Canberra Declaration Celebrates Three Years

on July 26, 2013

July 23rd of this past week marked the three-year anniversary of the Canberra Declaration: A Call to Christian Conscience. Modeled after its American and British counterparts, the Manhattan and Westminster Declarations, the Canberra Declaration affirms Christian commitment to Life, Marriage, and Religious Freedom.

The Manhattan Declaration, originally drafted in 2009 by Robert George, Timothy George, and Chuck Colson, was followed in 2010 by the Westminster Declaration, drafted by a similar group of British Christian Leaders, including former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey. A few short months following the release of Westminster, a group of Australian Christians released the Canberra Declaration.

The Declaration opens with a quote from the preamble to the Australian Constitution, which contains the words “Humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God.” Australia, which achieved independence from Great Britain just over a century ago, is a relatively young country. America, seen as relatively young in relation to the Old World, is nearly twice the country’s age.

The Canberra Declaration does not go into to the detail or history provided in the Manhattan Declaration, which covers the same three points in a span of nine pages. Yet the two-page document clearly affirms commitment to the basic Christian ideals about society.

The drafters of the Canberra Declaration acknowledged their debt and the inspiration they received from their American and British counterparts by noting that “The Canberra Declaration follows on from the 2009 Manhattan Declaration and the 2010 Westminster Declaration. It declares that when Christian values are respected and allowed freedom of expression, not just confined to so-called sacred spaces but in the public arena as well, society is richer and healthier.” Its mission statement echoes the call of the Manhattan Declaration, which proclaims that “In being true to its own calling, the call to discipleship, the church through service to others can make a profound contribution to the public good.”

The Declaration first affirms the Christian defense of religious freedom for all people, and points to anti-discrimination and hate crime laws that fail to adequately account for valid religious beliefs as infringing on this essential liberty. The Declaration notes, “If these freedoms are removed – even in the name of supposed benefits – the prized values of democracy and liberty are seriously undermined.” The drafters again echoed the Westminster Declaration, which declared, “We will not be intimidated by any cultural or political power into silence or acquiescence and we will reject measures that seek to over-rule our Christian consciences or to restrict our freedoms to express Christian beliefs, or to worship and obey God. “

Secondly, the Declaration proclaimed the Christian support of “the natural family resulting from marriage between a man and a woman.” Same-sex marriages are not recognized under Australia’s Federal law, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The current Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd of the left-wing Labour Party, opposed same-sex marriage when he first ran for office by saying that while he would work to end discrimination against gays, he would not support any measure to undermine the definition of marriage as it now exists in law. However, several months ago, after recently being returned to power, Rudd has declared his support for same-sex marriage, and a redefinition of marriage will be part of the Labour Party’s platform in the upcoming election. The leader of the opposition, Tony Abbot, who is a devout Catholic and one of the few truly Burkean politicians in the world, has said that if elected he will oppose changing the definition of marriage. Furthermore, Abbot has refused to allow a conscious vote on the issue, and required all the members of his coalition to uphold the Party stance.

Lastly, the declaration speaks in defense of the dignity of all human life, and declares that “The very heart of a humane and civilised society is based on the way it treats its most vulnerable and innocent members including the unborn and the disabled.” There is no federal abortion law in Australia, and instead the matter is left to the several states. Because of this, national Party leaders are often vague on the issue. The Prime Minister, whose party holds a decidedly liberal stance on the matter, has never been clear about his own views. Tony Abbott however, while serving as Health Secretary under a previous government, delivered a speech to the Australian Catholic Conference and expressed his belief “that the greatest gift that any human being can give to another is the gift of life and that having children is the ultimate vote of confidence in the future.” He further said, that when it comes to the issue of life, “When the Church speaks, if people disagree they will say so. But please speak out about the things that the Church believes in. Speak out about the great truths of the Christian faith…. we will be a better country, we will be a better people and, frankly, we will have better governments if the Church speaks its mind clearly and unambiguously on this and on the other great moral truths which Catholics and Christians believe.”

The Declaration’s three-year anniversary comes just as the nation is preparing for the next Federal Election, which will take place in September 2013.

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