Scott Morrison, his faith and politics

Paidiske · Feb 2, 2019

Found this rather interesting article on Scott Morrison and what his faith suggests about his politics.

The Devil and Scott Morrison | James Boyce

I'm not sure I agree with every conclusion, but I have limited experience of Pentecostalism, and I thought it might be interesting to discuss together.

redleghunter · Feb 2, 2019

Paidiske said:
Found this rather interesting article on Scott Morrison and what his faith suggests about his politics.

The Devil and Scott Morrison | James Boyce

I'm not sure I agree with every conclusion, but I have limited experience of Pentecostalism, and I thought it might be interesting to discuss together.

Saw the article started it so will finish it. Thanks for posting. We have quite a few Pentecostal posters here from The Land Down Under.

Radagast · Feb 2, 2019

Paidiske said:
Found this rather interesting article on Scott Morrison and what his faith suggests about his politics.

The Devil and Scott Morrison | James Boyce

I'm not sure I agree with every conclusion, but I have limited experience of Pentecostalism, and I thought it might be interesting to discuss together.

It seems to be demonising Scott Morrison for being a Christian.

It also seems to want him to speak more about his faith simply so that he can be mocked for it. I note the snide "It is difficult to accept that affable ScoMo believes in Satan (or even a south Sydney suburban version of him)."

Actually, I believe in Satan too.

Paidiske · Feb 2, 2019

I didn't take it as demonising him for being a Christian, but I did think it was trying to take a critical look at how his particular take on Christianity shapes him as Prime Minister (which I think is fair enough, given his role). Perhaps that would be easier to do fairly if he spoke more about it.

I mean, I've never met the prime minister, but if I had the chance to have dinner with him I'd definitely like to hear more about how he understands what he does, and the positions he takes, in light of our faith; because as someone who only learns about it through the media, it often leaves me at a bit of a loss.

WESTOZZIE · Feb 2, 2019

I read about halfway through James Boyce's critique of Pentecostalism. The whole tone of the article is one of accusation. Someone can write things that maybe true, but if their tone is accusatory then the truth becomes a weapon to hurt not heal.

archer75 · Feb 2, 2019

WESTOZZIE said:
I read about halfway through James Boyce's critique of Pentecostalism. The whole tone of the article is one of accusation. Someone can write things that maybe true, but if their tone is accusatory then the truth becomes a weapon to hurt not heal.

I really didn't hear the accusatory tone. Maybe I should read it again...

Anyway, I know zip about Morrison and next to nothing about Pentecostalism...but speaking as a US citizen in whose country even the most amoral opportunistic criminals feel required to spray-on a mask of nominal Christianity to run for public office...I just don't know what's going on with all this. I don't understand why someone needs to announce their religion either to then openly deny it by the way they act (common in US politics), OR to tell us it doesn't affect how they act (which seems to be the case here).

I just feel lost.

Paidiske · Feb 2, 2019

Australia is a much more deeply secular country than the U.S. If Mr. Morrison stood up and said, "My decisions as prime minister will be shaped by my faith in Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit," he would lose votes. So in order to try to not lose votes, he has to do this kind of "Well, I'm a Christian, but it's still safe to vote for me," thing.

FireDragon76 · Feb 2, 2019

Is it common for Australians to scrutinize the religion of their fellow citizens? That sort of attitude is a bit unseemly in the US, as it is assumed, at least among the moderate segment of the population, that religion is ones private life.

Honestly, I don't agree with Pentecostalism, but somehow this piece seems like a secularist frothing at the mouth over a religion they don't understand. Pentecostals run the spectrum theologically from very conservative to liberal. The one thing they have in common is an emphasis on religious experience.

Paidiske · Feb 2, 2019

FireDragon76 said:
Is it common for Australians to scrutinize the religion of their fellow citizens? That sort of attitude is a bit unseemly in the US, as it is assumed, at least among the moderate segment of the population, that religion is ones private life.

In general, no, it's probably not common.

When it comes to our political leaders, though, it's pretty common; not least because we've had quite a number of prominent political leaders who've made unpopular choices influenced by their religion.

Radagast · Feb 2, 2019

FireDragon76 said:
somehow this piece seems like a secularist frothing at the mouth over a religion they don't understand

That's exactly what it is, but secularists in Australia have enormous power.

Trogdor the Burninator · Feb 3, 2019

Paidiske said:
Australia is a much more deeply secular country than the U.S. If Mr. Morrison stood up and said, "My decisions as prime minister will be shaped by my faith in Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit," he would lose votes. So in order to try to not lose votes, he has to do this kind of "Well, I'm a Christian, but it's still safe to vote for me," thing.

To that point I tend to agree with him (shudder), I think any Christian should govern the country for everyone, not just Christians. His "the bible is not a policy handbook" quote is probably one of the few statements I agree with him on.

Radagast · Feb 3, 2019

Trogdor the Burninator said:
I think any Christian should govern the country for everyone

As indeed he does.

mindlight · Feb 6, 2019

Paidiske said:
Found this rather interesting article on Scott Morrison and what his faith suggests about his politics.

The Devil and Scott Morrison | James Boyce

I'm not sure I agree with every conclusion, but I have limited experience of Pentecostalism, and I thought it might be interesting to discuss together.

it is interesting how a rather LIBERAL journalist can have insights on why Pentecostalism is quite a good choice for a PM. Pentecostalisms emphasis on seeker friendly populism without compromising on core faith experiences and beliefs ,for instance ,makes it a very flexible core belief system for a politician. The article was a strong argument for getting to know more about the Primeministers faith even if its intent was probably to ridicule what it suspected it would find e.g creationism and a belief in the malpractice of the devil and the reality of spiritual warfare. In this respect the PM has proven a great Pentecostal evangelist drawing people in with his seeker friendly success.

EdIT:
Replaced vacuous with Liberal

Bob Crowley · Feb 15, 2019

I don't know that I'd call James Boyce a "rather vacuous journalist". There's a potted bio of him here (at least I assume this is the James Boyce who wrote the article).

James Boyce - The Tasmanian Writers' Centre

To be honest, if someone hadn't told me Morrison was a Christian, I wouldn't have known, but then I tend to be somewhat sceptical about our politicians these days. We've had seven prime ministers in ten years for example. To get to be PM in the current political environment, Morrison would have had to engage in some nifty political footwork, and cut a deal or three. So he'd be no political saint, whatever his overt religious beliefs.

Australia has now had seven prime ministers in just 10 years -- here's who they are and how long they were in office

Unlike Americans, Australian politicians can't afford to wear their religion on their sleeve. Australians tend to be cynical about overt displays of religion, whether privately or publicly.

But I don't know why Boyce bothered to write the article. Morrison's and the Conservatives' policies will be based on political issues, not religious, and the same comment could be made about the Labor Party's policies. So what if Morrison is a Pentecostal?

In a nutshell, in matters of faith, I wish him well. In matters of politics - well, I don't see any STATESMEN on the horizon in Australia. I didn't get on with my father (to be honest, I ended up hating him, due to his cruelty), but he did make some worthwhile comments from time to time.

In his opinion, "... a statesman is a politician who can get a nation or people to do something they don't want to do and stick at it...". His prime example was Winston Churchill, about whom he said "Without him we'd have lost the war ... (we) didn't want to fight again (after World War I - Australia had one of the highest allied casualty rates in that war, and we were a young nation which could not afford to lose the cream of our then scarce youth), but he kept us going".

As I look around the political scene in Australia, there are no statesmen on the horizon in my opinion. Not one, Pentecostal, Catholic, or Atheist.

Paidiske · Feb 15, 2019

I really admired Julia Gillard, but she couldn't sell her priorities to the public, which was a shame. Kevin Rudd (the first time) had a message that positive change was possible, and rode a wave of hope, but turned out to be hopeless at implementing anything. Most of the rest of them can't inspire me to care about their platform at all.

mindlight · Feb 16, 2019

Bob Crowley said:
I don't know that I'd call James Boyce a "rather vacuous journalist". There's a potted bio of him here (at least I assume this is the James Boyce who wrote the article).

James Boyce - The Tasmanian Writers' Centre

To be honest, if someone hadn't told me Morrison was a Christian, I wouldn't have known, but then I tend to be somewhat sceptical about our politicians these days. We've had seven prime ministers in ten years for example. To get to be PM in the current political environment, Morrison would have had to engage in some nifty political footwork, and cut a deal or three. So he'd be no political saint, whatever his overt religious beliefs.

Australia has now had seven prime ministers in just 10 years -- here's who they are and how long they were in office

Unlike Americans, Australian politicians can't afford to wear their religion on their sleeve. Australians tend to be cynical about overt displays of religion, whether privately or publicly.

But I don't know why Boyce bothered to write the article. Morrison's and the Conservatives' policies will be based on political issues, not religious, and the same comment could be made about the Labor Party's policies. So what if Morrison is a Pentecostal?

In a nutshell, in matters of faith, I wish him well. In matters of politics - well, I don't see any STATESMEN on the horizon in Australia. I didn't get on with my father (to be honest, I ended up hating him, due to his cruelty), but he did make some worthwhile comments from time to time.

In his opinion, "... a statesman is a politician who can get a nation or people to do something they don't want to do and stick at it...". His prime example was Winston Churchill, about whom he said "Without him we'd have lost the war ... (we) didn't want to fight again (after World War I - Australia had one of the highest allied casualty rates in that war, and we were a young nation which could not afford to lose the cream of our then scarce youth), but he kept us going".

As I look around the political scene in Australia, there are no statesmen on the horizon in my opinion. Not one, Pentecostal, Catholic, or Atheist.

Agree vacuous was the wrong word, replaced with liberal

Scott Morrison, his faith and politics

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