Category: Comment

How will Christians vote in the next election?

Peter Hallett2 Comments

With the Federal Government ‘stockpiling’ double dissolution “triggers’ and a normal election possible from August 7 2010, political parties are well and truly in election mode.

The Christian vote has become more visible in recent years with the strengthening and growth of political parties claiming to represent Christians, not to mention candidates in other political parties highlighting their Christian faith.

Add to this the growing, if begrudging, respect being given to the Australian Christian Lobby, and we have a fascinating story emerging for voters who seek to vote in a way that reflects their faith.

Two states – South Australia and Tasmania – are going to the polls in March and it will be interesting to see the performance of  parties such as the Christian Democrats and Family First, relative to the Greens, Democrats and other minor parties.

I am writing an article for Alive magazine which will give an overview of the state of Christian politics in Australia, so keep an eye out for it in the April/May issue.

Micah Challenge has its Voices of Justice conference at Parliament House, Canberra on June 19-22 when young people will meet with dozens of elected representatives, lobbying for justice for the poor. In the shadow of an election, this timing could prove strategic. PH

Too casual about casualties

Peter HallettLeave a comment

One result of the constant stream of death and mayhem reported in our media is a numbing to the loss of human life. Real people become numbers and information, which represents a loss of dignity for those suffering.

A side-effect of this is that people quoted in the media make comments in the context of loss of life that, when we take a step back, can be seen to highlight the brutality of our thinking.Read More »

Temptation comes and SMH falls

Peter HallettLeave a comment

The Sydney Morning Herald has today run an article about an upcoming defamation case in the Supreme Court involving the Annandale Anglican Church and an aggrieved former member.

Easily succumbing to the temptation to take a swipe at Sydney Anglicans and conservative Christian belief in general, the story almost entirely advocates the former member’s position. While that may be in part due to the reluctance of the Anglican Church to comment on specifics, the emotive language chosen and widening of the target to include the “strict Anglican doctrine of the Sydney diocese” shows another agenda at work.

Even the heading places responsibility for the “Anglican stoush” with the “Pastor’s ban” when in reality the ban came only after a long period during which concerns escalated.Read More »

1 dead fashion designer vs 217,000 dead Haitians

Peter HallettLeave a comment

Watching and reading various media sources today I noticed a general order of news priority:

  • The death of fashion designer Alexander McQueen
  • Revised death toll from the earthquake in Haiti to 217,000
  • Celebrations and comment surrounding the 20 year anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison.

We live in a world where a relatively small number of inhabitants are overwhelmingly preoccuppied with the luxury of appearance while an overwhelmingly large number of inhabitants are preoccupied with surviving.

Perhaps you might argue that both the Haitian earthquake and Nelson Mandela are older news and so naturally will be less prominent. Perhaps you could argue that fashion is not just clothes but art and a commentary on our times. Perhaps you could argue that this snapshot of media priorities is not a true reflection of Western cultural values.

Perhaps…
PH

The marvel is not me

Peter HallettLeave a comment

“The marvel of the Redemptive Reality of God is that the worst and the vilest can never get to the bottom of His love. Paul [the Apostle] did not say that God separated him to show what a wonderful man He could make of him, but “to reveal His Son in me.”

Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest
February 3

This quote would seem to flow counter to the river of Christian books that  promote the idea of becoming all we can be. Is it the same thing? Or have we moved the mark some how? PH

Oh no, Christians in the media

Peter Hallett2 Comments

O.N.C.I.T.M 1: 10 well-intentioned American Baptists have been arrested in Haiti for allegedly attempting to abduct at least 33 or up to 100 children by taking them by bus to the Dominican Republic.

One of the Baptists said they realised they didn’t have all the right paperwork, for what they thought were abandoned children, but were “just trying to do the right thing.”

Doing the right thing starts with having great respect for the nations and peoples you are among, even if their lifestyle or processes are different to yours. It can be too easy for us in the west to wrongly view these as sub-standard or insignificant, because we fail to penetrate the cultural differences.

Perhaps the chaos of devastated Haiti is a mitigating factor, and there may be other motivations for those who are holding the Christians without charge, but there is definitely a lesson for us all as weconsider our place in the world.

O.N.C.I.T.M 2: An American missionary couple featured on morning television because of their comments that Darwin is a godless, sinful city. The clean middle-class-looking couple lost all credibility with no one believing they knew the first thing about the city they claim to want to reach with the gospel.

The mistake here, again, is the presumption of  describing a foreign city without knowing it or earning the right to be heard. The other mistake is thinking that one city is some how more sinful than another just because its sins may be more obvious, such as alcohol abuse.

Gotta love these Christians, they are so passionate and committed and probably deeply spiritual. But a few brains wouldn’t go astray.

“Forgive me Lord for when I have acted out of the same pride and disrespect which is not love.” PH

Action interrupted, truth stumbled

Peter HallettLeave a comment

The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. Chinese proverb.

What have you stopped doing because of a voice, internally or externally, saying  it can’t be done, you can’t do it or you can’t do it well? Avoid these interruptions.

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry on as if nothing had happened. Winston Churchill

As opposed to the interruption of doubters, truth is worth taking note of. What truth have you stumbled over, even and embarrassing or inconvenient one, that you have done your best to ignore but keeps tapping on your shoulder. Stumble back to truth, it always set you free.

Incidentally, I came across these quotes while reading Organic Church by Frank Viola. Still trying to decide if this book is interruption or stumbling truth. Probably a bit of both… PH