The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Separation of God and politics > Comments

Separation of God and politics : Comments

By Peter Sellick, published 2/3/2005

Peter Sellick argues that God has been placed firmly on the Australian political agenda

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. Page 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. ...
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. All
There should be no separation of God and Politics because both the Old and New Testament teach alot about the government, finances, economics, morals, and leadership. Furthermore politics without faith results in a lack of morality in fiscal and monetary policy, as well as civil and social legislation. Politicians that don't have (christian) faith fail to govern and lead with the integrity of the values of Christ, and the New Testament.

Teresa van Lieshout
Author
Faith and Politics: A Framework for Australian Social and Political Life.
http://onenationwa.tripod.com/
Posted by Teresa van Lieshout, Thursday, 3 March 2005 4:16:47 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Kenny: The old Testament has guidelines for us of today, though mainly we read it to see the prophesies for the Christ and see their fulfillment in the N/T, but it was written for and given to the Israelites not us Gentiles. Of course we Gentiles never had slaves, we never had to have permission from the Creator God, or any lesser god to have them either eh?
Read the O/T for what it is Kenny.
Posted by numbat, Thursday, 3 March 2005 4:18:48 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Kenny
your glib and sweeeeeeping 'The Old testament says slavery is ok' man ! If your computer science is of the same standard as your Old testament understanding, heaven help the clients mate. Such a statement of yours, pre-supposes an idea of slavery already existing in our (your readers) minds, and that this image is same as slavery in the old testament, and is therefore 'bad', hence by implication the Old Testament is also 'bad'.
The reality is, that the image of slavery in most peoples minds today is that of the harsh treatment of the American and 'slave trade' days of the 17th/18th centuries. Fortunately, the picture in the ancient near east was very different and much more complex.
I strongly recomment u study up on this subject before u ever speak about it again. (I would rather ur credibility remain in tact, I wouldn't want others to tease u :)
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslave.html
By the way, the greek philosophers had some very unhealthy ideas about 'slaves', u might do well to read on that also.
The pattern of government in the Old Testament, before the emergence of kings, was Theocracy, when the kings were appointed it was the end of Theocracy. Under Theocracy, Social welfare, and caring for the 'alien, foreigner, widow and orphan' were high on the priority list.

I do agree with the observation of some here that when the Church gets big and powerful, and becomes part of the 'state', things go downhill, and the church becomes corrupt, because of human nature.
I do support political 'influence' by Christians in a prophetic sense, as I do with their right to act responsibly in a democratic society, which includes appointing leaders and policies of their preference. To deny this to them, is blatant discrimination.
Posted by BOAZ_David, Thursday, 3 March 2005 6:11:41 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
If I wrote my previous post 150 years ago,I would have been hung or burned at the stake as a heretic.Religion has no place in politics since it is based on faith,blind ideology,and often defies all logic.
Religions have done a lot of good but they have also done some horrendous things in the name of God.I respect peoples religious needs and beliefs,but don't try to inflict them on others.I have an open mind on the subject.My children go to a catholic school and they know how I feel.I just tell them that religion is a very personal thing,and to keep an open mind on the subject.I see it as an evolution of our consciousness.We are just beginning to grasp the universe and it's laws.Perhaps there is a supreme consciousness but it doesn't mean we are that important to be included in the grand scheme of things.We can have morality without fear ,damnation and empty promises.Unless all the religions progress beyond their static
dogma,and progress with the discoveries of science and resultant awareness,they will be doomed to irrelevance.
Posted by Arjay, Thursday, 3 March 2005 7:18:18 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
While his article is a good exposition of a Christian view on the relationship between his religion and some aspects of Australian politics, Peter Sellick strikes me as just a little bit precious when he talks about "the constant demonizing of the church that we get in this comments section".

Firstly, since I've been engaging with these often stimulating and interesting forums I've encountered more godbotherers per capita than anywhere I've known other than in some benighted Pacific nations. It's really quite an ethnographic event.

Secondly, it seems to me that the disproportionate amount of Christian 'preaching' that occurs here textually invites, if not 'demonizing', then a thorough howling down for the utter twaddle that much of it is. The prolific Christian 'preachers' on this site should expect robust responses from those of us with a broader worldview than the victims of their evangelistic predecessors.

Fortunately, I guess, most of us couldn't be bothered :)

Kind regards,
Morgan
Posted by morganzola, Thursday, 3 March 2005 10:30:36 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
So BOAZ_David and numbat believe the bible has never been used by Christians to “prove” that slavery is ok. That is a very interesting revision of history. There a church groups in the US right now that still maintain slavery is ok.
Can you show me a passage in the bible (KG version please) that clearly states slavery is bad ? I made no comment on how Greeks views on slavery (which was simular to most peoples then) or even the type of government they had, I was merely countering the authors statement that Christianity brought us democracy which is clearly wrong.
BOAZ_David I’m very familiar with the treatment of slaves in many cultures in many time periods the link you provide was not worth the pixels sorry try again. The only rule about the ownership of slaves in the old or new testaments is that Jews can not keep fellow Jews as slaves. This leads me to my next point that Christians who maintain this belief as the author does that their religion is the reason that western culture is were it is today are no better then white supremacists and funnily enough use the same evidence to support their claims. The fact is Christianity is going in the direction it needs to go into the pages of history. Just one last thing BOAZ_David makes comments about how wonderful the Jews Theocracy treated non Jews. To give people a idea of what Jews thought of other people at that time read numbers 25:6-9
Posted by Kenny, Friday, 4 March 2005 10:17:30 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. Page 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. ...
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy