelief.org was established in January 2003 by a group of Australians who want to preserve our country’s traditions of a fair go for all, tolerance of diverse lifestyles, and respect for others. We are determined that the bigotry and intolerance promoted by the Religious Right in Australia should not go unchallenged, lest they gain political support for their views.

The groups we refer to as the Religious Right are Christian fundamentalists, usually associated with the conservative evangelical Protestant movement. This is not to say that Christianity is the only belief system that harbours fundamentalists, but right-wing Christian lobby groups currently present the most significant problem in the Australian context.

The aim of this website is to counteract the negative influence of the Religious Right on Australian social policy. We strongly support the separation of Church and State, and the proposition that society is more compassionate and fair if civil authority is totally independent of religious belief.

Australia is a secular and largely tolerant society, generally respectful of the diversity of cultures, lifestyles and beliefs of its people. Yet there are forces at work here promoting fundamentalist beliefs in the supremacy of Biblical Law, and who seek to impose their oppressive beliefs on Australian society through political activism. In the United States, Religious Right groups have successfully infiltrated the Republican Party and have been able to exert considerable influence on policy and lawmaking. The ultimate goal of many of these groups is a theocratic nation based on Mosaic Law, with the consequent demonisation of all who do not share their beliefs.

Fundamentalism describes any religious creed or philosophical persuasion marked by extreme dogmatism and intolerance. There are fundamentalist denominations within virtually every religion and faith — including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism – all believing in a literal interpretation of their scripture as the exclusive truth, the one and only way which all souls must follow to attain salvation. Historically, fundamentalism, especially when coupled with evangelical zeal, has led to aggression and violence against nonbelievers.

We acknowledge that some of the right-wing religious groups in Australia cannot strictly be labelled as fundamentalist, and we will generally use the term Religious Right to encompass the groups of concern.

In general however, these groups subscribe to the following beliefs:

• that there is only one acceptable perception of truth as stated in scripture (the “biblical worldview”), and all who do not accept this doctrine are following false paths and are destined to eternal damnation.
• that any scientific findings that conflict with Bible stories must be wrong. Evolution is a prime example.
• that the members of their faith have been divinely commissioned by God and are duty-bound to spread His holy word throughout the world.
• that government should reflect and embody the beliefs of their faith, and that even nonbelievers should abide by their religious law as the law of the land.
• that there is in this world a battle between the believers, representing the forces of light, and the nonbelievers, representing the forces of darkness, and that ultimately good will conquer evil.
• that free inquiry and the questioning of religious doctrine is heresy and that modern liberties are forms of self-indulgence and sin.
• that their codes of morality are God’s absolute commandments and are not subject to change, revision or reinterpretation.
• that education for children should consist of strict and exclusive learning of their teachings and careful censorship of other forms of thought and belief.

The more extreme groups, typified by Reconstructionists, also believe that, if necessary, force and violence should be used to bring nonbelievers and dissidents to accept the truth of their religious doctrine, and that the use of such force is justifiable in the name of God.

However. the Religious Right’s fundamental problem in Australia is that so many of its major causes are unpopular with the public. Most people want the right to make their own decisions about abortion, to view and read what they wish, to have their children fully educated, to explore their own sexuality free of governmental interference, and to have access to voluntary euthanasia if and when they need it. The Religious Right would deny them all of these things.

Nevertheless, there have been signs that Christian Right groups in Australia were gaining increasing influence in the political process, particularly under the Howard Government which ruled federally in Australia from 1996 to 2007. Our mission is to examine and expose their agenda and point out the consequences for Australia as a nation if these groups ever gain real political power.

The Religious Right is obsessed with human sexuality. Pre-marital sex, abortion, homosexuality, prostitution, age of consent, adult shops, pornography, and embryonic stem cell research dominate the list of evils from which they intend to save the world. While the rest of society has come to grips with the complexities of the human condition and adopted a compassionate attitude to the diverse aspects of human sexuality, fundamentalists continue to preach intolerance of the moral behaviour of others.

The connection between their sexual obsession and the spiritual domain is inexplicable. Jesus Christ, if the New Testament can be relied upon, had very little to say on sexual matters, and nothing at all on homosexuality. Fundamentalists therefore rely on their interpretation of English translations of the Old Testament, particularly the male-dominated Mosaic Law as expressed in the first five books of the Bible. Yet the Old Testament itself is a chronicle of murder, violence, hate, vengeance, oppression of women, slavery, rape, infidelity, incest and adultery, much of which is recounted with the apparent approval of God.

“Biblical family values” is the catchcry of the Religious Right. It is a meaningless, yet emotive, phrase that exploits the ignorance of most of the population (including we suspect, many fundamentalists) about the true content of the Bible. We have searched the Bible at length for these elusive family values, but to no avail.

The term Christianity has also been hijacked, and is used by the Religious Right as if it is definitive. Yet Christians of different denominations and sects are often in conflict with one another over matters of belief. There is no justification for any fundamentalist lobby group to claim to represent all of Christianity.

The Religious Right lobbies for legislative backing for their policies. In contrast, we do not call for any religion to be banned, or for religious belief to be subject to discrimination. People have every right to practise whatever belief system they choose, but we reject the attempts by fundamentalists to impose their beliefs on others through political activism. At present the Religious Right groups in Australia are somewhat marginalised compared with the mainstream religious denominations. However, there is a danger that if their arguments are not rebutted, they could begin to influence political decisions. Lessons should be learned from the USA where the Religious Right has infiltrated mainstream politics to a much greater extent than in Australia.

Our Aims

Our aims are:

• to critically analyse the viewpoints of the Religious Right.
• to act as a counterbalance to the intolerance and bigotry of the Religious Right.
• to encourage Australians and the Australian news media to adopt a critical attitude towards the Religious Right.
• to present alternative viewpoints that recognise the human rights of all Australians, whatever their lifestyle or religious beliefs.

These aims will be achieved by:

• publishing articles that critically examine claims and attitudes of the Religious Right.
• encouraging debate about the influence and activities of the Religious Right.
• providing information about the actual content of the Bible.
• providing references to similar material published elsewhere.
• encouraging others to take a similar stand against the dangers of religious zealotry.

We welcome the support of others of like mind and we invite submission of articles and papers for publication. We have attracted criticism and abuse from fundamentalists who claim to be offended by our position. We intend no offence, but we firmly believe in the primacy of reason over righteousness.

The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion,
or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free
exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as
a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.
The Australian Constitution, Clause 116