Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture
Christian nationalism has emerged globally in recent years with significant impacts on democratic societies. An expert panel explores this phenomenon, how it is impacting local, national and global politics, and what alternatives the Christian gospel has to offer to the public square in Australia and beyond.
The panel includes the Rev’d Dr Elenie Poulos (moderator), and speakers Associate Professor David Smith and The Rev’d Dr Robyn Whitaker. This evening is co-sponsored with the Movement for the Ordination of Women and the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture.
Panel member biographies
The Rev’d Dr Elenie Poulos is an ordained minister in the Uniting Church of Australia. She is also an Adjunct Fellow in Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University; a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal for the Academic Study of Religion; and a well-known public commentator on religion and politics, religion and society, social justice and human rights in Australia.
Dr David Smith is Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy at the United States Studies Centre and the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney. He holds a BA from the University of Sydney and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan. His research examines political relations between states and minorities, with a focus on religion in the US. David’s book Religious Persecution and Political Order in the United States was published in 2015 and he is a regular podcaster on American politics.
The Rev’d Dr Robyn Whitaker is an ordained minister in the Uniting Church in Australia. She is the Director of The Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy, and Associate Professor of New Testament Studies, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity. Robyn is a biblical scholar and public theologian who specialises in apocalyptic literature, gender, and (mis)use of the Bible in public and political discourse. She is the author of Even the Devil Quotes Scripture: Reading the Bible on its own Terms, Revelation for Normal People (Eerdmans, 2023), and co-editor with Monica Melanchthon of Terror in the Bible: Rhetoric, Gender, and Violence (SBL Press, 2021).