Andrew Thorburn and the Death of Pluralism, with Religious Freedom Lawyer John Steenhof

The Political Animals

John Steenhof, Principal Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Alliance, joined Jonathan for another conversation about the kinds of cases he works in the religious freedom/discrimination space. The conversation was scheduled prior to, but coinciding with, the the eruption of the Andrew Thorburn case—the CEO of the Essendon Football club forced to resign his position just 24 hours after being appointed because of his affiliation with a church. So while the pair do still discuss a number of recent freedom of religion/discrimination cases in Australia at the beginning of the conversation, they naturally end up focusing on the Thorburn episode and its implications for pluralism, religious freedom and the place of Christianity in contemporary Australian culture.

The Political Animals is hosted by Dr Jonathan Cole, an academic, writer, speaker and translator specialising in political theology: the intersection of religion and politics. Jonathan was a senior terrorism analyst at Australian intelligence agency the Office of National Assessments where he worked on Islamist terrorism and the global jihadist movement. He is the author of The Reign of God: A Critical Engagement with Oliver O'Donovan's Theology of Political Authority and Christian Political Theology in an Age of Discontent: Mediating Scripture, Doctrine, and Political Reality.

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