Abbott v Rudd

My headline here is of course far from accurate. That is because the real issue for voters on September 7 is not one man versus another man, but one political party versus another political party. It is really about one ideology versus another. But I have already spoken about the broader ideological battle elsewhere: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/08/07/on-revolution-and-competing-worldviews/

Regrettably we have allowed Rudd and his populist campaign style to mislead us into thinking we are voting in a US-style election for a president. But we are actually voting in or out a major political party. Yet Rudd knows that the Labor brand is so utterly tarnished and trashed that he is deliberately avoiding even talking about Labor, and is simply talking about himself instead – incessantly.

So he has made this election focus very much about himself – and his own ego. But in reality it is about him and Labor versus another party, another leader, and another political ideology. So concentrating too much on the two party leaders is going to give us a very distorted picture here.

And even if we do give the two leaders our main attention, things can be summed up pretty quickly: Abbott is of course not ideal in every respect, but he far outshines Rudd. He has shown himself to be very much a leader, while Rudd simply goes where the wind blows, changing his tune to simply get some votes.

He very much appears to be a man utterly obsessed with himself, with power, and with winning. And he is quite happy to do whatever it takes to win office and keep it. So it does not matter in the least that he will do a photo op every Sunday coming out of church, while telling us all along he has no intention of promoting any teachings which any true church would uphold.

So on Sunday morning in true hypocrite fashion again, he waltzed out of church and smiled at the cameras. Then in the evening he told the entire nation that his number one priority if re-elected will be to utterly and completely destroy the institution of marriage by redefining it out of existence to placate a few homosexual militants.

Way to go Kev. Love that consistent biblical worldview oozing out of your every pore. But regrettably this is not just the Machiavellian Kevin at work here. Homosexual marriage is of course official Labor Party policy. And as I keep saying, it is the Labor/Green policies versus the Liberal/National policies that really matter here – not just personalities.

Thus we have one major party fully backing homosexual marriage while the other does not. On that issue alone we should have a clear winner as to who to vote for. But there is much more as well. Take another crucial and fundamental policy issue: that of abortion.

Once again, this is official party policy for Labor, while abortion on demand is not Liberal policy. To have as a core plank of your party the slaughter of unborn babies is a very profound and very vital difference. This issue as well, as with the marriage issue, should really be all we need to know about Labor. It should put us all off from voting for them – certainly if we claim to be biblical Christians.

But even though this is really an election about different parties with differing policies and philosophies, it is legitimate in one sense to focus on leaders. For example, if one leader is found to keep changing his tune to improve his electoral chances, then you know we have to stand up and take notice.

Last night Rudd was putting his big priority on homosexual marriage. Yet just a few months ago (May 20 to be exact), he said this: “For the record, I will not be taking any leadership role on this issue nationally”. OK, just another broken promise. Just another complete reversal. Just like Julia and her carbon tax.

We have seen one lie, back flip, broken promise, and turn around on policy after another from both Kevin and Labor. The issue really becomes one of trust. Can we really trust this man? Indeed, he helped to formulate the debating rules for last Sunday’s debate. Yet he blatantly broke them and cheated, using notes when he said he would not.

The next day he tried to joke about this and pretend it was no big deal. If we can’t even trust him to keep his word when it comes to debate rules, how in the world are we going to trust him to keep his word as he runs this country? When fundamental honesty and transparency seem to mean nothing to a politician, then we had all better be very cautious indeed.

And his character involves more than just a steady record of broken promises. His unbearable ego, his fits of rage, his desire to be a control freak, his inability to work with others – all that should tell us this guy is not worthy of our vote. He is certainly not fit to run a nation. But I have elsewhere discussed at length how so many of his colleagues have fled from the guy and want nothing to do with him: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/08/05/say-no-to-rudd-and-labor/

As I say, Abbott and the Coalition are far from perfect. I have many concerns about them. And if they do get in we will not see paradise restored. But we will see a stop – if even a temporary stop – to the disaster which has been Labor (be it under Julia or Kevin) for the past six years.

Kevin keeps talking about the need for something new. I sure agree with him on that. We need a new government with a new leader. We certainly do not need the same old same old.

The minor parties

Just a few quick words about the minor parties. There are dozens of them, but only a handful will be of interest to most of my readers. The faith based and pro-family parties are well worth our vote, providing of course they do not preference to Labor or the Greens.

So these parties can certainly be supported: The Christian Democratic Party; Australian Christians (the CDP outside of NSW); Family First; the Democratic Labor Party; and Rise Up Australia. But the truth is, of the dozens or even hundreds of candidates running for these various parties, only one or two at best might get in.

This can come in handy, as when the balance of power in the Senate is at stake. But the sad truth is, there are only two real players in town. That is the reality we must face here. Either Labor gets back in, or the Coalition does. So while parties like the CDP, etc, will most closely reflect Christian values (and see our soon to appear Christian Values Checklist), it will be Labor or Liberal to call the shots after September 7.

It would be nice if the smaller parties had more impact, but at the moment their impact is negligible. Yes Steve Fielding of FF had some impact in the Senate, but he was a bit of a mixed bag. John Madigan of the DLP will also have some influence.

But right now it is the two big parties who will determine our future. Other parties can be given the flick, such as Bob Katter’s Australian Party. He has already caved in on homosexual marriage, and is talking about giving his preferences to Labor! Go figure.

So above all, this is a heavyweight match between Labor and Liberal. The important thing is to get Labor out. As I say, the Coalition will not bring heaven to earth, but they will at least stop the rot for a while. That is perhaps the best we can expect in a fallen world.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/secret-preference-deal-expected-to-be-announced-which-would-see-bob-katter8217s-australian-party-preferences-flow-to-alp/story-fnihsr9v-1226695607928

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37 Replies to “Abbott v Rudd”

  1. Shame to hear that about Bob Katter- I thought he might have been a Christian. Wasn’t he one of the speakers a couple of years ago at the National Marriage Day event?
    At least the gay issue is revealing to us who are the wheat and who are the chaff.

    Annette Williams

  2. “how in the world are we going to trust him to keep his word as he runs this country?”

    And how can we trust him to fairly represent Australia to other countries, bodies, and forums (fora for the pedants, like me)?

    John Angelico

  3. Hi Bill. Do you know what differentiates the small Christian parties you mentioned? I’m keen to vote for one of them, but don’t know which to choose. To me it’s a shame that they don’t unite and form a single Christian bloc rather than dividing the votes. Maybe that way they would definitely get into the Senate and negate the Green influence there.

    Frank Federico

  4. Dear Bill, I would like to know what happened to Bob Katter to back down from traditional marriage. Hazel Alley of the Family First Party is the only candidate for Capricornia who is supporting traditional marriage.

    All the best, Franklin Wood

  5. Hi Bill
    Just finished watching Paul Murray who professes to be a conservative, but is dead set on having homosexual marriage lawful in Australia, even suggesting that K Rudd push through homosexual marriage in the caucus if he becomes prime minister, without a vote on it. Also pleading with Tony Abbott to change his mind and push for homosexual marriage too.
    Jillian Lister

  6. Hi Bill, I agree that the Christian parties have little to no hope of getting a member in the lower house (yet at least). What I’ve learned (as an FFP member) is that you need to field candidates in the lower house to get senate votes. To get Christians seated in the Senate may be enough to cause Tony Abbott to solidify his position on traditional marriage.

    To Frank Federico – I expect the Christian parties to preference each other generally, that’s a form of unity.

    John Bennett

  7. Hi Bill
    I wish you would stop blaming the “fallen world” as if it is some kind of mystical excuse for evil people. Everyone has to account for their decisions and actions, just like you and I.
    Why must I be satisfied with the choice we have in leaders?
    Is it wrong for me to hope for a candidate who publicly stands for God and truth?
    Stand your ground, don’t accept evil as normal and contrary to what most people accept, politicians should NOT lie at all
    Thanks
    Dameon McManus

  8. Thanks Dameon

    But what does proclaiming biblical truth have to do with making excuses for evil? It is 100% true that we live in a fallen world, where sin has impacted everyone and everything. It is because of this basic biblical truth that we can never expect to see a perfect political party or a perfect political leader or a perfect anything.

    But those Christian truths have nothing to do with seeking to see godliness and righteousness promoted as far as possible in the land. And please tell us all where I said it is wrong to ‘hope for a candidate who publicly stands for God and truth’? If you actually read my various articles on this topic you will see that I often refer to some great godly men, such as a Wilberforce or a Fred Nile, and applaud them for standing for God and truth. Yet they would be the first to admit they can only achieve so much in a worldly political arena full of worldly men who do not share godly values.

    I most certainly am standing my ground here, as anyone who has read my 2,600 articles knows full well. I am always championing Christians working in a fallen world, including a fallen political world. But I am also fully biblical, so I realise perfection and complete righteousness will never fully prevail here until Christ returns.

    Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

  9. If Katter gives his preferences to the corrupt, incompetent ALP and its shifty leader then we’ll have to have a rethink about his character. Just what did the Coalition do to him to deserve this?

    Daryl Snowden

  10. I’m curious to know, when did Bob Katter say he supported gay marriage. I thought he ruled it out earlier this year. I didn’t hear anything about him supporting it personally.

    Jan Tea

  11. Frank I agree, “it’s a shame that they don’t unite and form a single Christian bloc rather than dividing the votes.” John is right they will exchange preferences but by being separate they waste their resources and talent. Four candidates and four campaigns in each seat is a luxury the Christian community cannot afford.
    I have found candidates from these parties so politically naïve you want to scream. It is an embarrassment. The local newspaper asked a candidate for one of these parties why she was running in the Queensland state election when she had no hope of winning. She said she was doing so to help the party get a senate seat. Good answer for a federal election but not for Queensland where there is no upper house or senate.
    Des Morris

  12. The Christian values based party with the best chance of getting a seat in the senate in Queensland is Family First. Their candidate in first position is Aidan McLindon, elected in 2009 as a Liberal National Party member, he resigned from the LNP and started the Queensland Party, he then joined Katter Australia Party and became its national director, he resigned from KAP via twitter and joined Family First. Can you understand my reluctance in voting for Family First for the senate.

    Des Morris

  13. Thanks Des

    His most recent move at least was an honorable one: McLindon left the Katter party because of their sellout on homosexual marriage.

    Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

  14. To have more than 1 Christian party may be a good thing after all, though I must admit, I didn’t think so at first either. But a pentecostal Christian might be more likely to vote for RUAP, a Presbyterian might vote for C.D.P., while never even considering RUAP and so on and yet one of them may get in just on the strength of preferences of all of the parties together.
    Bill, I wonder if Dameon may just mean that, while you point us to the ideals we should aspire to, your sense of realism may put the lid on aspirations again that have just tried to push us up to a higher level. I believe better things are possible even in this life and so do you, Bill, otherwise you wouldn’t be doing what you are doing. Maybe just let the enthusiasm take us to as high a plane as it can, for gravity will get hold of it all on its own over time without us being held in check before we have even begun to put our dreams into action.
    I understand what I mean, pray you do too. 🙂
    About Mr. Rudd having his picture taken coming out of church, that tells me 2 things. It tells me that they accept and court the fact that there is a christian voting block, so that is a good thing, we need to recognise the potential in that. Secondly it tells me they don’t believe that we are very clever, maybe they think we don’t know our faith well enough to notice the inconsistencies in their appeal to s to vote for them, or they believe we don’t think at all. That is bad and it is time we do something about that.
    Many blessings
    Ursula Bennett

  15. I always appreciate what you write Bill, but with all of Gods lessons for us, it is extremely difficult to attain salvation and therefore enter heaven, otherwise Jesus would not have said so. Trying to be perfect IS part of that plan.
    Instead of trying to justify less than perfect for all believers I offer Matt 5:48
    Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect.
    Jesus wasn’t joking.
    In the context, Jesus is talking about earthly behaviours in order to attain perfection through love!
    Therefore we should hope for those who follow this teaching to put themselves up for election
    I believe you concur with believers always taking part in political life do you not?
    We need to keep stepping up to the mark every single day, difficult as it is.
    Even if we don’t “achieve” anything in the political landscape, we can at least have faith in a candidate that we can cast our vote towards who wont backflip on their stance/promises
    What do you think?
    Dameon McManus

  16. Thanks Dameon

    But you are confusing some issues here. The words of Jesus in Matthew are of course directed at individual followers of Christ. The call is to be perfect (or complete, as the Greek word can mean). That is what all believers strive for. But that does not mean we achieve sinless perfection in this life. Scripture makes that clear as well. But we seek to be more and more Christlike and more and more holy, by God’s grace.

    The issue of political involvement is a different matter. Sure we need to get Christians involved in politics. Sure we need to work for righteousness which exalts a nation. But again, there will be no perfect government in this life. Perfection is only found in the Kingdom, and the Kingdom is only fully realised when the King comes. In the meantime we work to have a godly and Christian influence in society, in politics, and everywhere else. But there will be no perfect political party, no perfect culture, no perfect anything until Christ returns and sets up his Kingdom, and puts down all his enemies. In the meantime we have the tares and the wheat growing up together, and these will not be fully separated until the judge returns at the end of this age (Matt 13 – see also the sheep and the goats parable in Matt 25).

    Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

  17. So, my defence to someone who states, “Why don’t you Christian parties unite”?
    Is this, this party may lure X and this party may lure Y
    And so on?
    I don’t mean to be antagonistic but this logic does seem a little flawed.
    Could someone please recommend a book to read on politics, because I don’t get it? A basic outline maybe.
    Eg; family first get let’s say, eleven hundred votes for a candidate and Australian Christians get nine hundred. Is that added together to become two thousand votes for a preference?

    Daniel Kempton

  18. Dear Bill
    It is important that Christians join the major parties and contribute to policy development and take the opportunity at party meetings to express a Christian world view to their local politicians. They also have an important influence in the ACT especially (under the Hare-Clark System) of making sure that “ratbag” opportunists don’t get preselected to run in our multi-member electorates.
    Concerned Christians can also vote for candidates from small Christian Parties as a protest against the major parties but need to think carefully about where they direct their first preference, because in effect that is where their vote will end up.

    Eric Frith

  19. Daniel – it sound like you don’t understand the basics of how preferencing works. You don’t need whole books for that – a few good websites will provide that for you. Let me find some for you – back soon.

    Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

  20. I disagree with Eric Frith that we should join and influence a major political party.

    It would be good to influence pre-selection and party policies to achieve godly policies and candidates. But is that being unevenly yoked? OK it would work with revival or if we stack a branch. But, more likely it means joining a political machine that will use us to supply money, hands and feet to man polling booths and hand out leaflets all the while knowing that even if we achieve a majority in a local branch, nevertheless we can be outvoted in the party room etc. Then there’s the problem of candidates having to ‘tow the party line’ to be endorsed. But how does that help the voting public, the big party, or the government get to know what other issues are of concern to us?

    OK, minor political parties, are unlikely to govern so why waste your vote and time helping them? The fact is that voting for minor parties gives voters MORE influence over government as it tells parties what issues concern you.

    Voting directly for a major party implies that you accept ALL their policies. A better way to make YOUR vote effective is: vote for all the good small parties, in YOUR order of preference (e.g. 1 to 4) according to how you like their emphasis; then, vote for the major parties (e.g. 5 & 6) in YOUR order of preference; and, finally vote for all the bad minor parties (e.g. 7 to 10 assuming there are 10 candidates putting the worst party last). This tells the major parties (and the media) which issues concern you. If you vote 1 for a major party, they will never know your real concerns.

    I’ve scrutineered for CTA/CDP and FF. During scrutineering at polling booths on polling day, the large party scrutineers invariably leave immediately they have determined the primary (1st preference) vote counts for each candidate AND the flow of lower-house preference flows from each minor candidates. They check and recheck these preference flows from minor parties and when they are sure of that – they leave. They don’t bother with the Senate count because they assume that most people vote above the line. I am usually the ONLY scrutineer left for the counting of the Senate votes.

    In Senate voting, never vote above the line unless you are very sure that you agree with the preference flows of your favourite party. Voting ‘above the line’ risks actively supporting a Party you do NOT want to support. E.g. A deal between Family First and the Australian Democrats swapped preferences in their registered Senate ‘Ticket Votes’ – i.e. where their ‘Above the Line’ vote preferences were distributed. This resulted in the election of Steve Fielding, to the horror of Democrat voters, but it could have gone the other and resulted in the election of a Democrat Senator, to the horror of FF voters.

    Peter Newland

  21. Eric, do I understand you correctly when I think that you said in your last post that a protest vote is the closest we can get towards achieving godly government in this nation by having a vast majority of politicians sitting in parliament who will conscienciously operate on biblical principles?
    The liberal party wasn’t even in existence at the time of federation though I believe the labor party was. I have to go and read the constitution again, but I don’t think the 2 horse race as we experience now was a constitutional requirement in order to insure the parliament can govern. Maybe you could help us out with some information there, Bill, but I thought that every member was to represent their electorate and that they need to come to a majority decision with every bill before the parliament in its own right.
    Or am I being to idealistic again?
    Many blessings Ursula Bennett

  22. Thanks Peter

    Christians can and should be involved in both major and minor parties as God leads. It is not being unequally yoked to work in a major party – it is called being salt and light. 2 Corinthians 6:14 is warning about much more intimate unions, such as marriage. Believers have an obligation to take the Lordship of Christ to every area, and working in a major party if God so directs is part of that biblical mandate, and part of our Christian responsibility.

    Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

  23. Peter, I understand what you are saying about not voting above the line for the Senate, but boy, that is a hard ask when the sheet is longer than a table cloth.
    Many blessings
    Ursula Bennett

  24. I was disappointed to hear that Bob Katter is giving his preference’s to ALP. He won’t get my vote then.

    Also I agree the ALP is the worst of our 2 bad choices. Apart from their twisted stance on homosexuality and abortion, we see other examples of their corrupt values when former premier Beattie, along with Anna Bligh, brought in legislation to decriminalize deceit in Parliament. Fortunately Campbell Newman has overturned this legislation now.

    And then there was the Shreddergate affair where the ALP state government (Kevin Rudd was Chief of staff at the time) committed the criminal act of deliberately destroying government archives that they knew were required in a court case over the pack rape of a 14 year old girl at the Oxley youth detention facility.

    I’ll put my trust in God, and not our politicians.

    Harold van de Wiel

  25. Ursula, you can vote above the line for the Senate if you are totally satisfied with the published preferences of that party or group. That means you must check it out, before polling day preferably. And yes, that may not be an easy task. But freedom requires effort – we must either: make the effort to work out our own senate preferences; or make the effort to find out which Above the Line vote has preferences you are most comfortable with.

    The Christian Values Checklist http://www.christianvalues.org.au (expected out within a day or so) should help you to do this, by making sure that the party’s preferences actually follow the order parties are rated in the check list. You need to check this – as mentioned in an earlier comment, Family First scored well in the Checklist in a previous election, but it’s preferences were radically different from its stated position because it preferenced Australian Democrats dangerously high.

    Within days the party ‘Ticket Votes’ should be available from the Australian Electoral Commission http://www.aec.gov.au and it is best to study those early – they should also be on display at polling places, but it is far better to work out your vote before polling day.

    Peter Newland

  26. Hi Bill I am still recovering from seeing Rudd on the steps of the church I knew he would be there, then same night decides same sex marriage a good idea. Please someone please underline his bible and show him where this is abominable to our Lord and blasphemy to the Holy Spirit. Oh dear if he is a believer then I think our Prime Minister is in big trouble. Why on earth do we have to keep suffering debates on same sex issues on my telly I am so fed up with it, it makes me sick. It is crazy to think that the leaders and others of our wonderful country can’t get their focus off sex. It is plain as plain for all God made man for woman and they fit together perfectly – yes.

    Heathermary Dellaca

  27. Kevin Rudd walking out of a Church on camera reminds me of Hitler posing for photos with a Cross or a Church in the background…. Its just propaganda at its best….

    At the end of the day, all Rudd wants to do is get into power and win votes, at any cost… He wouldn’t know the first thing about whats actually written in the Bible or following Jesus’ teachings…

    It makes me absolutely sick that people are being conned into voting for this man.

    Andrew Strachan

  28. Peter,
    Great advice, but as in their application of faith, Australians are mostly lazy. So not much chance of them reading any detail prior to Sept 7th.
    I suggest we all dedicate our worship to God with this election in mind and petition him earnestly.
    God bless

    Dameon McManus

  29. Rise Up Australia Party are the party that will get my vote mainly because they above all other parties seem to understand the threat of creeping Sharia more than any other and are not afraid of speaking out against it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3_trKK7u_o

    Mario Del Giudice

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