The DLP (Democratic Labor Party) often states that it follows Judeo-Christian Principles, and even bases its Policies upon these. However, these days, the question arises to many of just what these principles are? When the DLP was first formed, this question rarely arose, for Christianity still held the majority in Societal thinking, and most people understood the terms. As this no longer seems to be the case, it is time to define in brief the Origins and Content of these Principles and Ethics, but first, we must give some background.
There are only three (3) Religions/Philosophies that make what is called “Positive Statements”, and these are Judean (the Jews), Christian, and Islam. By ‘Positive Statement,’ it means the stating of ‘This is, or, this is not!’ [No other system has this as a propositional base, despite many of them being used in this manner, even against their original intent by uninformed participants]. These three have the same origins, and that is back at the start of Humanity in what we now call the Middle East.
One God made the Heavens and Earth, and made man in His likeness (image). Authority was given to man to be Stewards of the Earth and to walk in this authority to subdue the earth, with God at our side directing our path. Sadly, it was interfered with by an enemy, who continues to this day to interfere with God’s Plan, for he feels that he should be God instead. (The whole story can be read in any Bible if you wish to follow the story yourself).
Now, many reading this will straight away jump up and down, saying that this is religious nonsense, but if they take the time to examine their own beliefs, be it New Age, GAIA, or whatever, then they may notice that their beliefs are actually based on these starting points, right down to them becoming gods, or already being god themselves, even down to being ‘Christlike’, or having the ‘Christ within’! Please, let us continue so that we may see where it leads.
All three of the religions mentioned have exactly the same roots in this premise, and they are the same right up until the time of Abraham, with the split coming via two of his children, Ishmael and Isaac. The descendants of Ishmael become what are now known as the Arabs, with many of these becoming Moslems much later in History. The descendants of Isaac became the Israeli Nation, of which three of the twelve tribes became known as the Jews. Christianity grew out of that group via a split over whether or not Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, or Christ.
All three have this commonality of origin, and even of the Patriarchs up until then, but, even more importantly, they all had only ONE God, and He was/is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and etc..
It was in this whole area that the story unfolded into a Set of Rules, or Commandments, given directly from God Himself for us to follow, and these were based upon respect and worship to the very same God who created it all, and a set of rules that meant that we were to treat everyone else with similar respect. These rules were given to a man called Moses, whom even the Moslems regard as a Patriarch. These rules are called the Ten Commandments today, and contain the basis for the ‘Golden Rule Principle’, which comes out later in the Jewish texts, called the Old Testament to us Christians. This principle is the basis of much of what is today described as the Buddhist teaching, despite being much older than Buddhism. (Buddhism is actually based on the ancient Babylonian system of ‘living in balance’, in fact; most of the world’s religions can be traced back to this area around this time).
It is these Principles, as laid down by God Himself to us, and that are the basis of what we of the DLP believe in today. The Rules of “Thou shalt not steal”, “Thou shalt not commit murder”, and so on, are the very basis of a sound Society where Order and Justice can survive.
It was because of a God who is ‘ordered’ in His ways that led to our modern sciences, for it was only on such an ordered base could our expectations of demonstrable evidence exist. If Chaos reigns as some try to tell us, then none of our experiments would be reproducible, and none of our lifestyle improvements would exist, for they would only ever work at random. No, only an order that continues to exist will ever give repeated demonstrations of the same thing, as we are able to observe all around us every day. Have you ever noticed that Chaos can ONLY exist where Order first exists, and cannot act on itself, but only on something ordered, whereas Order needs no such opposition to exist? For this reason, the DLP believe in a Society which has Law, Order, and Accountability, and this can only come about via the Judeo-Christian approach, for only it has the historical basis for Law and Order without tyranny.
Within the Judeo-Christian Teachings is the Respect for Life, especially that of Human life. This life is God-given, and therefore to be valued greatly, for it was made in the image of God, and at His Word being spoken. To say that a life is not worth the living, or being allowed to live, or even be born, is thus a contradiction of belief. Creation, including animal life, may show the Divinity of God, but only man was made in His Image, and so holds a special place in Creation, as demonstrated by man being given authority over it. This is not elitism, but simple fact, and is the reason for the Commandment of “Thou shalt not murder”.
Also in Judeo-Christianity, is the Blessed Sanctity of Marriage; the Holy Covenant between a man and a woman. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh”.
Our great country was founded on these principles! It was built on these principles! And it was defended by these principles! These principles were the ONLY reason that allowed for women to walk down the street unmolested, for children to grow up without oppression, able to go to schools and learn, and speak the language of their choice. It allowed for other religions and beliefs to survive, and even to gather together without prejudice and fear of their very lives for such thinking. If you destroy the principles that made this country what it is today, then you destroy what the country becomes! We at the DLP believe in making and keeping Australia strong, not just in might, but in everyday living as well. This means that we believe in keeping industry and jobs available, so that the families have a means to put food on the table, and have the right to entertain themselves freely at parks and such. We believe in the right to attend the Church or religion of our own choosing, regardless of colour, creed, or such, and have a freedom of speech that expresses our needs, and even the right to a fair trial. We believe in the right to Human Life, and the Sanctity of Marriage between a man and a woman.
Another aspect to these principles is that the Christian approach gives a framework for service to those around us, both in our community and families. Our Lord Jesus Christ was a Servant King, and this meant that he came to be of service to us. He came to restore our broken relationship with the Creator, and also to restore us to how we should be living. He didn’t just come in with a big stick and smack us, or fine and imprison us for being wrong, He instead came to teach us, love us, and heal us in our lives. This is the model for the DLP when we say we believe in Judeo-Christian policies, for we believe that we should be serving the populace instead of regulating them into submission. We want to put the SERVICE back into Public Service! We want to improve our lifestyles by restoring those very same principles that once made us so great, for now that they are being ignored, see where our society is going. Drugs and Alcohol rampant; murder and violence an everyday occurrence; we are unable to walk down our own streets at night for fear of being mugged, or worse! Is that what we want for ourselves, and our children? We know that, as parents ourselves, we do not want these things for our family and friends. Whether or not you believe in the original God that founded these principles, you cannot escape the positive impact that these have had over the centuries in our societies.
