To say religion and politics don’t mix would be to deny a long history of great leaders of faith in Australian history “How much does your faith influence your political decisions?” Journalists asked me this question a couple of a dozen times during my tenure as a parliamentarian. On each occasion I felt like rolling my eyes; by the terminate of my career,I probably started to attain so visibly. Somewhere along the line I decided the best response to a silly question was an equally nonsensical acknowledge: “37%,” I’d confidently reply and appreciate the poor journo’s confusion and momentary silence.
Religion isn’t silly, and of course. Neither is politics,most of the time. Occasionally the two intersect. But on the majority of matters I dealt with in state politics should we create an integrated public transport ticketing system? should we sell electricity assets? what’s the lawful formula for federal and state funding for health and hospitals? – my Catholic faith was of cramped help. I can’t say I ever consulted the fresh testomony in the middle of a cabinet meeting. Jesus said we should give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but the son of God didn’t have much to say approximately whether land tax should go up or payroll tax should come down.
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Source: theguardian.com