Religion or Culture ... and then there is friendly and peaceful co-existence

Australia has been going through a great deal of political turmoil lately ... or should I say that the Liberal Party of Australia, currently the political party of government, has been going through a great deal of turmoil lately. 

There is a new Prime Minister, Scott Morrison commonly referred to as ScoMo.  Sco-Mo is a Pentecostal Christian - which is a bit of a shock for most Australians - and he wears his religion on his sleeve.  For most of Australia's political history, the Prime Ministers from the Liberal Party would usually be Anglican, Presbyterian or Methodist.  Malcolm Turnbull, who ScoMo recently ousted, is a Catholic convert ... although his wife, Lucy, is from a Catholic blue-blood family.

So there is an interesting article in the Fairfax papers today giving rise to the question - Religion or Culture.  The write of the article says there is a difference.  In addition to the points made, Australians have always considered themselves a secular nation without national adherence to one particular religion.  However, the reality was that most Australians, if pressed, would nominate a religion even if they never darkened the door of a church or were "Easter and Christmas" Christians. 

Along with all this, Australia has always thought of itself as the nation of the "fair go".  This concept has been sorely tested in recent times with the influx of people from the African continent. 

Editor's Note:  When I was growing up in 1950s Australia, there was no such concept as "interfaith" - and there was not the dispersion of faiths that there is to-day.  Even Christians found it difficult to collaborate with one another.