…The deeper problem with the politics Hanson is running is its claim to Christian foundations. The civilisational identity these politicians invoke is that of the “Christian West”. But the central tenets of Christian ethics are completely at odds with a politics built on fear of the other, the exclusion of refugees and the cultivation of grievance against minorities. The Sermon on the Mount, the most celebrated distillation of Christian ethics, talks of loving your enemies, turning the other cheek, and caring, especially for the poor, the meek and the stranger. Samuel Johnson put it well: “Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.” And Rabbi Hillel summarised the Torah as: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary.” It is very hard to read those words alongside One Nation’s immigration policy.
The deepest irony is that the primary target of this politics, Muslim immigrants, belongs to a tradition that shares these foundations entirely. Islam reveres Jesus as a major prophet whose teachings carry the weight of divine revelation. Muhammad’s Farewell Sermon, delivered in 632 CE, is a close parallel to the Sermon on the Mount. It was ahead of its time in proclaiming human equality, condemning racial hierarchy and insisting on the sanctity of every life. Politicians who invoke Christian ethics to exclude Muslims are invoking a tradition that Islam itself venerates.
And this ethical resonance does not belong only to the Abrahamic faiths. It is the common inheritance of nearly every major spiritual and philosophical tradition on earth. Confucius taught: “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.” The Hindu Mahabharata calls it the sum of duty: “Do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” The Buddha: “Do not do to others what you know would cause you suffering.” The African philosophy of Ubuntu holds that one’s humanity is inextricably bound to the humanity of others. The same moral logic appears in every tradition, on every continent.
Unsurprisingly and profoundly the same kinds of values are found in the oldest continuous culture; the one on this continent. Australian Indigenous worldviews are built on principles of respect, responsibility and reciprocity. Anthropologist Deborah Bird Rose, in her seminal Nourishing Terrains (1996), documented a moral universe in which human beings are situated within a web of obligation – to other species, to the land, to future generations. Marcia Langton has observed that Indigenous leadership is earned by elders who are “kind and strong and morally centred”. The ethic of Dadirri, articulated by Elder Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann, calls for deep listening and quiet attentiveness that she likens to contemplation, a gift, she says, that Australia is thirsting for. The Uluru Statement from the Heart speaks of Makarrata: coming together after a struggle, a call for justice and reconciliation built on the same foundations of universal dignity and care for the other.
Multiculturalism is the middle ground Australia needs. By Robin Brown & Nick Bogiatzis, P& I