A fair start to leveling the playing field would be to eliminate the tax exempt status of any organization that participates in
political persuasion such as contributing financial and non financial support to a political party. a similar federal law in the US has succeeded in eliminating the creation "charitable" non-profit organizations that were nothing but a ruse for supporting candidates or parties.
However the US has not succeeded in eliminating the tax exempt status of the huge 7th Day Adventists corporate farming enterprises much to the dismay of competing farmers.

I agree with Bruce as to what should be done, but with its vote swaying ability, the church is one of the most powerful lobby groups in the world and is unlikely to allow change to occur.

Quite a rant.

Maybe the churches aren't emptying quite as fast you think. The denomination I belong to after declining in Church attendance thro' the 1980's and 1990's, began to increase after 2000.

Get over it, churches are not going to disappear any time soon, nor are the mosques and temples of other faiths.

Governments put mony in the way of churches because churches are prepared to get out and do work no other groups do: run soup kitchens, help the victims of abortions, visit the sick and elderly in hospitals, do chaplaincy work in schools, start up new schools, run shelters for the homeless, establish and run aged care facilities on a not for profit basis. And not just Government money, their own as well.

Red Cross, World Vision and a host of big name charities were all started by Christians.

In the past the christian churches have been able to overstate their political influence with voters and it's still a big deal announcement when one church leader or another endorses one candidate or the other in the lead up to elections.

This influence will erode as research continues to find that Australians are less religious than generally thought and getting less religious all the time. We also know that the big denominations are bleeding support to splinter groups and sects which decentralises power and in some cases produces dangerous groups.

With commerce as their last remaining sphere of influence they do have power, but not the kind that translates to power at the ballot box or the kind that directs people's lives.

A good article, but there are still far too many believers in a "sky daddy" of some sort for reform any time soon. Our culture and traditions in Australia are also so entangled with our Judeo-Christian origins that a truly secular approach to Government is very unlikely.

Also, remember old Niccolo M “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things......the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new".

Perhaps the answer is the creation of lots of new cults, all claiming religious privileges. This might force the hand of Government if too much revenue were threatened. After all, the only difference between a cult and a religion is the number of believers.

IMHO spiritual development is an individual thing, not dependent on an hierarchical organisation. The public interest grounds for supporting church organisations is highly debatable.