JourneyOnline
MY PERSONAL experience of what I call the Fitzgerald phenomenon goes back to the 1970s.
I had been studying social ethics at Boston University School of Theology which confirmed in me a vocation to a specialised ministry in social justice and ethical issues.
The Methodist Church appointed me Associate Minister at the city church (now Wesley Mission) and Convenor of the statewide Christian Citizenship committee, mandating a prophetic role in the context of what was a volatile political and moral era in Queensland, fuelled by the Bjelke-Petersen government’s style.
As events played out, personally and for the infant Uniting Church, some of us experienced the conflict between church and state and the personal anguish of public criticism, even from Christian colleagues.
We were confronted by unjust policies, corruption and the abuse of power. To stay silent seemed an abandonment of the church’s mission in the world.
Our core motivation was to provide an alternative witness to Christ in the world, especially as the government of the day and many of its supporters claimed that they were defending the Christian cause against social evil.
Our heroes were Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, and our credo Liberation theology.
The Fitzgerald Inquiry opened the way for a new start for Queensland democracy and social policy.
At the time I thought a lot about what this meant in terms of personal and social repentance and redemption.
As Fitzgerald predicted, and as we know from our Christian understanding of human nature, the reforms would be constantly threatened. The struggle is never over.
By 1989 my vocation had evolved back into a university role.
The post-Fitzgerald context provided a good opportunity to teach, research and publicly propose ethics programs.
In a sense what was a watershed in Queensland’s history gave me personally the impetus to translate Christian social ethics into forums outside the church.
Noel Preston has written more extensively of this story in his book Beyond the Boundary: a memoir exploring ethics, politics and spirituality with a Foreword by Tony Fitzgerald. This may be obtained through Dr Preston here or through Zeus Publications here.
Photo : Rev Dr Noel Preston. Photo by Osker Lau
