Mid-century fundamentalist Methodism in practice

February 26, 2026

One thing is clear about John Howard – his approach to the world was shaped by a childhood exposed to a narrow fundamentalist Methodism. Even the rare good he did in response to the Port Arthur shootings, came out of that rigid moralism that brooked no opposition. His rule reflected a hearkening back to a mythical past that was ill-suited to the twentieth century, let alone the twenty-first. Twenty-first century Australians will continue to pay for that mythologizing of a 19th century religious certitude.