I would add that while the weighting of the spiritual relevance of different issues is essentially a personal one, there are issues that are obviously scripturally more important, so I would defend an organisation such as Saltshakers advocating a vote based on their stated priorities. I personally do not allow my vote to be used to elect people who have taken a strong stance on what I would call anti-Christian issues, such as Ted Baillieu, and now former Liberal MP Steve Pringle. I believe that there are some over-riding Christian issues that must be prioritised and proclaimed as such by Christian leaders and organisations as well as by us individually.

All the more reason that Chrisitans should have some forum to disussion the priorities of political, social and moral issues in light of the scriptures.

Garth Penglase

As to the November Victorian election, the options are not great. We know what Labor is about. The Liberals do not offer much of a conservative alternative, unfortunately. It may come down to opting for independents or smaller parties, eg. FF, CDP. Generally speaking, the Lib/Nats have more religious and conservative MPs, but that is not the only factor when deciding how to vote.

As to the voting guide, some of that is answered in my article. Yes, it may be selective, but then again, what is the clear biblical position on, say, industrial relations? General principles can be appealed to, but is there one Christian position only on such an issue?

And yes, I am aware of Skillen and others like him. I do not always agree with where they are coming from (how they apply the neo-Calvinist tradition to their political theory), but they do offer another perspective on the whole debate.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

Religion, if anything, is a belief system based on the existence of God and as such drives the fundamentals of what we believe, just as the alternatives are belief systems as well but based on the no-existence of God.

So to try to separate the running of a country or state from what we fundamentally believe is not possible – whether we state it or not, our decisions are made on the basis of what our belief system is – so how can is be separated?

Is that a circular argument or am I just dizzy with the ludicrousness of the separation of the state our beliefs?

Garth Penglase

I’ve just discovered your website and while I haven’t delved too deeply into your postings yet, I’m interested to know what, if any, response you have made to Ted Baillieu’s stance on euthanasia and abortion. (I understand he is “pro” both.) My concern with many “conservative evangelical” Christians is that that are rusted on political conservatives, who’d never vote against the Liberals/Nationals. How would you advise Christians to vote in the forthcoming Vic state election?

While I agree with your comment that conservatives do (I’d argue, “may”) have a concern for social justice, but that they differ from the “religious left” (your term) in their approach to dealing with injustice.

However, I recall that at the time of the last federal election, the Saltshaker organisation distributed a guide to voting that listed the attitudes of various political parties to a range of political issues. (I’ll leave aside any comments on the value of such a checklist approach to determining one’s vote.) While there were a whole list of what one might loosely describe as “moral issues” (including several issues on which most political parties allow members a conscience vote), issues such as refugees/asylum seekers, unemployment, industrial relations (if my memory serves me well). Ignoring such issues, and campaigning on a narrow platform of moral issues, presents a distorted and narrow, and, I would argue, unbiblical, understanding of Christians’ political responsibilities. It also betrays not merely the impression that these issues are not to be addressed by the state (one possible ‘conservative’ defence of their omission; if so, why not put all one’s cards on the table?) but (what I think is more likely) that the issues don’t deserve consideration by Christians when deciding how to vote. (What if they are regarded as important issues by some/many Christians? Don’t they deserve to be informed of the parties’ stances on those too?)

I would hope that Christian political discussions might move beyond arguing for the superiority of dictatorships of the left versus the right. Surely, “a plague on both their houses” should be our default (“normal”) attitude.

Finally, I suggest that Christians begin to develop a more sophisticated understanding of Christian political attitudes, one that goes beyond “left/right” pigeon-holing. James Skillen’s “The Scattered Voice: Christians at Odd in the Public Square” provides a detailed and nuanced discussion and excellent evaluation of the range Christian political views in the USA that is worth very careful study.

Geoff Wilson, Montrose VIC 

Ewan McDonald, Victoria