runner,

I wasn't trying to imply that people who lean to the right aren't personally compassionate. In fact a people's political leanings are probably quite orthogonal to both their morality and level of faith. I was saying that the policies of the left (labour) government typically focus on benefiting the lower class working and unemployed ("poor") people while the right (liberal) government will typically focus on businesses and material benefits to society. Given that Christianity generally focuses on taking care of people (particularly the poor) and discourages materialism, it would generally align better with leftish politics. Both churches and the Family First party have been quite critical of Howard's industrial relations reform.

I think both sides of politics tend to fail on the human rights factor. However human rights in this context refers to the individual vs the state (i.e. freedom of religion, right to earn a living, etc). The abortion debate is about individual (mother) vs individual (unborn child) and hence is more an issue of morality than human rights. And most people think that religion, and hence morality, should be left up to the individual and not dictated by the government.

While we can not reasonably blame the government for our individual predicaments, we elect representatives to deal with the issues that affect significant proportions of the population. The housing 'crisis' is something the government should have seen coming and should take reasonable action to remedy. Blaming issues outside the control of the government, such as global warming, is certainly unreasonable. However just because the government is not part of the problem, doesn't mean it can avoid being part of the solution.

Lunatics who incite violence exist on both sides of politics (we have a right leaning government and hence the left have more to protest about), and to a limited extent in the police as well. Don't let them pollute your view of the reasonable majority.

Hi Desipis..welcome.. you seem to be quite new here.

Just on the issue of 'appeal to the Christian right' of Labor due to its emphasis on caring for the lower socio-economic segment of the community.... yes, that aspect does appeal..with reservation.

1/ We don't want to see over spending on well mean't but unaffordable causes.
2/ We don't want the COST of such spending, even though responsible, to be accepting the usual 'left' agenda relating to:
-Abortion
-Homosexual related law reform.
-Migration with political intent.
-Lax refugee policy/Border control.

You probably know most of the issues and there are more than I've listed.

I would rather harrass and harangue and annoy a 'Christian values' (supposedly) government which stands against the 'progressive' agenda above, and bug them till they took more action where they should in social responsibility, than simply acqiuesce to a 'progressive' party which did those things without being bugged about it.

Hence.. politically I reside in the 'centrist' position, where I view the Right of Labor and the Left of the Coalition would probably make a good party if they married.

BOAZ_David,

Thanks for the welcome, been reading OLO for a while. Your post pointed out a few points that influence the Christian communities political leanings. I can see now how their views on those issues would lead them to the right. What I can't see is how Christianity leads them to those views. A few comment on those issues though:

-Abortion
A whole other can of worms, but I can see how Christians would default to a pro-life argument.

-Homosexual related law reform.
The bible consistently demands punishment by death for all men who commit homosexual acts. If Christians accept homosexuality is a sin, why are they so against the death penalty?

-Migration with political intent.
Most on the left would be against any sort of invasion/conquest through migration. While I don't think any of us want Australia becoming an Islamic theocracy (or any significant shift in our society's core values: i.e. freedom, democracy, etc), there are plenty of us that don't want it to become a Christian theocracy either.

-Lax refugee policy/Border control.
So did I mis-interpret the parable of the Good Samaritan. I must have missed the pro-xenophobic moral to the story.

Politically I guess I'm usually socially liberal and economically moderate.

Stan1. "how might Mr Rudd turn his angel face...into concrete action". Was this one of the wonderful uses of English you were referring to? A double murdered metaphor atop a load of gushing schoolgirl cliche?

Miacat. Good that Rudd will WORK alongside the UN instead of just letting the girls do the work, on his lap, alongside the UN. Also good to hear that you know all about Mr Rudd's fresh approach. Assuming it isn't something like "hey babe, have you got a bit of Australian in you?" then I'll guess you know much more of his policy details than anyone else outside the Rudd household. Where did you discover them? At least Ms Cica was straight enough to say SHE didn't have a clue.

As for the Christians being on the Right, well where else can they be? Since the average Christian believes in Individual Salvation Through Christ, and an Individual enterring Heaven due to their actions on earth (ie we are all personally responsible for our fate), it doesn't seem to leave much place for collectivism, does it? Since every self-respecting lefty also knows that religion is the opiate of the masses (though few have the guts to mention this down at the local mosque), I s'pose that would alienate a fair few of Christ's flock too. Or am I missing something?

Anyway. As I said yesterday, the most alarming thing about this article is the way Ms Cica excuses Mr Rudd's obvious lies, with the observation that because it's not hurting him in the polls (it "hasn't stuck") it doesn't matter. Read the last two paragraphs and you'll understand why this amoral lady is desperately "in search of a moral compass". Cheers.

punter57

You say “how might Mr Rudd turn his angel face...into concrete action". Was this one of the wonderful uses of English you were referring to? A double murdered metaphor atop a load of gushing schoolgirl cliche?

Cica actually said "The key question is: when and how might Rudd translate his angel face - the one that suggests there is life and value beyond the economy - into concrete action?"

1. You misquoted badly
2. It doesn’t sound too bad to me
3. Out of the whole article is this the best example of poor English expression you can come up with?
4. This is not a metaphor, neither single nor double murdered
5. If you want to give the author a title, why not use the correct one of "Dr." rather than "Ms."? Possibly this would not fit with your “gushing schoolgirl” insult?

Desipis,
regarding the christian 'right', you're probably overlooking something called the 'protestant work ethic' [see Max Weber].
Howard referred to the parrabel of the talents in his 'Australia Rising' speech - "he who has will be given, he who has not it shall be taken away". If you understand this, you understand where Howard and the christian right are coming from. Welfare for the corporate/ middle-class and punishment for the disobedient sinners, which paradoxically include people like christian anarchists, quakers, and Catholic Workers!