I'm well overdue for an update on Cheers Neighbours’ Network.

Plans about whose auspices Cheers come under have changed since last time (long story), but there is light on the horizon maybe with Worldview Aus who I now work for. WVA is still finding its organisational feet, and there's no urgency, but it's good to have insurance, childsafe training etc. And the connection between Cheers & Worldview Australia is strong as ever.

• WVA camps involve most Cheers people at some level. And most of the Directors and many of the Young Adult Leaders for the Youth Leadership Camp come from Cheers circles.
• WVA's new WVA Family Camp replaces the Cheers Family Camps we ran annually since 2003.
• WVA's new Pre-View camp for years 6-8 will use our Core Stuff with which Cheers crew are quite familiar, and is directed by Darren & Kathryn, who have also hosted Cheers Sunday meetings.

Aside from WVA, since April 2023, Cheers has:

• Continued to meet at the Westlakes' around the Bible, & prayer, & praise through trial discovering His joy in it. Helped each other through some quite difficult family & personal struggles (growing through, rather than avoiding them).
  
• Kept involved with various community groups, including the BG residents association, schools & workplaces.
• Protected each other’s places when the big bushfire came close.
• Been learning: community living & outreach from the book of Acts, truth from Genesis 1-12, wisdom from Ecclesiastes & Proverbs, the Baton of basic teaching Paul passed to Timothy in Colossians & Ephesians, and recently passages about the End Times, and now continuing on through Matthew from chapter 26.

Q: How Christian should our participation in politics and government be?
A: As with any other part of life. (How Christianly should we do business, play footy, do our work!)
And we care about policies because policies impact people - they help, hurt, or harm.
And increasingly, policies are impacting people's moral-spiritual-religious lives, as well as their secular lives, creating increasing harm to both. The more government intervenes outside its mandate, and into the totality of people's worldviews, the more it is our civic and Christian duty to be informed and influential.

Q: But some say, since Australia is a "Secular Democracy," shouldn’t Christians stay out of it?
A: I say no, every citizen is allowed to participate, including us.
And in fact, with a Christian moral reference point, we especially should be involved.

Alert: If you think “Secular Democracy” excludes religions, you've swallowed the wrong definition…

Q: What do we mean by, "Secular Democracy"?
Atheist activism? Or, a general Biblical reference point?

A1: What some mean by Secular Democracy...
Some say that Secular means to allow no worldviews that include God, which only leaves atheism as the remaining worldview. They say that Democracy means that the people decide according to the numbers, whether by better organising or tactics to get those numbers of power. In sum, government participation should be exclusively for practical atheists, elected according to the weight of numbers.

Those who use this meaning include secular humanists, communists/socialists, various victim-identity-political activists. They misuse words about "separation of church and state," and falsely say government schools & agencies are "not allowed to talk about religion." For them God’s ways are repressive. For them freedom means permission to do whatever the self wants whether it harms people or not. They outlaw views they disagree with, eject dissenters, and advance policy by pressure, not persuasion. Lip-service is given to debating the facts, but in practice when they gain power they tend to push their policies through using ridicule, and avoid rational debate, preferring Kirk & Madsen’s approach of “Desensitise, Jam, Convert.” It is power by activism, which is why such worldviews are so big on taking over unions and lobbying.

A2: What our Constitution means by "Secular Democracy"...
At Federation in 1901, Australia’s founders had an inclusive concept of "secular" that meant anyone could participate, and that government is not to be connected to a particular religious institution, which basically meant you could participate whether Catholic or Anglican, and no church institution was to govern. Democracy meant a morally literate public deciding within the parameters of a Biblical reference point. In sum, government participation is inclusively open to anyone, elected according to good reasons within the moral bounds of a Biblical reference point.

A Biblical reference point was seen as a good safeguard against the social decline that could occur without it. This safeguard was not by institutional totalitarianism, but by appealing for personal responsibility to God and one’s fellow man. And it was widely understood that a personal relationship with God through Christ was the most effective way to become such a responsible & moral person.
But also, Christianity itself maintained that this faith is to be free, not forced. Therefore the Biblical reference point also safeguarded freedom itself within democracy. Forced conversions are prevented by Biblical Christianity. So fears of a Christian takeover are unfounded and actually best allayed by Christianity itself.
Further, governments identified their particular limited authority under God, for law and order, protection, fair organisation and services. Churches saw their different scope of authority under God in the spiritual and Biblical compass they enable people to find. Business bosses were limited to the scope of their businesses. Parents had the responsibilities for their families. And individuals for their beliefs and lifestyles. Doesn’t this sound much more sane, than the chaotic government over-reach we have now!

Unsurprisingly the Biblical worldview so often represents the sensible centre because it seeks to align with reality - natural law, the Creator’s manual. It separates powers, safeguards freedoms, and is utterly worthy of our collective agreement as our common, good reference point.

Everyone should be able to get behind this kind of Secular Democracy. Remember, this is not some wishful interpretation, it's the view of the founders of Australian Federation. This is the intent of the Constitution. Not the twisted redefinition of atheist activists. So we should learn to articulate and advocate for this founding definition. 

Q: So which definition of Secular Democracy should we use?
A: Inclusive participation in Biblically literate, reasoned, decision-making, with separated powers.

• Geoff's talk establishes the need for a Biblical foundation for all our decisions.
• Peter exposes activist ideologies that have been deliberately undermining Biblical foundations.
• James exposes the spreading damage by activist grooming of minors in public schools & libraries.
• Maryka explains legislative domino-effects reducing our freedom to uphold Biblical truths.

And Momentum offers ways that Christians can make positive differences to peoples’ lives and livelihoods, with open speech and participation as citizens wherever we are.

If you have not been before, come suss out a Momentum. And if you have been before, you’ll want your friends to hear this info. Ask to be on the mailing list for dates, or check my diary here.

You can arrange to host a Momentum near you. That’s how we hope to build, well, momentum.

Next March's WA elections, equip yourself to vote Christianly - for Biblical values.
Two tips you should know:

1. Vote 1 for your preferred minor party and 2 for your major. If the minor does not get in, your vote transfers to your 2nd preference. It's like voting twice. So vote 1, then 2. It also means that your minor party is supported financially if they get enough primary votes. And it's the only way a minor party can ever get in.
2. Changes to voting that you should know about. This actually make it plausible that Australian Christians could get in this election, to have a regular say in the Upper House (Legislative Council):