The belief that those who live a morally worthy life earn a place in heaven is held across cultures and religions. Even among non-believers, many would say that those who lead a more moral life would certainly deserve to go heaven, if it does exist.
According to Christian doctrine, on the Day of Judgement we must give an account of our lives. Saint Peter weighs up our good deeds and our bad ones and decides whether we should be allowed in to the place of eternal peace or sent elsewhere.
In Catholic theology, after death we may enter an intermediate place, purgatory, where we are cleansed of our remaining sins. Although sins are forgiven in confession, there remains a liability which is expiated in purgatory.
Catholicism is more generous than some forms of Protestantism: not only do sinners get a chance to redeem themselves, but non-believers can make it to heaven if they are morally upstanding.
Some Protestant churches reject the belief that access to heaven is the reward for good moral character. Salvation is granted by the grace of God, and accepting Jesus into one’s life is the only way to be saved, although it goes without saying that living a righteous life will follow the embrace of Jesus.
Most other religions believe that good people go to heaven. Traditional Judaism describes a final judgement where virtue is rewarded and wickedness punished. Heaven and hell feature prominently in Islam and represent the reward or punishment for one’s life on judgement day, although only believers can enter heaven.
For Hindus the accumulation of good karma is rewarded in an after-life or a better reincarnation. Buddhists see heaven as a transitional stage between one earthly existence and the next; too much bad karma results in suffering in one or more hells, but the fully enlightened being can escape the cycle of rebirth and retire to the bliss of nirvana.
What do Australians think?
If most Australians do hold the belief that good people deserve to go to heaven then a good measure of how we regard the moral standing of our political leaders would be whether we believe they deserve to go to heaven. These questions have been explored in a recent national opinion survey commissioned by the Australia Institute.
Overall, 63 per cent of respondents said they believe in heaven or some form of life after death. Twenty-three per cent said they did not, while 13 per cent chose the 'don’t know' option. Women (74 per cent) were much more likely than men (52 per cent) to believe in heaven or an afterlife.
Overall, only a minority of Australians — 33 per cent — believe that those who lead a more moral life are more likely to go to heaven, with 37 per cent of women and 27 per cent of men taking this view.
However, among those who believe in heaven or an afterlife the proportion is higher, with half (50 per cent) saying that people who lead a moral life are more likely to go to heaven, while a third (34 per cent) said they are not more likely (with 16 per cent remaining uncommitted).
Many Australians are unsure or reluctant to say whether their political leaders deserve to go to heaven. A high proportion of survey respondents answered 'don’t know' when asked whether each politician deserved to go to heaven — in fact, between 44 per cent and 51 per cent. This may be due to hesitation in making judgements about these individuals’ private lives, or because they do not believe in an afterlife and cannot enter into the spirit of the question.
Nevertheless, using a normalised score calculated by excluding those who do not express a view, we can get a sense of how Australians judge the moral standing of some prominent political leaders.
Among those politicians included in the survey, Australians believe Labor’s environment spokesperson Peter Garrett most deserves to go to heaven, with 74 per cent indicating that he deserves that fate and 26 per cent saying otherwise.
Green leader Bob Brown scored next highest, with a normalised score of 66 per cent, followed by Kevin Rudd on 61 per cent. Both Pauline Hanson and Tony Abbott scored 52 per cent, while Prime Minister John Howard attracted the lowest score, with 47 per cent saying he deserves to go to heaven and 53 per cent saying he does not.
Generally speaking, women are much more positive than men when asked whether leading politicians deserved to go to heaven. Gender differences are most apparent in the case of Peter Garrett — 83 per cent of female respondents but only 66 per cent of male respondents say he deserves to go to heaven. Gender disparities are also notable for Kevin Rudd (67 per cent for females, 55 per cent for males) and Tony Abbott (58 per cent for females, 47 per cent for males).
The gender gap is smallest for Bob Brown: 68 per cent of females and 64 per cent of males say he deserves to go to heaven. Meanwhile, 51 per cent of females who indicate a preference say that John Howard deserves to go to heaven, compared to 44 per cent of male respondents. On this measure, the Prime Minister appears to be viewed least favourably by both men and women.
Moral standing and religious views - a disconnect?
Do these results simply reflect political judgements? It seems that there is more to it. Peter Garrett and Bob Brown generate the highest level of agreement across the political divide, suggesting that their moral standing transcends political differences. Surprisingly, around two-thirds of Coalition voters who expressed a view said that Peter Garrett (65 per cent) and Bob Brown (64 per cent) deserve to go to heaven, with scores predictably higher for both Labor and Greens voters. Meanwhile, three-fifths of Coalition voters (60 per cent) said that Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd deserves to go to heaven.
The Prime Minister divides Australians more than any other figure, with 79 per cent of Coalition voters believing the Prime Minister deserves to go to heaven (on a normalised basis), compared to just 29 per cent of Labor voters and 20 per cent of Greens voters.
Traditionally religious beliefs have been considered a private matter in Australia. Unlike in the United States, most Australians look askance at those who declare their love of God from the rooftops, and they do not like to see those beliefs intrude into the public realm. Perhaps this helps to explain why health minister Tony Abbott, the former seminarian whose strong Catholic views have coloured his political decisions, scores relatively poorly, while Peter Garrett, who keeps his firm Christian beliefs to himself, scores well.
On the other hand, Bob Brown, an atheist, seems to receive strong support across the political spectrum because, although many may disagree with his views, he commands respect for the principled positions he has taken over the years.
The Prime Minister seems to work hard at signalling his Christian beliefs without going over the top and alienating the non-believers and those who believe religious belief should be kept private. But after more than a decade in office his moral standing seems to have been tarnished by a widespread view that he is 'mean and tricky'. Perhaps God will be invoked more in the forthcoming federal election than ever before, but those who want to imply that they have the deity on their side should make sure that their own moral standing lives up to divine expectations.
Thanks are due to Josh Fear for his contributions to the research.