Moral majority

[Oz girl]

Just remember, kiddies, the Moral Majority is neither.

What does the moral majority refer to? Are they a political group? Is it just a figure of speech?

[Anonymous]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Majority

[Antigen]

Do you have such things going on in Oz?

[Oz girl]

No really but it is slowly changing.
 Thanks to the growing new evangelical movement for the first time in Australias history we have a religious party in the federal senate called Family First. They are largely mocked by the genreal populace as being dorky and out of touch but have a powerful but small block of voters that got them up. Depending on your view this is a concerning precedent!
The traditional Australian view of "moral issues" and religion has always largely been that they are private matters. Occasionally conservative politicians would talk about them but the popular view pretty much ranged from the idea that that someone else should really get around to caring about family values to just not giving them much thought. The ALP (our eq of the democrats) has always had an element of morally conservative catholics but their main hobby horse was abortion and social justice.
 We have never had any Jerry Fallwell like figures or christian radio stations. I dont really know what most Australians would make of the things he says. We also have no tradion of alcohol prohibition

[Antigen]

Well, they're comin' fer ya! Batten down the hatches! Seriously, it'll be interesting to see how Australians deal with these sadistic lunatics. Not too long ago, DFAF (the public policy oragnization into which Straight, Inc. evolved) tried to take Vancouver, BC. Here's something on how that played out for them:

http://ideas-canada.ca/

Same thing around these parts. What plays as deadly serious drama in the big cities plays more like light entertainment here. Some people seem very gullible about all of this. But the majority just smile and wave and say "Ya'll come back now, ya' hear?" sittin' up thar on that sack of seeds. . .

[Anonymous]

http://www.familyfirst.org.au/index.php

If you are interested this is the family first party website. Pastor Evans  started Paradise community church which is South Australias (my state) first really big evangelical church. Hillsong its NSW eq is the fastest growing church in the country. They are the only major christian chruch that has no independent welfare wing and which turned a profit. A friend of mine who was once involved also told me they are also apparently big on this whole speaking in tounges nonsense.
They set a precedent because while independent politicians may have voted or campaigned a certain way in the past and admitted when asked that this was in part because of their religious beliefs, these guys are the first to be sponsored by a church.
They generally play down this angle in a bid to get votes but both of those on the website are extensively involved in the AOG church.