The Christmas season recalls the fundamental and continuing importance  of one of this nation’s and, indeed, our civilisation’s pillars, our Judeo-Christian heritage and values.

That this is a country of different religions, and of those with no religion, was obvious, even at the British settlement  in 1788.

Recognising this when he preached the first sermon in this land, the  Reverend Richard  Johnson began, ‘I do not address you as Churchmen  or  Dissenters, as Roman Catholics or Protestants, as Jews or Gentiles… I speak to you as mortals and yet immortal.’

One hundred years later, when Australians finally accepted British advice to form one nation, the part of the  constitution which attracted the strongest public support was a reference to what one delegate called the ‘invisible hand of providence’.

So we find in the  preamble words which succinctly express both this and the essence of Australia.

This is that ‘… the people… humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown… and under the Constitution….’

Those attending a religious service at Christmas will no doubt hear read the opening verse of St. John’s Gospel.

This recounts the birth of Jesus as ‘the only-begotten of the Father… full of grace and truth’.

At this point the reader will often bow or kneel to acknowledge this extraordinary event.

Whether or not the divinity of Christ is accepted, the impact of Christianity on the world has been extraordinary.

The teachings of Christ in their pure form could not be a greater force for good.

This can be seen by the fact that the only  serious and effective move to abolish slavery was driven by those Christians, mainly Quakers and evangelical Anglicans, who believed this was mandated by the teachings of Jesus.

That they persuaded the parliament of the then greatest power in the world, a participant in the slave trade, to pass legislation to abolish this, and then slavery itself, is a living demonstration of  the extraordinary influence of the teachings of Christ, including of course, their necessary implications.

Not only that, the most powerful government in the world then directed the Royal Navy, for decades, to enforce the abolition  of the slave trade.

Until then, slavery or at least serfdom, was a normal institution in all the world.

There is an Australian link to this, and not only in the choice of the Reverend Richard Johnson as the nation’s first clergyman through the influence of the abolitionists, including Lord Shaftesbury .

This is that before the first governor, Captain Arthur Phillip, left England, he recorded this clear intention: ‘The laws of this country will, of course be introduced in [New] South Wales, and there is one which I would wish to take place from the moment His Majesty’s forces take possession of the country: That there can be no slavery in a free land and consequently, no slaves.’

What drove the abolitionists in not only ending the trade, was to ensure that it did not spread elsewhere and that it would be abolished.

How extraordinary, then, are the latter-day attempts to make Britain, the power that not only ended the Atlantic slave trade but also abolished slavery in her vast empire, to pay compensation to people who themselves, their parents and their grandparents, were never slaves.

The British abolition owes nothing, nothing at all, to any of the current revolutionary dogmas, especially those of Marxist origin.

Indeed, whenever governments have come to office ruling according to such dogmas, the countries they rule have come to live under what can best be described as modern slavery.

The current decline in religious affiliation, and the fact that belief remains very much a strong human trait, has led to what could  be described as ‘unintended consequences’.

On this, there exists a relevant saying, attributed to G.K. Chesterton. This is the form I prefer: ‘When a man stops believing in God, it is not that he believes in nothing. It is that he will believe in anything.’

This is relevant at a time when religious support has declined, coinciding unfortunately with the infamous ‘long march through the institutions’ .

The latter is the alternative strategy adopted by the communists when they realised that the proletariat was totally uninterested in any revolution whatsoever, no matter how  inevitable the communists said it was.

The alternative strategy is the takeover of our institutions from within.

By targeting education first this has been a remarkable success.

When Albanese proposed his apartheid Voice referendum, there was a stampede of support by the corporate millionaires and billionaires occupying the eyries established by their great entrepreneurial predecessors, all the time supported  by the mainstream media.

Only recently members of the same class, representing a communist China-based foreign investor in Australian bars and hotels,  lectured Australians about our national day, forbidding celebrations of this in ‘their’ venues.

The problem is serious.

With the decline of religion the teachings of Christ are being lost.

In their place are the increasingly ridiculous ideas which have flowed across the West on such matters as race and sex – now called gender – to support the idea that sex is a matter of choice, so strong that it leads to the mutilation of children.

We see it in fantasies about climate catastrophism which are enriching billionaires, including those based in communist China.

This includes those who have safety boltholes in Australia, considered idyllic not only for its geography but also for the civilisation the British delivered to this land.

Unfortunately, Australia has a political class much of which is either determined to damage the nation or so incompetent they do not know what they are doing.

Christmas is important, and not only for all its joys.

It is important for all, including the majority who do not accept the divinity of Christ, that they never forget the only teachings strong enough to justify and deliver the still not fully achieved  abolition of slavery.