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Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace... - John Lennon "Imagine" 1971. |
unBelief.org was established in January 2003 by a group of Australians who want to preserve our country's traditions of a fair go for all, tolerance of diverse lifestyles, and respect for others. We are determined that the bigotry and intolerance promoted by the Religious Right in Australia should not go unchallenged, lest they gain political support for their views.
The groups we refer to as the Religious Right are Christian fundamentalists, usually associated with the conservative evangelical Protestant movement. This is not to say that Christianity is the only belief system that harbours fundamentalists, but right-wing Christian lobby groups currently present the most significant problem.
The Religious Right is obsessed with human sexuality. Pre-marital sex, abortion, homosexuality, prostitution, age of consent, adult shops, pornography, and embryonic stem cell research dominate the list of evils from which they intend to save the world. While the rest of society has come to grips with the complexities of the human condition and adopted a compassionate attitude to the diverse aspects of human sexuality, fundamentalists continue to preach intolerance of the moral behaviour of others.
The connection between their sexual obsession and the spiritual domain is inexplicable. Jesus Christ, if the New Testament can be relied upon, had very little to say on sexual matters, and nothing at all on homosexuality. Fundamentalists therefore rely on their interpretation of English translations of the Old Testament, particularly the male-dominated Mosaic Law as expressed in the first five books of the Bible. Yet the Old Testament itself is a chronicle of murder, violence, hate, vengeance, oppression of women, slavery, rape, infidelity, incest and adultery, much of which is recounted with the apparent approval of God.
"Biblical family values" is the catchcry of the Religious Right. It is a meaningless, yet emotive, phrase that exploits the ignorance of most of the population (including we suspect, many fundamentalists) about the true content of the Bible. We have searched the Bible at length for these elusive family values, but to no avail. Could someone provide chapter and verse please?
The term Christianity has also been hijacked, and is used by the Religious Right as if it is definitive. Yet Christians of different denominations and sects are often in conflict with one another over matters of belief. There is no justification for any fundamentalist lobby group to claim to represent all of Christianity.
The Religious Right lobbies for legislative backing for their policies. In contrast, we do not call for any religion to be banned, or for religious belief to be subject to discrimination. People have every right to practise whatever belief system they choose, but we reject the attempts by fundamentalists to impose their beliefs on others through political activism. At present the Religious Right groups in Australia are somewhat marginalised compared with the mainstream religious denominations. However, there is a danger that if their arguments are not rebutted, they could begin to influence political decisions. Lessons should be learned from the USA where the Religious Right has infiltrated mainstream politics to a much greater extent than in Australia.
Our Aims
Our aims are:
- to critically analyse the viewpoints of the Religious Right.
- to act as a counterbalance to the intolerance and bigotry of the Religious Right.
- to encourage Australians and the Australian news media to adopt a critical attitude towards the Religious Right.
- to present alternative viewpoints that recognise the human rights of all Australians, whatever their lifestyle or religious beliefs.
These aims will be achieved by:
- publishing articles that critically examine claims and attitudes of the Religious Right.
- providing information about the actual content of the Bible.
- providing references to similar material published elsewhere.
- encouraging others to take a similar stand against the dangers of religious zealotry.
We welcome the support of others of like mind and we invite submission of articles and papers for publication. We anticipate that we will attract criticism, even abuse, from fundamentalists who claim to be offended by our position. We intend no offence, but we firmly believe in the primacy of reason over righteousness.
Kate Williams
unBelief.org
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The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.
The Australian Constitution, Clause 116