AUSTRALIA
Eureka Street
Frank Brennan | 21 March 2016
In light of the publication of his new book Australian Religious Thought, the polymath Wayne Hudson has asked me to offer a few reflections on post-secular consciousness in my capacity as a religious person regularly involved in the public square of a pluralist democratic polity.
Wayne Hudson’s Australian Religious ThoughtLike many of you, I have had cause to reflect these last few weeks on why Cardinal Pell evokes such a visceral reaction from so many Australians who profess to have no religious commitment whatever, especially some in the media.
Of course Pell is often portrayed as the embodiment of tradition and authority of institutional religion. But whatever his shortcomings in relation to dealing with child sexual abuse, this does not fully explain the deep passion of so many of the anti-religious and non-religious factions.
He is also perceived by many of his critics as lacking the empathy, the compassion, and the insight of one who is supposed to tap into the religious sensibility or the secular moral consciousness of the average Australian who never darkens the door of a church but who often enjoys the benefit of hindsight.
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