10^th April 2012

Fran Kelly recently interviewed Alain de Botton about his book, "Religion for a Atheist" (Monday 20th February, ABC National Radio). De Botton says it's time for atheists to start appropriating many of the useful things offered by religion. He says the secular world can learn a variety of useful lessons from religion. It's sense of community, use of music, architecture, symbolism, ceremony etc.

He didn't use these words but I understood him to be saying, 'It's time secular society took over the rich concepts behind Christian marriage, worship, the Gospel, Christmas, funerals, etc in order to replace them with secular values without reference to supernatural God.' While we have recently had a vocal and aggressive, anti- Christian, atheist lobby speaking out, this suggestion goes one step further and needs to be taken seriously.

The modern concept of equality grew out of the Reformation insistence on the equality of all people before God. It found its strength in the fact that it was seen as a permanent right because it was derived from something beyond the social, political whim of the day. God's love was a love that encompassed all and it required equal respect of all people. We may well ask, "How does the strong secular appeal for equality today then differ from the equality that Wilberforce sought for the oppressed slaves of his time"?

In general terms today the claim is made that there is an injustice that stems from sexual and gender preference not being given equal worth under law. In our culture our laws are an extension of a theistic foundation that says because God's love is for all people and all people need guidelines and protection from exploitation. This means the state of marriage in this country has never been about promoting inequality. It has never advanced that some people are privileged, better or of have more worth than others. It has however always been about a relationship between a man and a woman.
It needs to be clear that the popular notion of injustice and inequality has its origin not in an imposed, oppressive Christian institution but it stems from a deep felt need to eliminate all distinctions between gender because they can only imply that one is better than the other.

Rev Ron Brookman from "Living Waters Australia" in making a Christian response claims that when the male and female gender is attached in this way then for Christian people the very image of God itself is attached. This does not mean that there is a hidden conspiracy or humanist plan somewhere but there should be no mistake that there is a less talked about agenda behind the equality debate that is not so much about marriage equality as it is about seeking liberation from God and a morality that holds us accountable.

The author Dinesh D' Souza points out that Epicurus once said, "The problems with gods is that they seek to enforce their rules and thereby create "anxiety" in human beings. They threaten to punish us for our misdeeds both in this life and the next."
D'Souza goes on to claim that there is a moral order built into the creation and that the conscience is the common connecting principle between the creature and the Creator. Paul the Apostle suggests that all people know that there will be a time when they ultimately give an account of themselves. He wrote about how we handle this when he described humanity as suppressing a universal consciousness of God and exchanging the truth about God for a lie. Rom 1.21-25 Perhaps the secular attempt to escape the conscience, to eliminate God from our consciousness was behind the comment of a Gay activist recently who spoke to Jim Wallace who heads up the Australian Christian Lobby. He said, "We don't just want marriage equality, what we really want is you."!!! Brookman, who has himself come out of the Gay scene has said the angst surrounding the issue is not so much a matter of homophobia, rather, he said he has come to understand that inside the Gay person there is a deep fear and need to assert that their body and gender is supreme, "it is a tension within so they don't feel right in themselves." This inner tension within can posses a person and manifest in a sense of injustice that sets itself against God and the rest of society.

Seen in this light the passionate quest for social equality must be understood in the greater context of the new secular morality, an ideal that seeks wholeness of life through placating the conscience, by eliminating and banishing God. Christian marriage is consistent with the eternal moral order of the Creator but it has never been a guarantee for an ultimate fulfilment that can only come from knowing the love of God.

A secular morality that seeks equality, a personal liberation and all the benefits of life without the God behind life is a morality that is yet to discover that you can shape your own ideals and values around yourself, but to have the inner resources to deliver on them is another matter altogether.

Rev EA (Ted) Curnow Feb 2012