07 July 2009

Rudd to lobby Dalai Lama

In news to hand, the Prime Minster, Kevin Rudd, is dropping in on the Dalai Lama to lobby for the next Panchen Lama to be an Australian. He's also visiting London to ensure that the next Archbishop of Canterbury comes from Sydney.

4 comments:

Eamon Knight said...

I heartily agree with Abbott that Rudd should not be lobbying the Pope to influence his decisions about canonization. Equally, the representatives of religious organizations should refrain from lobbying secular government to enforce their preferences on the rest of us....

John Morales said...

Of course it's a ridiculous and ignorant idea; everyone knows canonisation is made purely on the objective and rigorous determinations that the Servant of God's heroic virtue was such that miracles have taken place and have been demonstrated beyond doubt to have been due to their intercession to God.

Politics has absolutely nothing to do with it!

Duh.

John S. Wilkins said...

Our PM seems to want to make Australian politics religious, which is what I object to. It's up to Catholics to canonize whoever they want (and sure, that's political, but it's church politics).

John Morales said...

Well, he is religious, but in this case I think he's just being pragmatic.

I suspect being seen to do something for national pride is the main motivator (not to mention the approbation of most catholics, my sarcasm above notwithstanding).
I doubt any revenue gains from pilgrims would be of significance.

As a member of the Secular Party of Australia, I'm entirely with you here, though; it's a bad precedent, if politics impinges on religion, it loses the moral high ground if objecting when religion impinges on politics.