MainPoint

THE INTERNATIONAL BATTLE FOR FREEDOM:               The first decade of the Twenty-First Century concluded with severe unrest in Hong Kong. Protest can easily get out of hand and even be subverted by hired provocateurs however, the underlying message is clear: the people value their freedom and will put their personal safety at risk to protect it. Hong Kong is a weathervane of the contrary winds against freedom.

CHURCH AND STATE: WHAT THE PAST TELLS US ABOUT THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE:             The phrase ‘Church and State’ represents two thousand years of complex history across every continent and literally thousands of language and cultural groups and political national states. The effect of this relationship is evident in our language, our institutions and even the architecture of our cities and towns. It is fundamental to who we are as a people.

FAMILY: THE MORTAR THAT HOLDS THE NATION TOGETHER:         DEFINING FAMILY: Family has undergone a number of redefinitions recently. Surprisingly, the Oxford Dictionary still defines family as ‘a group of two parents and their children living together as a unit’ or, as ‘a group of people related by blood or marriage.’ The Macquarie Dictionary offers: ‘parents and their children, whether dwelling together or not, one’s children collectively, any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts and cousins.2 It differs from the Oxford in not requiring a family to be living together and it omits grandparents from the list of close relatives.

WHERE IS THE LONG MARCH THROUGH OUR INSTITUTIONS HEADING?:       Those of us who have lived long enough with our eyes open will remember the Cold War, the end of colonialism and the consequences of Marxist education and resourcing of the leaders of post- colonial states. We remember the student movements of the 1960s that were unmistakably Marxist. We observed the growth of influence of both Russian and Chinese Communism and that in the 1960s the future of the West and the world seemed perilous as the nuclear arms race gathered pace.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN A TIME OF DECLINING MORAL AUTHORITY:   Freedom is one of those words that conjures up mental pictures like eagles soaring high and wild horses galloping unrestrained. It is so much more than a verbal definition or even an ideal. It is visceral, beyond words even. To people who have always lived in a relatively free society it may be taken for granted but for those who have been oppressed and persecuted, it is sweet beyond words.

IDENTITY POLITICS: THE SEXUALISATION OF SOCIETY AND ITS IMPACT ON CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE.   Identity politics is a movement reshaping society’s standards of education, politics, freedom, morals and family based on the idea that human identity and worth are primarily instinctual and evolutionary rather than innate or endowed. This has compromised our capacity for free civil discussion, for understanding human fulfilment, the role of government in education as well as the design of sex and biological gender. The current construction of sex and gender has resulted in a sanctioned exposure of children to sexualised material and experiences, which they lack the maturity to process objectively.Recommendations are necessary to ensure school programs have greater transparency and parental collaboration, focusing on education (not indoctrination), ensuring true freedom of speech and academia, promoting a holistic view of identity and sexuality and relating how this impacts on relationships, character development and wider society.Christians affirm that identity and full humanity derive from Christ through whom we may receive a deeper and more secure identity than that imposed by radical political and social agendas. Christians consider it a matter of faith and duty to promote the Christian identity ethic and its benefits to society at large.