I guess in the end, protecting what we cherish is why I am a conservative. The Left like to portray conservatives as doddery old fools opposed to modernity. But as its very heart, conservatism believes there are things in life, values and institutions, worth conserving. Conservatives don’t oppose change; they just don’t believe in change for change’s sake. If there’s a good case made for change...
One of the great achievements of Western society has been its embrace of religious and political pluralism as a way of enabling peaceful diversity. Throughout history diversity has commonly been met with violence, either the state enacting violence against dissidents, or conflict between groups. We easily forget that the sort of conflicts we see between Islamic groups in the middle east today was...
From all the reports I’ve read Donald Trump won the Presidency because people wanted a change from the insider politics of Washington. The more offensive he was, the more bigoted and misogynist his public statements, the more he turned his back on mainstream policies. the more he reinforced his standing as an outsider and so increased his support. Throughout this process people found an...
In an article published on the Moore College website Tony Payne argues that this election is different from any other in that the legalisation of same-sex marriage will threaten the freedom of Christians to proclaim the gospel. He does so with some humility, recognising that he may well be overstating the threat. I think he most surely is. As I understand it, there are two sets of laws under...
Can a Christian vote for the Greens? Many Christians argue that the Greens are anti-God and anti-religion, with policies that conflict at a deep level with Christian values. Usually singled out are Green’s policies on homosexuality; religious exemption from anti-discrimination laws; decriminalisation of drugs; support for the safe schools program, and their advocacy for euthanasia. The Greens...
Like many people I’m shaking my head in bewilderment at the rise of Donald Trump to lead the Republican candidacy for the Presidency of the United States. What strikes me as particularly jarring is his campaign slogan that he will “make America great again”. It strikes me as bizarre that people who live in the most powerful nation on the planet, who in the case of the...
Our new treasurer, Scott Morrison, stated this week that “you can’t tax your way to surplus”. It’s become something of an orthodoxy on the conservative side of politics, but when you stop to think about it, it’s a ridiculous statement. The only way the government gains revenue is by taxing people, goods and services, and businesses, so the only way the government...
Is anyone else disturbed by the tone of the anti-terror discussion? We have the PM calling for heads to roll at the ABC because a guy who was acquitted of terror offences and has since renounced his support for jihad asks some pointed questions on Q & A; the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection not only wanting the right to unilaterally strip citizenship from Australians he suspects...
Later this month US Republican senator Rick Santorum is expected to declare his candidacy for the presidency of the United States. Speaking this week at the South Carolina Freedom Summit, a self-declared Conservative event, Santorum spoke of ISIS and the approach the United States should take to combating them: If these people want to bring back a 7th-century version of Islam … then let’s load...
Jesus came to Israel proclaiming a kingdom founded on faith, grace and love and was executed by a kingdom founded on idolatry (the Roman emperor was worshipped as a god), violence (Roman armies had conquered the world and rebellion was ruthlessly crushed) and state-interest (Rome stripped conquered countries of their wealth). Roman crucifixions were intentionally public events, a powerful warning...