Is Australia a Christian country?
Interesting question.
Some would argue passionately that our nation was founded upon Christian teaching and Christian principles so, without a doubt, we are a Christian nation. They might acknowledge that, in many instances, Christian practices (e.g. Church attendance) have been eroded or abandoned in more recent times. Nonetheless, so far as they are concerned, statistics still indicate that the clear majority of Australian citizens consider themselves to be Christians.
However, others would want to challenge that argument for at least two key reasons.
1. Many of those who have immigrated to Australia have brought their own religious convictions and practices with them and, as a result, a whole new religious landscape has emerged.
2. Many "born and bred Aussies" have given up on traditional religion and are now staying away in droves from traditional Churches.
One could argue that, because of this significant change in the religious landscape, it can no longer be expected that Christianity should enjoy what could be considered the privileged and exclusive place that it has held until more recent generations.
So, let me get back to the original question, "Is Australia a Christian country?"
To be honest, I am not sure that I can "tow the party line" on this one: the party line being that we, as Christians, are somehow "entitled" to preferential (if not exclusive) treatment and, therefore, we should have priority over other religions. For my part, I can no longer sign off on the claim that Australia is a Christian country. However, I can accept that we are a country with a Christian heritage. There is a world of difference between those two comparisons.
The comment above about preferential treatment requires me to put this subject into some kind of context. Among the news headlines this morning were two reports that highlight the changes in our nation, changes that take us further away from that Christian heritage mentioned above. One headline reported that a school in Western Australia has banned the repetition of the Lord's Prayer.
"Religious non-believers have welcomed a WA State primary school's decision to ban the Lord's Prayer from its fortnightly assemblies because they say schools should reflect the nature of Australia's secular society. (Western Australian, September 21, 2011)
The second headline also reported a further move away from our Christian heritage.
A motion backing same-sex marriage has been passed by the Tasmanian House of Assembly, the first time an Australian parliament has voted for marriage equality for gays and lesbians. (The Mercury, September 22, 2011)
Regarding the first headline, apparently the school officials had received a number of complaints from parents who are opposed to the practice of the whole school saying the Lord's Prayer at the School Assembly. Their argument is that theirs is a public school and it is unacceptable for any religion to be taught, let alone for one religion to have a prior or exclusive claim over others. Note the reference to "Australia's secular society".
As I understand it, the school subsequently engaged in a survey of all the parents but they received responses from only 30% of those parents. If that report is accurate, it saddens me that 70% of the parents did not see the issue as being sufficiently important to warrant their attention. So, yet again, the vocal few prevail while the silent majority sleep (so to speak).
This lack of response is somehow becoming increasingly typical of the "she'll be right, mate" attitude that has been a feature of Aussie culture for longer than I care to recall.
With regard to the second headline, it is no secret that the issue of same-sex marriage is currently high on the social agenda and those advocating this radical re-definition of marriage are enjoying significant success in their crusade. I've written about this subject in other places on this site so I will not repeat myself here.
The implications of this crusade (should it succeed) are more far-reaching than I think any of us could realise. If we agree that the concept of family as we have known it is the most desirable and effective environment for human fulfilment and the cornerstone of human relationships, then any attempt to undermine it is to be rejected.
In the light of news headlines like these (and they are not uncommon in the news media), I believe we are watching the "de-Christianizing" of our country of Australia.
How can this be happening?
Well, we can look around to find someone else or something else to blame or we can put ourselves under scrutiny in an endeavour to answer that question. For example, we can blame multiculturalism; i.e. the influx of a multitude of ethnic groups bringing their own religious values, beliefs and practices. We might want to point particularly to those groups that are passionately evangelistic in the spreading of their religion.
I believe that the key reason for this de-Christianizing is the apathy that has permeated our national psyche creating a false sense regarding the priority of Christianity in society. Our responses to this process suggest that we believe we have a "divine right" to be seen by all others as the true faith and for others to defer to us in matters concerning faith and spirituality. It is this attitude of apathy that severs the nerve of Christian evangelism.
There is no small degree of arrogance in such a stance. An arrogant apathy, if you like. We would do better if we regarded every opportunity to practice and share our faith as a gift or privilege that we should treasure rather than a right that we can exercise (or, as is too often the case, ignore).
An example? Well, the opportunity to teach Scripture in public schools is a case in point. For decades there has been an open door for the Christian community to take the Good News into the State School system. This has usually taken the form of willing volunteers being given the opportunity (privilege?) to teach whole classes the truths contained in the Bible.
Then came the appointment of school chaplains, many of whom are treated as members of staff. Now that's a privilege! But that is now being challenged in the courts of our country. Quite apart from what we may think about the separation of Church and State, this is yet another example where "religion" - in this case, Christianity in particular - is being targeted for resistance (if not extinction).
There's no doubt in my mind that we are witnessing the transition of our country from its religious roots into something less than a Christian country. It seems to me that our society is determined to wrap itself in darkness by resisting and extinguishing the light. This ought not to surprise us, given that the Bible is decisive in its statement: -
"There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished.(John3/18-20 NLT)
It may be that such resistance and animosity is energized by ignorance and that the prayer of Jesus from the Cross has application to these situations down through the years
"Father, forgive these people, because they don't know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)
I think there is good news and bad news in all of this. The bad news is the spread of spiritual darkness across our land. The good news is that light shines brighter in darkness.The darker it gets, the brighter the gospel becomes.
