{"id":9930,"date":"2017-01-09T17:04:23","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T21:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/?p=9930"},"modified":"2017-01-09T17:04:23","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T21:04:23","slug":"australia-needs-confident-pluralism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Australia Needs a Confident Pluralism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Check out my latest foray on The Drum\u00a0<\/em>into Aussie politics arguing that Australia needs a commissioner for political pluralism in order to make sure that extreme views from the margins like civic totalism (from the left) and ethno-nationalism (from the right) never gain a foothold in our pluralistic democracy.<\/p>\n

Why Australia Needs a Commissioner for Political Pluralism<\/a><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, it is about how to inoculate your country against the rise of a leftist dictator or a right-wing demagogue (ya\u2019all know whom I\u2019m talking about \u2013 let the reader understand).<\/p>\n

I lean heavily on John Inazu\u2019s concept of \u201cconfident pluralism,\u201d see here <\/a>for more.<\/p>\n

I conclude:<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, we Aussies do pluralism well and we must rise to defend it.\u00a0We need a confident pluralism, even though it\u2019s messy, conflictual, and means living with people whose views we often find frustrating or appalling, because mateship is better than hateship.\u00a0It would be nice to have a politically neutral commissioner committed to bringing out the best in Australians, reminding us that floods and cancer kill progressives and conservatives alike, and that the things that divide us are not as powerful as the things that unite us.\u00a0We need each other to survive in this gorgeously deadly sunburnt country.\u00a0After all, in the words of St Paul, we do our best when, \u201cwe pursue the things that make for peace and mutual encouragement\u201d (Romans 14:19).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Check out my latest foray on The Drum\u00a0into Aussie politics arguing that Australia needs a commissioner for political pluralism in order to make sure that extreme views from the margins like civic totalism (from the left) and ethno-nationalism (from the right) never gain a foothold in our pluralistic democracy. Why Australia Needs a Commissioner for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Australia Needs a Confident Pluralism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out my latest foray on The Drum\u00a0into Aussie politics arguing that Australia needs a commissioner for political pluralism in order to make sure that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Australia Needs a Confident Pluralism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Check out my latest foray on The Drum\u00a0into Aussie politics arguing that Australia needs a commissioner for political pluralism in order to make sure that\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Euangelion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michael.bird.33\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-09T21:04:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael F. Bird\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mbird12\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael F. Bird\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/\",\"name\":\"Why Australia Needs a Confident Pluralism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-09T21:04:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-09T21:04:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#\/schema\/person\/db6f6af97b8c96ade6856573d1e67fb3\"},\"description\":\"Check out my latest foray on The Drum\u00a0into Aussie politics arguing that Australia needs a commissioner for political pluralism in order to make sure that\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Australia Needs a Confident Pluralism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/\",\"name\":\"Euangelion\",\"description\":\"A Post-Post-Modern Blog On Scripture, Faith and Following Jesus\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#\/schema\/person\/db6f6af97b8c96ade6856573d1e67fb3\",\"name\":\"Michael F. Bird\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33985cd4f41e365813d809405f3d6acf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33985cd4f41e365813d809405f3d6acf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael F. Bird\"},\"description\":\"Mike Bird is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michael.bird.33\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/@mbird12\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC21I7qYVHPsOzL9ujxiRWZA\",\"brandygrenier\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/author\/mbird\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Australia Needs a Confident Pluralism","description":"Check out my latest foray on The Drum\u00a0into Aussie politics arguing that Australia needs a commissioner for political pluralism in order to make sure that","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Australia Needs a Confident Pluralism","og_description":"Check out my latest foray on The Drum\u00a0into Aussie politics arguing that Australia needs a commissioner for political pluralism in order to make sure that","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/","og_site_name":"Euangelion","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michael.bird.33","article_published_time":"2017-01-09T21:04:23+00:00","author":"Michael F. Bird","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@mbird12","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael F. Bird","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/","name":"Why Australia Needs a Confident Pluralism","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-01-09T21:04:23+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-09T21:04:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#\/schema\/person\/db6f6af97b8c96ade6856573d1e67fb3"},"description":"Check out my latest foray on The Drum\u00a0into Aussie politics arguing that Australia needs a commissioner for political pluralism in order to make sure that","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/2017\/01\/australia-needs-confident-pluralism\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Australia Needs a Confident Pluralism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/","name":"Euangelion","description":"A Post-Post-Modern Blog On Scripture, Faith and Following Jesus","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#\/schema\/person\/db6f6af97b8c96ade6856573d1e67fb3","name":"Michael F. Bird","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33985cd4f41e365813d809405f3d6acf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33985cd4f41e365813d809405f3d6acf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael F. Bird"},"description":"Mike Bird is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michael.bird.33","https:\/\/twitter.com\/@mbird12","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC21I7qYVHPsOzL9ujxiRWZA","brandygrenier"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/author\/mbird\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9930\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/euangelion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}