Yet to be convinced we are better off without Christianity
IT
is strange that Australia has an inquiry into the need to protect religious freedom and religious expression. We will see what the report is like when it is handed down by Philip Ruddock.
I say strange because I thought there would never be a need for it in Australia. This freedom has existed for many years because it is part of our inheritance from Great Britain and guaranteed in our laws.
This is obviously no longer the case, otherwise it would not be necessary. Things socially are ever so different to the 1950s and 1960s, even the 1970s. The younger
Reg Watson
generation, say from the 1980s, have little understanding how it has changed.
When we say “religious freedom” we are in reality meaning Christian freedoms. Christianity was brought to our national shores in 1788 and to Tasmania in 1803. Britain of course, has been home to Christianity for 1300 years, longer elsewhere in Europe. It has been a part of our culture and heritage.
It was Alfred the Great who codified much from the Old Testament into English law and down the ages we have inherited the Magna Carta, the 1689 Bill of Rights, English Common Law, trial by Jury and Habeas Corpus all resulting from a country with a Christian background. In Australia we have our own Constitution, which states in its beginning paragraph “relying on the blessings of Almighty God”. This part was added by the insistence of the churches of the day, excluding the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which took the view that if such a wording was added it would force Sunday worship upon them rather than Saturday. This obviously did not happen.
Whereas “almighty … God” was neutral in its emphasis it was clearly to mean at the time, the God of Christians.
Down through the centuries it has influenced dramatically our ethics, morality, modesty, principles, art and consciousness. There is no denying there are faults; any institutions developed by imperfect man will fail to some degree.
Overall it worked very well, with many leading charitable organisations and acts emanating from Christian belief, not just here in Australia, but worldwide.
Australia since settlement has not been a strong churchgoing community, unlike say the US.
Even in the heyday of attendance, it would not have been more than 50 per cent of the population. Yet the influence was there and people though nominally Christian did respect its institutions and certainly used it for Sunday school, christenings, confirmations, weddings and funerals. During World War I, 90 per cent of our soldiers declared themselves Christian.
Today, figures show only about 50 per cent of the population now gives the description of “Christian”.
In the 1950s it was all so different and it was just taken that would continue. I remember all too clearly when on Christmas Day, all radio stations (and later, television) played religious music, as they did at Easter.
Sunday was indeed a day of rest, with most businesses, sports and entertainment
taking a break. It was a day for church, going on picnics, visiting or being visited.
Today of course Sunday is very different. Our roads are full of traffic, sport is the new religion, shops are open and while our communication has expanded technologically, we communicate less with each other including families.
All what was has gone and I really do not think for the better.
Society must believe in something and that something will determine how we view things and our attitude to situations. It appears that we are still searching for Christianity’s replacement. There is no such thing as a vacuum as people crave for something. To some it appears to be socialism, environmentalism, militant atheism, science and even hedonism, among others.
To some extent the fault does lie with the churches themselves. It is apparent such institutions have not fulfilled many people’s spiritual requirements.
One naturally has to refer to the appalling publicity which many, particularly of the established mainstream churches, have been subject. This has disillusioned many of faith. Herein lies the problem, because people have placed their faith on man-made institutions and church leaders, rather than the faith itself.
Yet that is an easy statement to make. It must be very difficult for those good and sincere members of the cloth who are now under unfair suspicion.
We do live in a postChristian world where the religion and Christians can be subject to criticism, attacks, mockery and even abuse which would not be allowed if the target was another religion or of a particular ethnic group.
I am yet to be convinced we are a better and happier society without Christianity. We seem to have more problems than a one-armed fan dancer.
Australia now is divided sometimes aggressively and it seems permanently, by race, religion, culture, gender and sexuality.
We are beset with numerous and it seems unsolvable social problems. All this has developed and coincided with the demise of the church’s influence. Reg A. Watson is a local historian and author.