Ramsay Lecture
Series 2019
The Case for God: can Western Civilisation be sustained without belief?
Australians need to be better educated about the role Christianity has played in securing our democratic freedoms. Greg Sheridan outlines his belief that Christianity should remain an important continuing influence, even in our multi-ethnic, pluralistic society, where fewer and fewer Australians are identifying as believers or practicing the faith.
What did we ever get from Christianity – apart from the idea of the individual, human rights, feminism, liberalism, modernity, social justice and secular politics? Whether people recognize it or not, Christianity has been central to the development of our western societies and civilisation, and its principles remain integral today.
Greg Sheridan
Greg Sheridan, The Australian’s foreign editor, is one of the nation’s most influential national security commentators, who is active across television and radio and also writes extensively on culture. He has written seven books. His latest, God is Good for You: A Defence of Christianity in Troubled Times, is a passionate defence of religious belief in a secular age. It is a bestseller with 7 reprints to date. Before that, When We Were Young and Foolish was an entertaining memoir of culture, politics and journalism. As foreign editor, he specialises in Asia. He has interviewed Presidents and Prime Ministers across the world.
‘In 2016 Greg was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia for commentary on national security and contributions to Australia’s bilateral relations. He was a Visiting Fellow at CSIS in Washington in 2004 and 2005, then a Visiting Scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington in 2010. As a journalist he has had articles published in Sunday Times, Wall St Journal, The Chesterton Review, The Hindu, The South China Morning Post and The Jakarta Post.