On matters of faith and politics

I've just been on local ABC radio talking about the Lord's Prayer in Parliament. I don't normally listen to ABC radio in the morning, but I decided to switch over just to see what was on. The guest this morning was Senator Bob Brown from the Greens. He spoke on a range of issues, mainly the performance of the Greens in the ACT election, but then went on to talk about the Lord's Prayer.

I have to confess I don't know the full background to this story. A quick google search has yielded this from news.com.au - http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24552138-421,00.html?from=public_rss - apparently the Speaker of the House is suggesting we do away with the prayer.

Bob Brown's point was that the time might be better used for a reflection. That people just 'recite' the Lord's prayer and it becomes rote. Indeed, moments after, members are vilifying one another across the chamber!

I rang in to say this:
I support the idea of a time of reflection. I think it would be great if our members of parliament led the reflection. It would give Christian members a chance to say something meaningful. It would give people of all faiths and people of no faith a chance to share the time. People like Bob Brown could say something about why they're there and the business of the day. One of the earlier callers said that 65% of Australians identify as Christians in the census. I said, that while that's true, that means nearly 40% of Australians don't. It would be good to make our parliament truly representative.

If I had known about the proposal to have a Welcome to Land statement I would have supported that strongly too, but I wasn't across all the issues at the time. I think a Welcome to Land is much more relevant for our country at this time in its history than even a time for reflection. After the apology, I'm surprised it's not something we do all the time!

I guess I'm a pluralist at heart. I know that religion isn't that simple. But I believe that there is room for people of all faiths at the table. I believe there are many paths to enlightenment. I have chosen one and I think it's a good one, but the route you choose needn't be any less valid.