Mateship 'threatened by cash cult'
John Huxley in the Sydney Morning Herald
| 15 Oct 2008
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Traditional Australian values of mateship, good neighbourliness and offering a helping hand to those in need could be seriously tested by the economic downturn, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, has warned.
In his presidential address to the Sydney synod yesterday, Dr Jensen said that until recently the nation had rarely been so well off. "Put to the test of abundance", it had coped by embracing the credo of individual choice.
"We have, therefore, invested in the three secular values of free choice: to satisfy myself; tolerance, to permit others to have their choice; and incredibly hard work, to ensure that I can make the choices I want."
Suddenly, though, Sydney's world had changed. The expectation that humans had conquered the world, and the belief that it would always yield what we wanted, had been severely shaken. The experts were no longer looking so good.
Australians were about to be put to the test of want. To long-term environmental, social and spiritual worries had been added immediate financial woes.
"We are experiencing a significant economic downturn, with a possible increase in unemployment, poverty, homelessness - even of hunger.
"Our investment in secular individualistic values will prove as illusory as our investment in some parts of the market. Choice will disappear for many; tolerance will prove too cool for comfort; work may be harder to find."
If Australia did better than other countries in the crisis, it must bear an even greater responsibility for the poor of the earth, he said. If it suffered with the rest, then "the days ahead may well test our capacity to love each other in our community, to be real neighbours, true mates".
Full story:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/australian-values-being-tested/2008/10/13/1223749945071.html
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