Father - of the nation?

[Xeno.of.athens]

For people in the USA, George Washington may be the Father of the Nation. I am from Australia, so the father of the nation is not so clear. Would he be the first Prime Minister, perhaps Captain Cook who was the first European to map the east coast of Australia, maybe one of the famous first nations elders, or the dream time stories may tell of a father. For me personally the father figure for the nation was Gough Whitlam, he was prime minister when I was 18 and he shaped the nation in some profound ways, but if you were a coalition voter at that time then Gough would not be a father for you. But I am a Christian and I have a Father in heaven and my homeland is not earthly. I struggle with the implications of that. How about you?

 

[Philip_B]

The liberty of the gospel was first proclaimed in Australia accompanied by men in chains.

The Spirit that brooded over the waters when creation was begun is the same Spirit encountered in the Dreamtime, and whistling through the ant-hills of Arnhem Land, just as surely as she whirls the sand in the desert of Kadesh.

 

[BobRyan]

But I am a Christian and I have a Father in heaven and my homeland is not earthly. I struggle with the implications of that. How about you?

what implications in that cause a struggle in your POV?

 

[Mark Quayle]

For people in the USA, George Washington may be the Father of the Nation. I am from Australia, so the father of the nation is not so clear. Would he be the first Prime Minister, perhaps Captain Cook who was the first European to map the east coast of Australia, maybe one of the famous first nations elders, or the dream time stories may tell of a father. For me personally the father figure for the nation was Gough Whitlam, he was prime minister when I was 18 and he shaped the nation in some profound ways, but if you were a coalition voter at that time then Gough would not be a father for you. But I am a Christian and I have a Father in heaven and my homeland is not earthly. I struggle with the implications of that. How about you?

I had a renter once who formally denounced his American citizenship because (he said) he was a citizen of Heaven. I myself hold dual citizenship with a Latin-American country in which I was born, and the USA. What's wrong with that? I also know I am a citizen of Heaven. But I know where my allegiance is. No problem.