The Presbyterian and Methodist churches used to be solid and muscular in their Christian messaging.
They reflected their grand, solid and muscular bricks and mortar places of worship.
In 1977 they merged and became the Uniting Church and ever since have been totally whited-anted and like so many others, just another of those institutions to be โmarched throughโ Gramsci style by the left with their messaging becoming ever more hand-wringing and lip biting equivalent and ambiguous.
End result, the pews are empty.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ.
End result, the pews are empty.
For the last 15 years, but more so in the election of 2025, after being subsumed by the religion of climate change, the Liberal Party has been fully exposed as having no core, muscular beliefs in anything other the usual motherhood and boiler-plate statements of the obvious about freedom of speech and smaller government.
Yeah, yeah, yeahโฆBlah, blah, blah. What else have you got?
Theyโre are a living example me of the Groucho Marx line: โ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ, ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ,ย ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌโ
Scared of their own shadows, second guessing and doubting themselvesย left leaning, pusillanimous, always walking on egg shells and trying to be all things to all people and please everyone while pleasing no one.
Theyโve become too beige and blancmange.
Just as the traditional churches surrendered their tub thumping, muscular Christianity and became more anondyne and vanilla with the result that the congregation ceased to congregate because the church had no message relevant to the day to day lives of the people and doesnโt reflect their beliefs and values so to have the Liberal Party.
John Howard must regret or at least want to rethink his โbroad churchโ pablum because what we now have is the result.
The Liberals need to grow a spine and become more politically muscular with more clearly defined and specific messaging.
There is a quote attributed to a French politician in the mid 19th century:-
โ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐. ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ซโ
He could have easily been talking about the Liberal Party in 2025.
Here endeth the sermon.