The Great Political Nothing

Australian eyes have been on federal politics of late, as we consider the votes we have made, the local candidates we have made MPs and the influence this may or may not have on our country. So what have we created? What has our democratic right given us? Well, following all the party politics, scare mongering and unenthusiastic political debates, we have ended up with a hung parliament. What a great democratic process; that spends millions of dollars to encourage and resource the average Australian to 'make their vote count', and yet cannot decide who should lead our country.

What's with the statement that says we need to give independents time to consider what political party they will align with? What's with that? I mean, they knew a federal election was coming and they should already have clearly thought about their stance on particular policies and whether they would lean towards Labor or Liberal. While Australia waits in limbo for a minority Australian Government to be formed, the independents and Greens candidate Adam Brandt are sipping coffees, and enjoying the new 'power' they have in federal politics. Get on with it, I say, and finish your 'talks' and show Australia who will be our next Prime Minister.

Is this a sign of how long the decisions will take under a minority Government? Everytime a particular policy is put forward, the independents will think, sip coffee, think again, have another sip, and one day make a decision on where they stand. What have we done Australia? We've created a slow, apathetic decision making Government, that will now have to weight all their policies against the political agendas of 4 or 5 politicians.       

What caused this? Was it the fact that many Australians remained undecided on who they really wanted to vote for? How many people said, 'Ahh, its really about voting in the best of the worst'? Or was it Mark Latham's pathetic cry to the public to make a donkey vote, which created the record 6% informal vote at this years election? How many simply voted Greens or Independents just because they couldn't decide whether it was Labor or Liberal's right to govern. Whatever the case may be, we are left hanging to dry, wondering if anyone will get the clothes off the line, and put the clothes back in the drawer and move on. Not for now. We're left hanging and left questioning the democratic process, and whether our vote actually made a difference. This is the Great Political Nothing.

God help us.

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Should Australia vote for an Atheistic Prime Minister?

Should Australia vote for a Atheistic Prime Minister? This is the big question around the Christian community in Australia. Two sides of the argument exist:
1. Some would argue that we need to separate Church and State, and so whether a Prime Minister is a Christian, Buddhist, Humanist or Secularist is irrelevant, as they make policies that are not affected by personally held belief systems.
2. Others would argue that any Prime Minister or politician makes policy decisions that, deep down, are affected by the belief system of that politician. Therefore, a Christian is desirable within the political arena in Australia, because that leader would make policy decisions that would not contradict the foundational beliefs of Judeo-Christian religion.

Well, this is a blog, so I will give my personal opinion. You can of course, make your own constructive comments below. If I had the choice to vote between someone who holds to my belief system, and someone who doesn't then I would choose someone who does. If there is someone who I believe will make good policy decisions, that will not contradict my Christian beliefs then that is the person I would vote for. If the policy thrusted upon the Australian government, was Religious Freedom of Speech, or Abortion Laws, or Same-sex Marriages, or even Immigration policies and rights of International Students, then someone who upholds the values of the Kingdom of God I would prefer.

Now, does this mean, this is necessarily Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott? Well, that's up for debate. I don't know where he sits with many policies, because he just spends his time 'bagging out' the Australian Labor Party. Would he uphold Christian values and ideals?

So what about the Australian Labor Party. I will say it bluntly. I am not keen on voting for Julia Gillard who is a professed Atheist. This relates obviously to believing in point 2 mentioned earlier. If you profess to hold to point 1, then you have a wider choice.

So in the next Federal Election, should Australia vote for a Atheistic Prime Minister?

Some links worth reading:
* http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201007/s2941974.htm
* http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/julia-gillard-risks-christian-vote-with-doubts-on-god/story-e6frg6nf-1225885897505
* http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=22182



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