Dr Clive Hamilton thinks so. Speaking at the National Civil Society Dialogue held in Canberra, Dr Hamilton delivered a powerful critique of why "hope' for the future of Australia would not be found in any of our current political parties, nor through the welfare, indigenous or environmental sectors.
Because it is fairly easy to unmask weaknesses and to speak negatively, the conference had determined that any public statement produced must carry a strong message of "hope' to provide positive input to the problems facing Australia. Yet as Dr Hamilton approached his conclusion "hope' was very absent from the work of his socio-political scalpel.
We all felt the weight of his analysis and the sense of "hopelessness' weighed heavily in the room.
“As you can see, hope has been absent from this talk,” he asked. “Where then may hope lie?”
His answer was something few present would have ever considered even as a remote possibility.
“Could hope lie with the churches? Could they hold the key to a new progressive politics?
“Their field of concern involves the deeper aspects of life. They articulate values that transcend materialism and consumerism; they have an ethic. They understand "community' and they have the language of "belonging' Australians need to relearn.”
“Perhaps from the churches,” Dr Hamilton said, “We might learn to speak about the deeper values our society needs and to develop a new politics of meaning.”
While Dr Hamilton's desire is for a political landscape that can envision and effect rescuing Australia from the social/political vacuum that has engulfed it, he has identified something important about "the church' that we mustn't forget as we mission in our country.
The heart of the church is the message of Christ " the message above all messages that speaks of belonging and that births commitment to serving one another. It is not a message about loyalty to an institution or even about belonging to a particular group, church or location. It is God in transforming people who, in turn, may be able to bring hope to a lost nation!
Archdeacon Narelle Jarrett is the principal of Mary Andrews College
