Faith & Politics

The claim that 'Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not' got the early Christians into hot water with the powers-that-be but somewhere along the way, the radical edge of that gospel has become rather blunt.

That's not to say that Christians are not and have not been politically active. But it is all-too-difficult to hear a distinctive voice in Christian contributions to political discourse and debate. As the era of Christendom fades behind us, we nonetheless find many Christians attempting to 'fit in' with the powers-that-be, or else persuade those powers that if they really looked and listened hard enough, they would find their agenda best justified by 'Christian values'.

Discussions about the relationship between particular Christian convictions and wider political life or questions about the ways Christians can be involved in politics 'as we know it' are by no means easy. Our aim in providing thinking Christians with this website is to stimulate you to further thought on these issues. We don't provide you with a one-size-fits-all Christian how-to-vote slip, but my hope is that you discern here authentic Christian voices that are concerned to see God's will being done, even in a very limited and provisional way, not only in our common life as Christian communities but in wider society.

The replacement of P.M. Rudd in record time within a first term with our first female P.M. Julia Gillard has left many Australians shell-shocked, delighted or cynical. This includes many Christians who only days before tuned into Kevin Rudd's Australian Christian Lobby sponsored discussion with Tony Abbott (the third opposition leader this parliamentary term and in no position to critique the process). Personalities and leadership styles on both sides of politics aside, this frenetic pace and attention deficit disorder politics raises many questions about the shorter-than-ever term of our political processes that demand discerning Christian reflection. Ethos has a wide range of resources to encourage us in this process which we aim to add to regularly.