Church, politics, faceless men and the face of God in early twenty-first century Australia
pp. 83-96
in: Stanley , Stanley D. Brunn (eds), The changing world religion map, Berlin, Springer, 2015Abstract
I wrote this chapter when Australians were experiencing both a holy and unholy mess in the two realms of religion and politics. The state-of-play assumes that the foundational structures of, and cultures in current Australian religious and political institutions are still embedded and function in, and on, solid ground. This chapter questions that perspective and seeks to address what, if any, glimpses of the face of God might be emerging in the midst of a global civilization shift from the current technozoic era to the birthing of the ecozoic era? It highlights some of the promising, perilous (at times) and emerging manifestations of the Holy Spirit and its fruits bringing light through the cracks of this fragmented, broken world, expressed specifically through Australia's politics and Australian Catholics. The chapter is organized such that the above question and response is located firstly, in a global religious context, then the current Australian religious context and recent Australian political and cultural context, and finally it attends to the implications for Christian identity, ministry and distinctive community in the twenty-first century. I argue for a communal and individual theology and practice of lament in order for a healthy kenosis of the past to occur and to enable new religious expressions to emerge. Finally, I argue for an increased interdependence between laity and religious groups with a mutuality of learning to be nurtured and encouraged within and between these groups.