So, is God embarrassed by Family First?

I was looking at a release this morning from Revenue Review, featuring Richard Hackett-Jones condemning "religious interference in politics," and it got me thinking about religion and politics and so on.

Mr Hackett-Jones is a practicing Christian himself and has spent more than 30 years as a member of the Liberal party. Although in some ways it seems to be something having a wee bit of a whinge about Family First not giving them a higher ticketing spot (they've been put at seventh, as opposed to the second placing the Libs have given to Family First) (and especially since this is the first election he's been running in apparently), I still thought it was interesting how the title of the release was "Is God embarrassed by Family First?" and went on to affirm the importance of the separation of church and state.

He also commented about the way in which "many Christians" feel anxious about the way in which we could end up duplicating the "religious right" of the US, which he says tends to degrade democratic processes.

As a Christian, I'm in favour of secular democracies. Input from a variety of religious and non-religious groups isn't a bad thing, provided none of the groups want to start saying that whatever they're bringing to the table is far superior to anyone else's belief system. And yes, I'm embarrassed by Family First, particularly when people seem to think that's what all Christians are like. Maybe God would be embarrassed, too, but I'm not sure what He thinks on the matter and that's probably something to ask Him in a more face-to-face encounter.

I don't know that God would agree with my political choices. Maybe He would, but maybe He wouldn't. I'm not going to start saying that because I'm a Christian, the way I vote is obviously the way God would want everyone to vote - including all other Christians. Or that I have a greater right than anyone else to say what direction our country should take, etc.

Personally, I don't think the Family First focus extends beyond a rather narrow view of Christianity, Christians and what we want from our politicians - for a start, I'm not entirely sure how it ties in with "Thou shalt not bear false witness" when Steve "The Greens are Extreme!" Fielding is going around slandering the Greens on a regular basis.

I do not think that saying, "Look! We have Christian members!" makes one party better than another. Neither does "We've got Christian values!" They're politicians. I find it hard to believe they have values at all. I also find it hard to comprehend how people get fooled by that into thinking that makes the party and their policies "nice" and something worth voting for. It's like throwing in the word "Christian" means that people suddenly don't look at policies and party actions and beliefs. Those policies, actions and beliefs are what will end up being the things used over "Christian values."

Christian faith does not have to mean ultra-conservative values. Our focuses aren't just on gay marriage and abortion. They may not be on these issues at all. Some of us might even think they're all not going to herald the apocalypse. Other issues like the environment, international aid, housing, job security, Aboriginal treatment, education, healthcare, equal opportunities, etc are issues that will probably get people more interested than what consenting adults are getting up to in the privacy of their own bedrooms.

Plus with the four million or so Christians in Australia who attend church at least once a month, I'd say there would be a diversity of opinion and ideologies when it comes to the individual voters political preferences. Some might have a fancy for the Libs. Some might like Labor. There are others who'll be voting for the Greens. Some may not even have preferences, instead choosing to *gasp* just vote for random people on the day and hope to avoid all the pork barreling, political advertising and general rubbish that goes hand-in-hand with election campaigning!

I fail to understand the phobia some Christians have of the Labor party or the Greens, and yet so unquestioningly think the Liberals and Family First are sent by God to caress our wallets and our souls. Tony Abbott himself has said that the ALP and Greens doing a preference deal should sound a "very cautionary note" to Christians planning to vote for them. Oh, and they also "don't have the degree of Christian commitment (that Coalition politicians do)."

Yes, those good ol' Christian commitments and values of locking up refugees. Lying. Giving tax cuts to the rich. Ignoring the poor and homeless and mentally ill. Insulting dying people. Not saying sorry...

Recently, there was an older Christian guy I was speaking to who was saying how he'd heard that none of the Labor Party members were Christian and that they were refusing to say the Lord's Prayer in Parliament. For an e-mail forward told him so. Things turned vaguely frosty when I pointed out Kevin Rudd is a Christian, as were a number of other party members. This guy then went on to say that he hoped Labor won the election because it would be a "sign of the end of the world."

It was hard not to say, "Either that or a sign that Australia might be coming to its senses, although I wouldn't hold my breath over that just yet."