The power of belief: religious freedom in Australian parliamentary debates on same-sex marriage

Poulos, Elenie

doi:10.1080/10361146.2019.1706719

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This study draws from and builds upon the work of Poulos (2020) who identifies three distinct public discourses of religious freedom-"religious diversity," "balancing rights," and "freedom of belief"-used by a variety of actors including the ACR. It also draws from Jones (2021) who highlights the importance of coalition building in the rise of the ACR.…”

Section: Empiricalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The third theme "Threat" (28 texts) is identified as the most often-used rhetoric and includes such sub-themes as "secularism is a threat," "marriage equality is a threat," and "religious organizations are under threat." The coding was also assessed against existing scholarship on the ACR and the matter of religious freedom in Australia (Gin, 2012;Nelson et al, 2012;Poulos, 2019Poulos, , 2020.…”

Section: Empiricalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Opposition to a proposed 1976 anti-discrimination measure for LGBTQ+ people in Dade County, FL, was spearheaded by Christians under the slogan "Save Our Children," in defense of family and national moral values (Faderman, 2015). During the first Australian parliamentary debates on marriage in 2004, an analysis of the language found that the objects of protection cited by opponents of LGBTQ+ rights were family, the institution of marriage and children (Poulos, 2020).…”

Section: Evidence Of Mimicrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We contend pouring old ACR wine into new "liberal rights" wineskins (Matthew 9:17) is fraught with negative consequences. ACR religious freedom discourse revolves around protecting Christian institutions and assumptions, such as propositional claims of individual conscience or institutional doctrines, in contrast to nonpropositional (ecstatic, ritualistic) or material (artefact, landscape-based) religions (Poulos, 2020). A Christian-centric approach dominates recent inquiries (Poulos, 2019) despite clear evidence discrimination is much more commonly experienced by minority religious groups whose primary concern is not the freedom to denounce LGBTQ+ relationships but the right not to be vilified or attacked by virtue of their religious dress, hair, or name (Evans and Read, 2020).…”

Section: The Consequences Of Mimicrymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The shifting Christian right discourse on religious freedom in Australia

McLeay

Poulos

Richardson‐Self

2023

Politics and Religion

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Political debates over religious freedom in Australia became prominent in the context of marriage equality, achieved in 2017. The Australian Christian Right (ACR) has driven these debates, but there is little research focusing on its discourse of religious freedom. This article examines a range of texts from ACR actors. Using discourse and theoretical analyses, we identify three key turns in the religious freedom rhetoric of the ACR: “ontological security,” “existential stress,” and “meaning vertigo.” We also explore how mimetic ACR discourse is compared to the United States' Christian Right (USCR). As with the USCR, this research demonstrates how the ACR—suffering meaning vertigo and aiming to re-secure its previously taken-for-granted worldview—has successfully reframed the discourse of religious freedom by positioning itself as a besieged minority.

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Section: Empiricalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Empiricalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evidence Of Mimicrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Consequences Of Mimicrymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The shifting Christian right discourse on religious freedom in Australia

McLeay

Poulos

Richardson‐Self

2023

Politics and Religion

Self Cite

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“…18 Yet religion continues to play a significant role in public policy debates such as the debate in relation to the legalisation of same sex marriage. 19 Australians enjoy a high level of religious freedom despite the narrow interpretation of section 116 and the lack of a charter of rights. 20 There is a close relationship between the state and religion, and religion continues to play an important part in Australian life.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion and the Constitution: A Response to Luke Beck’s Safeguard against Religious Intolerance Theory of Section 116

Saunders¹,

Deagon²

2021

UNSWLJ

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This article critiques Luke Beck’s ‘safeguard against religious intolerance’ theory of section 116 of the Constitution. We argue that a plausible theory of section 116 must be able to account for the fact that, at Federation, Australia was an overwhelmingly Christian nation, which was opposed to the establishment of any religion but was not ‘secular’, and also for the fact that Australian society has become less religious but with many surviving remnants of the enmeshing of religion and the government. We argue that, consistent with the traditional understanding, section 116 has a federal purpose, being designed to distribute power to legislate in relation to religion throughout the Australian federation. Section 116 can also be seen as promoting religious pluralism, enabling interactions between religion and government. Beck’s theory, and its separationist implications, fails to adequately take these factors into account.

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Resurgent prejudice: Responses to marriage equality in Australia

Betts,

Bennett

2023

Aust J Social Issues

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This article explores the concept of resurgent prejudice in response to marriage equality in Australia. We are using the term “resurgent prejudice” to refer to examples of reactionary collective action directed towards the rainbow community in Australia, with a specific focus on efforts to undermine progressive developments in sexual citizenship. We argue that Australia is currently seeing forms of resurgent prejudice in response to the passage of marriage equality legislation in 2017 by the federal Parliament and use the highly controversial Religious Discrimination Bill of 2022 as an example to illustrate this process. By making use of interviews with members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (rainbow) community, we highlight the concerns members of the rainbow community have regarding their rights, sexual citizenship and social participation. We conclude the article by arguing that vigilance is vital in the face of resurgent prejudice to preserve social and civil rights, and that an awareness of the concept of resurgent prejudice can be used by advocates to strengthen their social movements.

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The power of belief: religious freedom in Australian parliamentary debates on same-sex marriage

Cited by 13 publications

References 34 publications

The shifting Christian right discourse on religious freedom in Australia

The shifting Christian right discourse on religious freedom in Australia

Religion and the Constitution: A Response to Luke Beck’s Safeguard against Religious Intolerance Theory of Section 116

Resurgent prejudice: Responses to marriage equality in Australia

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