Rev John Henderson, General Secretary, National Council of Churches in Australia
Malek Fahd Islamic School, 405 Waterloo Rd Greenacre

Saturday 30 April 2005

My friends, it is a great pleasure for me to be with you again this evening.

I bring greetings from the National Council of Churches in Australia and its 15 member churches across the country. I also bring particular greetings also from our President, the Revd Prof James Haire

I also have been pleased to meet here tonight the Hon Peter McGauran, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, and acting Minister for Immigration. Like other speakers tonight, I also checked his press releases, and I saw that on 14 January he commended the Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Muslims, and Jews for its efforts in community harmony. I am pleased that he appreciates the importance of dialogue between religious faiths, for the welfare of the Australian community at large.

Now, at this time, for us, it is more important than ever that we have a mutual understanding and appreciation of our varying backgrounds, traditions, and religious beliefs:

• People of good faith and commitment can stand against apathy and self interest that leads to a lazy society that is only concerned with self interest
• People of deep conviction and compassionate ideals can show a way of living that is not dominated by fear or victimisation
• People of difference with diverse backgrounds can unite in their common humanity and find cause for doing good at all levels of society

Australia today is a unique opportunity to build a unique society. We gather our strength from around the globe. Our backgrounds are from many nations, cultures, and faiths. Out of that variety we can demonstrate a society which is symbol of hope for the world.

Our belief, through the Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, is that we can make a difference. We can own what we do here, in this place, without mindlessly importing agendas, hatreds, or issues from other places. They will affect us, for sure, but we must equip ourselves to assess their reality under the light of an Australian sun, and transform what could hurt us into a force for good.

To do this we must be in dialogue. Dialogue between faiths “requires a knowledge of (your) own faith, and both humility and openness to the spiritual depths of the other person’s faith… (Dialogue) demands that there should be no fear, no arrogance, no domination, and no exclusion in the discussion. It presumes a sense of adventure, a wish to work for the future, and sensitivity to the infinite mystery of God.”*  Those words are the reflections of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne after it made an intervention on behalf of the Islamic Council of Victoria during the recent case under Victoria’s new anti-vilification laws. To me they also accurately reflect the views of the wider Christian community of churches as represented by the membership of the National Council of Churches.

It is surely also reflects vital aspects of a healthy Australian society – a place of safety and inclusion, yet also of joint enquiry, with a sense of adventure, working for a common future.

As a Christian I am obliged to be involved in dialogue. One day, when Jesus was asked, “And who is my neighbour,” he told a remarkable story about an outcast who became a real neighbour to a man in need. We call it the story of the Good Samaritan.**  Jesus revolutionised the concept of neighbour, the fellow traveller who is there beside me, and whom God asks me to love as myself. The true neighbour is not someone I select, but someone whom I meet on life’s journey apparently by chance, but within the providence of God.

You and I are neighbours. We are not the same as each other in every detail, and neither should we be. God did not create clones, but people. Life is not about sameness, but about relationship, both with the divine and with each other.

We are here, in this place, together, and we dare not, we cannot, walk past each other as though the other did not exist. It is our sacred duty to share this place, this time, and this nation, with its opportunities, its struggles, and its unlimited potential. How we deal with this challenge will be the measure of us as human beings, as citizens, and sons & daughters of God.

Let us remain committed to each other. Let us never ignore one another. Let walk together into the future, in dialogue, in partnership, in life, and in hope, as Australians. Let us never label one another with tags, but always see in each other a fellow human being, a traveller, a neighbour, a friend.

My friends, thank you for your hospitality tonight and for letting me say these few words.

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* ‘Talking about other Faiths’ A Position Statement of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. Adopted 16 March 2005. Available at http://www.melbourne.catholic.org.au/eic/Talkingaboutotherfaiths.htm
** Luke 10:29-37