Faith and Public Policy

 

 

 

Easter is as good a time as any to be reminded that Christianity has a contribution in the
formulation of public policy.

An emphasis on values and virtues will go a long way in ensuring that our social fabric
remains strong. Helping shape the public conscience is never redundant. Our challenge is
to place mercy and truth at the head of the queue when considering the promotion of
social order and security

 

From its outset, Christianity has attempted to engage the prevailing culture with a deep
humanism based on compassion and justice. It has fumbled these attempts at times, but
overall it has left the dual markers of the preservation of human dignity and the promotion
of the common good as the litmus test for a decent society. The upshot has been the
promotion of more inclusive and co-operative communities that have had an eye to the
downtrodden and disadvantaged.
Today’s Christians would do well to reclaim the “Jesus movement” of its origins as the
pathway for these disruptive and unsettled times. Following the message of Jesus is less
about church attendance and more about building communities of compassion and justice.
It is concerned with deeply humanistic bonds that make solidarity the touchstone of
human relations, even international relations.
It is finding a language of companionship when others seek to fuel division through culture
wars and identity politics. It is fostering inclusion, rather than building barriers of entry
based on race, ethnicity or gender. It is standing alongside those marginalised and
rendered powerless by fear campaigns and scapegoating. It is constructing coalitions of
like-minded aspiration to improve the lot of everyone, not just the beneficiaries of an
ideology.

 

And here’s the thing, it is forever a work in progress. A case in point is the plight of
refugees.
Every Palm Sunday, crowds gather across Australia to stand up for refugees. This year, the
numbers who assembled outside the ACT Parliament seemed bigger than the year before.
That, in itself, is a healthy recognition that even if the political class want the refugee issue
out of sight and mind, ordinary Australians are motivated by something deeper and more
transcendent than political expediency. They came from all walks of life, backgrounds and
beliefs. They came with a passion for change; a hunger to sets things right for refugees.
They marched through the city streets chanting “refugees are welcome here” as patrons
went about their shopping and basked in the unseasonal Canberra sunshine in cafés and
bars. They shared a determination to advocate for those who can’t, for those who are too
easily forgotten, for those for whom the Easter message was written.

The treatment of refugees by our country is still a disgrace. In a world where the attitude of
the US president is making meanness the determinant of public policy, the plight of people
seeking asylum looks grim. Political pragmatists will keep consigning refugee policy to the
“too hard basket”. Politicians of the “near left” will see no electoral gains in overt support
for refugees. So it falls to a different form of leadership based on mercy, not expediency.
The human spirit instinctively recognises mercy as the essence of itself. To act unmercifully
renders us to be less than our better selves. Today we need to raise our eyes beyond the
interests of our families and close friends and stretch the boundaries of social responsibility
to those isolated from any social and familial support.
This starts with an admission that it has been convenient for us to have the refugee issue
“out of sight and mind”. The discomfort of our collective inaction is too stark to face, so it
has been far easier to turn a blind eye or find consolation in believing that refugee issues
are too intractable to solve harmoniously. Once acknowledged, then we need to remove
the yoke of prejudice and racism placed on the shoulders of asylum-seekers. This will take
moral courage. And that fortitude is grounded in a certainty that what is in the interests of
human decency is in the interests of us all.

And alongside mercy comes truth.
The treatment of asylum-seekers and those arriving by boat has been shrouded in secrecy.
The costs of detention and the human costs for those on temporary visas are hidden from
public view. The disproportionate amount of resources spent to keep a lid on the “refugee
issue” is a scandal. On the other hand, the economic value of the contribution of recent
overseas arrivals, especially in regional communities, needs more emphasis. A more
transparent public conversation based on facts is sorely needed to ameliorate
misinformation and “fake news” campaigns.
Lastly, mercy and truth in action leads to community. The tolerance and open-heartedness
of Australians for asylum-seekers needs road testing. The tabloid press has jawboned
politicians into believing that refugees take jobs from Australians and are a drain on the
social security system. Again, transparency and “fact checking” may well tell a different,
more generous, story.
Some public policy issues require a resolve beyond the electoral cycle. Some have a moral
heft that compels persistence. All have an obligation to seek justice. Our refugee policy
awaits the response of our better angels. The Easter message tells us that we can rise to
meet this challenge.

 

Francis John Sullivan AO chairs Concerned Catholics Canberra Goulburn and Jesuit Social
Services. He was the former CEO of the Truth Justice and Healing Council, Catholic Health
Australia and the Federal Australian Medical Association.

This article was first published in John Menadues’s Pearls and Irritations