Legislating against racial and religious vilification is highly fraught, as the ongoing debate around Section 18C has demonstrated, and unlikely to become less so any time soon.
Whether it’s Hillary Clinton’s courting the UFO vote or Donald Trump’s lending credibility to various conspiracy theories, the “triumph of reason” seems to have gone by the wayside.
Religious conversion sometimes has the added bonus of upward social mobility. But for many in South Africa’s Indian community it had the opposite effect.
Since the 1920s Pentecostal churches have had a major impact in South Africa’s Indian community. Their converts have grown larger than all the other Christian denominations put together.
For Muslims generally, as for conservative Christians, homosexual acts are sinful. Christian gays and lesbians have had to work hard for a measure of recognition among fellow-believers; their Muslim counterparts are just beginning that struggle.
Not only is the Australian Christian Lobby losing relevance, it has had to appeal to Bill Shorten to pay attention to the group in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
The Catholic bishops have exhorted Australians to cast a “vote for the voiceless”, but it is doubtful that their plea will be paid much heed – by politicians or the public.
Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity