Australians may turn into right bstards
Mateship doing it tough as cash cult cracks
John Huxley
TRADITIONAL Australian values of mateship, good neighbourliness and offering a helping hand to those in need could be seriously tested by the economic downturn, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, has warned.
In a powerfully worded presidential address at the opening of the Sydney synod yesterday, Dr Jensen said that until recently the nation had rarely been so well off. "Put to the test of abundance", it had coped by embracing the credo of individual choice.
"We have, therefore, invested in the three secular values of free choice: to satisfy myself; tolerance, to permit others to have their choice; and incredibly hard work, to ensure that I can make the choices I want."
Suddenly, though, Sydney's world had changed. The expectation that humans had conquered the world, and the belief that it would always yield what we wanted, had been severely shaken. The experts were no longer looking so good.
Australians were about to be put to the test of want. To long-term environmental, social and spiritual worries had been added immediate financial woes.
"We are experiencing a significant economic downturn, with a possible increase in unemployment, poverty, homelessness - even of hunger."
What sort of people would we be now? he wondered.
"Our investment in secular individualistic values will prove as illusory as our investment in some parts of the market. Choice will disappear for many; tolerance will prove too cool for comfort; work may be harder to find."
If Australia did better than other countries in the crisis, it must bear an even greater responsibility for the poor of the earth, he said. If it suffered with the rest, then "the days ahead may well test our capacity to love each other in our community, to be real neighbours, true mates".
Dr Jensen called on Christians to lead the way by providing faith, hope and love. He cited the example of R.B.S. Hammond, the rector of St Barnabas Broadway, who once displayed a sign reading, "This state has the best politicians the breweries can buy."
During the Depression, Archdeacon Hammond had given away his clothes to the needy. "A beggar once asked him for his trousers. Hammond refused on grounds of decency. They were the only pair he had left."
Dr Jensen used the opening of the five-day synod to launch the multimillion-dollar Connect 09 campaign, an ambitious program which challenges Anglicans to be good neighbours in their communities by contacting every resident, at home, work or leisure.
