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Behind the Referendum.

By / 2 July 2009

I am concerned that behind the scenes of this referendum is a set of religious convictions.  There may be those who believe they have a biblical mandate to discipline their kids with the rod. They may be concerned that the state is influencing the way they parent, limiting their religious freedom. This may even be behind the thinking of Larry Baldock. If this is the case there is a problem not currently under discussion, but of great relevance to the referendum. We have a society where religious views are not welcome in public discourse. The majority of the country still has religious views, of one sort or another, that inform their opinions. Not allowing religious language or opinions in public discourse does not mean they are not influencing the discussion, it just means they are a hidden agenda. That is unhelpful for everyone. We need to know what we are debating. If there is a religious background then the debate would need to be conducted differently because any argument currently being used is not getting to the heart of any actual conviction.

“Larry,” I might say, “2000 years ago the child was included in, and a part of, everything that was going on in the family. They were always with their parent or mother. We are now in a culture where everyone is busy all the time. Time, the currency of love in the mind of a child, is our primary poverty.”

“If you have Biblical parenting concerns,” I might go on, “you would have been better to invest the 9 million pushing for two years paid parental leave – with support and education.” Sweden even makes it mandatory for the non primary care giver (often the father but not necessarily) to take 2 months of that parental leave. Allow a parent to invest their entire time in the care and raising of their child.”

We might even engage in an exegesis exercise on Proverbs’ ‘spare the rod.’ The point is, at least the actual issues would be on the table. I don’t know if this is behind any of the referendum thinking, but I would not be surprised.

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This site is run by the Social Justice Commission of the Anglican Church.

We seek to nurture justice spirituality and imagination, and engage in advocacy in all areas of life, overcoming poverty and transforming violence.

We encourage people to think and live “justly”, and emphasise debate and action on local, national and global issues.

Although we are Anglican, our vision isn’t so much about being Anglican. It’s about living justly. Justice is about how you live your life, and being just where we are. Working together, we can all flourish.

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