Voting Christians have a responsibility to act as gatekeepers of the nation by using their vote and their influence to keep out the bad and let in the good. Accordingly, the 64% of the Australian population who identified themselves as having Christian affiliation in the last national census need to determine both candidate and political party fitness for office under Christ, because he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Typically Christians are motivated to vote according to their focus on (in alphabetical order):

1. economic management
2. righteousness (values)
3. social justice.

The generally held view is that Christians who focus on social justice are more likely to vote Labor and Christians who focus on righteousness are more likely to vote Liberal. Additionally the widely held view is that the Liberals are better economic managers and Labor are more empathetic to social justice.

In this election social justice is less of an issue because there is not much to choose between the two main parties in this area. However, there is a huge difference between the parties in their commitment to upholding national values that have been derived from our Judeo-Christian heritage.

For example the preference deal between the now atheistically led Labor party and the Greens puts the following values at high risk (in alphabetical order):

1. disabling ISP filtering designed to protect children from the dark side of the web¹
2. failing to model Christian marriage and fatherhood in national leadership²
3. liberalising abortion³
4. promoting the homosexual agenda⁴
5. reducing religious freedom through anti-discrimination laws⁵
6. removing prayer from parliament⁶
7. secularising school chaplaincy⁷
8. undermining the Kingdom principle that marriage is between a man and a woman⁸.

Despite what is said in the media, the most important issue facing Australia is fatherhood - as we are fast becoming a nation of dysfunctional families. It is fatherhood that binds the Old Testament to the New from Malachi 4:5-6 to Luke 1:17:

"And he (John the Baptist) will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous - to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

These scriptures tell us that God honouring fatherhood prepares the way for a people to receive the Lord, to come to know the father-heart of God. In this election Tony Abbot and Christian Party leaders are the leaders modeling Christian fatherhood to the nation.

In the last election Kevin Rudd was a Christian father who intentionally set out to woo the Christian vote because he considered it important from both an electoral point of view and because of his personal faith and values. Now, halfway through this campaign - and only because Labor is looking at the real possibility of defeat - Julia Gillard is trying to buy the Christian vote without personally valuing the Christian faith and marriage.

In the last 12 months Labor party power brokers abandoned interest in the Christian faith because they didn't consider it important from either an electoral or values perspective. They demonstrated their choice of power over principle by ousting their own Christian Prime Minister and replacing him with an atheist who proposes to live in the Lodge with a person who is not her husband.

The Bible has something to say about this -

Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery: "Neither do I condemn you". But He also said: "Go now and leave your life of sin" (John 8:3-11). Unfortunately the newly installed PM, Julia Gillard, has declared herself to be an atheist who proposes to disregard the sanctity of marriage in the highest office in the land.

The scripture also says:

• "The fool says in his (her) heart, "There is no God." (Psalm 14:1); and
• "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people" (Prov 14:34).

From the foregoing we can be certain that if Labor were to win this election with or without the help of the Greens, they won't uphold Kingdom values as being in the national interest.

That's why this election is so critically important. Because the Labor party have politically assassinated their own Christian Prime Minister and replaced him with a non-believer, we have already been warned that the controlling Labor party power brokers believe that power is above principle and that the church is irrelevant. In this they have made a huge mistake under God.

Accordingly it is essential to be well informed about the deeper spiritual issues of this election. How you vote will ultimately sanction legislation in Australia that will be either compatible or incompatible with the laws of God.  The scattered or dispersed church  needs to vote to its best ability in accordance with the Lord's prayer: "Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth (including Australia) as it is in heaven".

The people of the scattered church hold in their hearts the spirit of the nation. Believing Christians are gifted with the most powerful forces that exist - Holy Spirit instilled faith, love, prayer and wisdom. Make sure your vote counts by applying these gifts and principles to the process of electing candidates and parties that most closely honour God in both their policies and values.

Here are four web links designed to help you with this task:

• The Canberra Declaration - please sign
• Saltshakers Christian Values Checklist
• ACL points of difference between the parties
• Australian Christian Values Institute Federal Election Values Checklist

Peter Kentley

Australian Marketplace Connections
Airborne778@gmail.com

Footnotes

1.        Minister Stephen Conroy has been ordered to stop proceeding with ISP filtering:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/labor-delays-controversial-isp-filtering-plan/story-e6frgakx-1225889769969

2.        PM Gillard has chosen to live in a de facto relationship and had not included her partner in this election campaign. If re-elected she plans to live in the Lodge outside of marriage and with a partner who is unable to model fatherhood to the nation.

3.        Julia Gillard is a leading member of "Emily's List" which pushed through Abortion liberalization in Victoria including late term abortions and requiring doctors to either participate in the abortion process or recommend a doctor who will do so which makes is illegal for many doctors to follow their conscience on abortion. This legislation also disallowed the requirement for informed consent - http://www.emilyslist.org.au/
http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/10/27/victorian-abortion-law-overriding-the-conscience-of-doctors

4.        http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/unmarried-gillard-wedded-to-a-notion-that-upholds-injustice-20100716-10e3j.html

5.        http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/the-legal-threat-to-christian-schools-20090728-dzzx.html
http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/08/11/the-left%e2%80%99s-war-against-christian-proclamation/

6.        http://www.examiner.com.au/news/local/news/general/call-for-debate-on-removal-of-lord39s-prayer/1894855.aspx?storypage=0

7.        Julia Gillard has made some Christian overtures, such as on chaplaincy funding. But what she did not tell the ACL was that the whole policy is up for review by Labor at the end of next year, and that as Education Minister she said she wanted the whole program to be secularised. - http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/08/09/you-can-fool-some-of-the-christians-some-of-the-time/