Rudd's christian socialism
Here is a link to a talk given by Kevin Rudd to a Christian college at UNSW last year; it is entitled A consideration of the relationship between Church and State : http://www.newcollege.unsw.edu.au/fileadmin/user_upload/pdfs/NCLs05Rudd.pdf. It is a little dry to read... below is what I took away from it.
Rudd's speech gives insight into something which very much drives him - his brand of christian socialism.
He has insightful comments to make on how the Christian label is exploited in politics. He astutely identifies the posturing that is used for political gain: "vote for me because I'm a Christian"; "vote for me because I'm a Christian and because I have a defined set of views on questions of private sexual morality"; vote for me because I brandish the phrase "family values" a lot.
He argues that Christianity has things to say on many current issues and in particular that the Work Choices Legislation does not respect what he calls a fundamental Christian principle: Christianity should be on the side of the marginalised, the vulnerable, and the oppressed.
I am not a Christian myself but I am pleased to see the slight change that is occurring towards using Christianity in support of social justice and fairness rather than using it to support a moral conservatism agenda.
The moral conservatism agenda exploits Christianity by 'picking and choosing' and conveniently ignores the social justice aspects.
Rudd's speech gives insight into something which very much drives him - his brand of christian socialism.
He has insightful comments to make on how the Christian label is exploited in politics. He astutely identifies the posturing that is used for political gain: "vote for me because I'm a Christian"; "vote for me because I'm a Christian and because I have a defined set of views on questions of private sexual morality"; vote for me because I brandish the phrase "family values" a lot.
He argues that Christianity has things to say on many current issues and in particular that the Work Choices Legislation does not respect what he calls a fundamental Christian principle: Christianity should be on the side of the marginalised, the vulnerable, and the oppressed.
I am not a Christian myself but I am pleased to see the slight change that is occurring towards using Christianity in support of social justice and fairness rather than using it to support a moral conservatism agenda.
The moral conservatism agenda exploits Christianity by 'picking and choosing' and conveniently ignores the social justice aspects.