In a recent speech to a Young Liberals gathering Tony Abbott responded to Kevin Rudd. Mr. Rudd had written in the Monthly magazine about the relationship between Christian faith and politics. The speech also indicated that the debate on this issue will centralise the exigencies of politics, but leave in soft focus the logic of faith.
Mr Rudd used the example of the heroic German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer to insist that Christian faith has a proper place in public life, and to claim authority for an approach that identifies the core of faith with Jesus’ commitment to the marginalised, vulnerable and oppressed. The Church’s function is "to give power to the powerless, voice to those who have none, and to point to the great silences in our national discourses where otherwise there are no natural advocates." He contrasts this view of the Church’s role with other approaches current in Australian public life.
From this perspective, he reflects on the debate in Australia between neo-liberals and progressives who focus respectively on the individual and the community. He identifies the present Government’s policies with the former, and claims that in its embrace of the Christian right it uses Christian faith for political purposes. He then offers a critique of government policies.
Mr. Abbott does not respond theoretically, but by critique. He claims that Mr. Rudd also uses Christian faith for political purposes by offering a view of Christianity tailored to support Labor policies. His view emphasises social morality, while neglecting issues of personal morality like abortion and stem cell research. He implies that the strong electoral support for the Coalition by church goers has inspired Mr. Rudd’s interest in Christian faith.
He also challenges Mr. Rudd to embody his rhetoric in policies, claiming that most Christian voters are concerned with issues of personal morality rather than with war or industrial relations. On issues like war and asylum seekers, there is no one view among Christians. They require a prudential, conscientious decision by politicians.
Both article and response show how Christian faith can be brought into political debate. In revealing the different ways in which politicians can use faith, they leave silent the ways in which Christian faith sees political life, and so how Christians might evaluate politicians’ claims. They do not explain why Christianity has a personal and social morality of a particular shape, why that morality includes social justice as well