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Australia is in the midst of a massive identity crisis. Let me explain.

We are a country founded on the Christian faith and on Western culture.

Our founding document leads with these words, ‘Humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God.’

No one, unless you are a complete ignoramus or a member of the progressive Left, can deny that Australia is fundamentally a Christian nation.

But the Left has demonised Christianity and rejected our Western roots. So where does that leave us?

If we are not Christian… what are we?

And it’s at this point that the left shows us what nihilists they are.

They love to tear down everything that made Australia great, but they never provide an alternative.

They want to destroy our foundations only to leave us standing with our feet firmly planted in mid-air.

They are all criticism, with zero alternatives.

If we are not a Christian nation, as the Left insists, then the Left must tell us what kind of nation we are.

They’ll say we are a ‘secular’ nation, by which they mean we are anything and everything except Christian.

Is it any wonder we no longer have shared values…

And if we are not descendants of Western culture, then what culture are we?

The so-called progressive Left will proudly proclaim that we are multicultural. But what does that even mean?

Religion and Culture

Australia is Australia because it was founded by Christian people from a Christian culture.

Our political and legal systems reflect that. And I’m pretty sure that we are all glad that they do.

Consider the alternative.

We have Common Law rather than Sharia Law because we were founded by people professing faith in Jesus Christ rather than in Muhammad.

We are an egalitarian society because we were founded by people whose belief system was based on the Bible’s ethic of equality rather than on Hinduism with its caste system.

We have prosperity because we were founded by people who believe God created the world to be enjoyed, rather than by Buddhists who believe the only way to peace is to reject the material world.

Here’s something that is vital to understand. Politics is important, but it is downstream from culture. The culture determines the kind of politicians you get.

But culture is downstream from religion. The culture of a society is shaped, for better or worse, by the spiritual outlook of the populace.

Religion shapes the culture, and culture determines the politics.

Let me prove it to you.

Fairness and Justice

Our Common Law didn’t just happen out of thin air, it is based on the Bible.

It’s the Bible that revealed to us principles like the presumption of innocence, due process, and the right to be judged by a jury of your peers.

These were not ideas from the Enlightenment. These were ideas straight from the teachings of Moses.

It’s the Law of Moses that taught us that justice must be dispensed fairly, without partiality to the rich or to the poor.

And that principle was further outlined in the New Testament where the Apostle Paul taught that in Christ there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile, slave, nor free – in other words … there is an equality of men before God, and therefore there should an equality of men before the law.

I could go on and on with examples of freedoms and protections that we take for granted that are all lifted directly from the Bible.

But what happens when our elites decide to reject the Bible and trash all of our institutions which are built on Christian principles? Do they really expect they can rip up the foundation without the whole house falling down on top of them?

You cannot have liberty if you do not have a population that, at the very least, respects and appreciates the Christian faith as the best worldview on which to base society.

Australia is a Christian country.

I know a lot of people on the Left will bristle at that because they don’t want to be Christian.

What they don’t understand is that it is precisely because Australia is a Christian country that not every Australian has to be a Christian.

Freedom of conscience and of belief is a Christian idea.

Radical secularism doesn’t teach that, and communism demands no faith other than blind obedience to the state.

Freedom vs Division

The paradox of a Christian country is that non-Christians should thank the God they don’t believe in, for living in a Christian country, where the idea of freedom – even freedom not to believe – is considered sacred.

Multiculturalism and multi-faith societies don’t work. They end up devouring themselves in never-ending culture wars where every issue becomes a power play.

If we want to protect everything great about Australia, then we must protect and defend our Christian identity.

If we fail to do that, then Australia will be shaped by other values, possibly by communism, possibly by something else. Either way, it is unlikely to be kind to non-believers.

When the Left demonises our Christian heritage and denies our Western cultural roots, I can hear the words of Jesus from the cross:

“Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.”

Even if you don’t believe in Christianity, you should wish that it were true since there is no fairer, just or hopeful worldview.

And even if you don’t practise Christianity, you should hope to live in a country where most people still do.

Christianity is the guarantee of liberty and prosperity for the believer, and for the non-believer.

That is why we all should have an interest in preserving our culture and ensuring that Australia remains a Christian country.

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Republished with thanks to The Spectator Australia. Image courtesy of Adobe.