News Senator Payman Seeks Allah's Guidance on Policy Issues Has Put Religion Centre of Mind
Muslim Senator Fatima Payman has put religion back on the front page after revealing she asked Allah for guidance on what to do in the Senate.
The 29-year-old old West Australian broke ranks with her Labor colleagues this week to vote with the Greens in favour of Palestinian statehood.
She was disciplined by the party (for breaking ranks, not for paying to Allah) and has since quit Labor to move to the crossbench.
But the very idea that Payman sought wisdom from Allah before voting on policy issues has surprised many Australians who rarely give a second thought to religion.
The fact is that no-one arrives at any issue values free. And we all have a religion - whether we believe in God or not.
Your religion, or if you prefer your worldview, is in essence your answer to these five big questions …
Where did we come from? That’s a question of origin.
Who am I? That’s a question of identity.
What is the purpose of life? That’s a question of meaning.
How do I determine right from wrong? That’s a question of morality.
What happens when we die? That’s a question of destiny.
Your answer to those questions becomes the worldview, or lens, that informs all of your decisions.
A Christian, for instance, believes people are created in God’s image. With that worldview, it is impossible to agree that abortion is okay.
An atheist, on the other hand, insists that human life is entirely accidental and no more imbued with the divine than a banana. Someone with that worldview might find abortion distasteful, but has no grounds to argue against it.
In both instances, religion informs the policy position.
So it’s redundant to ask whether politicians ought seek guidance from religion since they are already being guided by their religion, whether they realise it or not.
The better question is which religion we would prefer our politicians to take their cues from.
Senator Payman is a devout Muslim and so of course she would be taking her cues from Mohammad. Just as a Christian politician would seek wisdom from Jesus.
So the question is whether you’d prefer your nation’s leaders getting their marching orders from Jesus or from Mohammad.
On that question you don’t need a masters in comparative religion to work it out. Just take a quick look at the globe.
Western nations - like the UK, the USA and Australia - are overwhelmingly built on a Judeo-Christian worldview.
Middle Easter nations - like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia - have been built on an Islamic worldview.
Which would you prefer?
As Jesus said, by their fruits you shall know them.
And let’s not forget our atheist friends who, consciously or not, take their cues from Nietzsche. Think Communist China or the former Soviet Union.
So you can build a nation on the the law of love (Christianity), Sharia Law (Islam), or the law of the jungle (Atheism).
Which would you be happiest with?
Australia’s founders never imagined a country in which politicians were so arrogant that they made decisions without seeking wisdom from above.
The preamble to the Constitution - written in 1901 - declares that Australia would be a nation “humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God”.
Notice it doesn’t say “humbly rely on the blessing of Almighty Allah”. If it did, we’d be more like Somalia than Australia. Fun times!
Our forefathers envisaged political leaders who would be humble enough to acknowledge a power higher than themselves and to ask for wisdom. And they assumed the higher power would be the Christian God since, in 1901, there was virtually zero disagreement.
A lot of people complain that our country is not what it used to be, that it has changed, and not for the better.
I don’t disagree.
A lot of people are also waking up to the fact that the chance in our nation is not just economic and not just social. Even non-church going people are starting to be open to the idea that we may in fact have a spiritual problem.
Again, I don’t disagree.
Our politicians stopped seeking wisdom from almighty God and instead - like a sailor who stopped believing in the stars and so tied a lamp to the mast of his boat and navigated by that - have done what is right in their own eyes.
The results have been disastrous.
There is only one way for Australia to regain its prosperity and its freedom. We need Prime Ministers, business leaders, educators and parents to once more humbly rely on the blessings of Almighty God. And I don’t mean Allah.
A brilliant sermonette for the nation James. That list of choices between which of the three laws we might choose to be subject to… love, Sharia, jungle. Stark and true.
And the sailor who refuses to be guided by the night sky but rather choosing the lamp tied to his own mast. I’m not sure I’ve heard a better analogy of doing what is right in one’s own eyes. Might have to use that in conversation myself.
Thanks for the clarity once again.
Brilliant James, youo have worded that so well it needs to be published! When I was 7 years old, (70 years ago), I asked my mother where I came from, and what is the meaning of life. She, very wisely, gave me a large book, called The Treasury of Science, which I promptly started to read. I fell in love with astronomy ande spent many years studying it, I got a telescope and had a desire to be Australia's first woman into space! This love of astronomy got me on the pathway to our Creator God. I had always been going to church, but it was my path to Christianity. Jesus revealed Himself to me and I no longer needed a Treasury of Science, I had the Bible. Senator Payman kept saying she prayed to god in the interview I saw and she didn't mention allah. I thought that could bring confusion to many people. I love those 4 questions you mentioned James and we all ask them in some way. Just like I read that everyone tithes, some to gambling, other to various other addictions or whatever.