Tag: politics

There seems to be a regular attack on government funding of private schools.  Recently I read these letters to the editor in the Herald Sun:

“I resent paying for private schools through my taxes.  We need to better fund public schools first.”

“Get rid of the funding for private schools, build the new hospital (or two) and put the rest into public schools.  Simple.”

Simple?  Is it really?  The ongoing political and media debate about government funding of private schools is full of misconceptions and distortion of facts.   In 2007, comedienne and well-known atheist Catherine Deveny stated it bluntly when she wrote, “private schools should not receive funding.”
What is often not mentioned – or understood – is that the existence of private schools actually saves the taxpayer money.  For example, one local private school receives almost $3,000 of government funding annually per primary student and about $3,800 per secondary student.  The average cost of educating a student in a government school in Australia is over $7,000 (primary) and over $9,000 (secondary).

In other words, every primary student at this private school saves the taxpayer over $4,000 a year and every secondary student saves the taxpayer over $5,000. The combined 2008 savings to taxpayers from families attending this particular school were over $13 million.  Undoubtedly this saving has increased over the past three years.

What needs to be made clear is that scrapping – or reducing – government funding to private schools will increase fees, thus forcing some families to send their children to public schools instead.  This will inevitably put extra stress on the public school system, which in turn will cost the taxpayer more.  It would also reduce the education options for families and penalise people of many faiths who desire their children to have an education that is consistent with their religious beliefs.

I believe it is the right of every parent to send their children to a school of their choice – be it public or private, but please let’s not buy in to some of the tripe that is regularly served up by some politicians, media commentators and members of the general public.

In the book Unchristian, David Kinnaman states:

“Many outsiders … believe Christians have a right (even an obligation) to pursue political involvement, but they disagree with our methods and our attitudes.  They say we seem to be pursuing an agenda that benefits only ourselves; they assert that we expect too much out of politics; they question whether we are motivated by our economic status rather than faith perspectives when we support conservative politics; they claim we act and say things in an unchristian manner; they wonder whether Jesus would use political power as we do; and they are concerned that we overpower the voices of other groups.”

There is no doubt that the church is often seen as politically conservative.  That is, if you’re a real Christian you’ll vote for and support the Right rather than the Left. Christians get blindsided when they think the Right can do no wrong.  The truth is that sometimes the Right is right and sometimes the Right is wrong.  Sometimes the Left is right and sometimes the Left is wrong.

The church is also seen as politically negative – we are always anti.  We are anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti-euthanasia and so on.  But we are often perceived as being “anti from a distance” without compassionately listening to people’s stories or engaging with them.

The solution to these perceptions is learning to engage in the right ways.  We need to Think, Act and Pray (TAP).

Kinnaman also believes “Christians should be known as engaged, informed, and on the leading edge, offering a sophisticated response to issues.”  I would agree. We are not called to Christianize our country – we cannot legislate faith.  Faith has to be a choice of the heart.  We are called to evangelize not Christianize!  The problem exists that sometimes our attitudes and opinions only serve to drive a wedge between us and people who God loves and Jesus died for.

The Bible calls us to act mercifully and respectfully in what we say and how we say it, especially towards those whose opinion differs from our own.  Consider James 2:12-13; Romans 14:1, 1 Corinthians 10:33, Gal 5:22-23, Col 3:12; and 1 Peter 3:15).

I believe it is vital to have a separation between church and state.  Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place” (see John 18:36 and Matthew 22:21).  Throughout history, whenever church and state have meddled with each other, the outcome has never been good.

Lastly, the church is called to pray for all those in authority in a nation, instead of complaining about and criticizing them (1 Timothy 2:1-4; Exodus 22:28).  A good rule to live by is “If you can see it, it’s not the enemy” (Ephesians 6:12). Our leaders are not the enemy, they are men and women who invariably work hard and make great sacrifices because they love their country.  Make a choice to make their job easier rather than a burden.

 

New Years bring new things – good and bad.  One of the not-so-good things so far in 2009 has been the escalating hostilities between Israel and Gaza; and not only has it divided the Middle East it has also divided the world. We’ve seen demonstrations in various nations – some opposing Israel with others showing their support.  And there are good arguments both ways.

If we were having enemy rockets landing indiscriminately in Melbourne on a regular basis I can’t see our government standing by and not taking action. Southern Israel has been subjected to this for a long time and has demonstrated restraint and patience. On the other hand it was Israel that initially supported Hamas financially many years ago in an attempt to destabilize Yasser Arafat’s PLO. One could suggest that Israel is merely reaping what its sown.

But the real problem runs far deeper than politics. The real problem is that innocent people on both sides are suffering and the suffering is disproportionately falling on the residents of Gaza where hundreds of people have lost their lives.

Mission Network News reports that Christians are hurting with the rest of local residents. Windows in Gaza Baptist Church were blown out when a missile struck a police station across the street. About 40 deaths were reported in the attack. In the words of one local believer: “Seventy percent of the Christians want to leave Gaza because they are very afraid. But we love Gaza. It’s our country, we have roots here, and our homes are here. We will not know anyone if we go somewhere else.” In addition, some Christian families from Gaza that visited Bethlehem over Christmas were reportedly separated from loved ones when Israel sealed the border. How would we feel if that was us?

Right now the best thing the church can do is pray for lasting peace – and not take sides! God loves everyone and is not willing that anyone should perish. That should be our desire too.