CHRISTIANS IN POLITICS
No other Australians, Christians or otherwise, can claim to hold more political clout than the two party-bosses who stood before a gathering of Christian leaders in Canberra on Monday evening put together by Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) and web-streamed into churches all over Australia. The last time similar telecast was made in 2007 the then opposition leader, Mr Rudd, faced off with a confident PM John Howard. Both Mr Rudd and Mr Abbott are opened about their Christian faith, probably more so than any other pairs in the political opposite of Australian history. Unlike the 2007 appearance Mr Rudd dispensed with his declaration of his faith but went straight into the defence of his party policies and in the process appeared to present himself as the capable and caring Prime Minister considering the challenging time the world is facing. Mr Abbott reassured the audience of his Christian credentials and his guiding principle for being in politics by saying, "I want to stress that I am a Christian in politics, not a Christian politician." It is to be noted that Mr Rudd is experiencing the most unfavourable opinion polls since he became PM whilst Mr Abbott had just being given the boost in the polls despite making minimal headlines himself -thanks to Mr Rudd campaign to take a bigger cut of the wealth generated by the resource sectors.
What they agreed:
Marriage is between a man and a woman
Indigenous Australians must take responsibility for themselves, welfare is not the solution
What they disagreed:
Who will make a better Prime Minister
Opportunity Missed:
Showing brotherly-grace before the Church
Christ-centered Kingdom leadership over the political divides:
Commendation:
Jim Wallace, founder of ACL, for making this forum possible and has been known to hold the politicians accountable for the pledges and declaration made on this but also on other occassions.
<read also APN Report>