80 Gordon

Wain

This

spiritual

threatwas

clearly

apparent

in some

opposition

letterssentto

council and the

local media

by

ardent Christians. For

example.

oneresident

expressed

his/herconcernsas

follows:

i love

Wollongong

but i

believe that

(as

a

heathen

worship) they

[Buddhists]

will

bring

a

cursenot

only

onthe

citycouncil,

who

gave

encour-

agement

forthis

type

ofworship

tobe

here.

buttothe

wholeofthcIllawarra

district.

Itwillno

longer

bethebeautiful

Wollongong.

hecauscacursewill

bring

all

types

ofdisasters.

(Letter

onfileto

Wollongong

City

Council.

l9

July

1989. 
      

Another

resident

explained

that:

i

do

not

wantaBuddhist

temple

in

Wollongong

thereis

only

onename

by

whichman

canbesaved

—

through

JesusChrist Buddhism

isnotthe

way

toGod

—

itis

idolatry.

(Letter

onfile

to

WollongongCity

Council.

5

September

1989)

Many

.Of

those

who

personally

selfidentified with an alternative faith also

apprectated

the

temple's

sacredness.

While

acknowledging

the

place

asasacred

phenomenon.

among

regularpractitioners

of

anotherfaithitwasnot

appraised

In

termsof

awe.

apanness.othenvorldliness.orderlincssorwholeness.Instead.

often

powerful

emotions

andattitudesare

evoked

includinganger

and

anxiety.

lhc

templechallenged

their

accepted

setofbeliefs

concerninggods

and

spirits.

At

oneextreme.

those

individualswho

deeply

identified

the

temple

witha

particular

religious

groupinterpret

the

temple

as

representing

an

attackonor

damaging

to

their

religious

group‘s

interestor

‘honour'.

and.

thus.

totheirown

self.Insome

extreme

Instances.

therefore.

the

mostardentChristianswished

toexcludethe

temple

from

Wollongong,Clearly.

for

thosec’’zensBuddhismwas

portrayed

as

uhcathcn

religion

and

incompatible

with

Christianbeliefsanddidnot

belong

in

Wollongong

Asasacred

sitc.the

temple

should

hecxcludcdbecause

Buddhism

represented

afaith

directly

in

competition

to

Australia‘s

supposed

Christianviews

ofsocial

andmoralissues.The

Buddhist

temple

becamea

symbolic

markerof

culluml

ditl‘crenccthatcouldnot

be

integrated

inthelocal

andnational

imaginary.

WollongongCity

Council.

brands.

nrientalismand

NonTien

Temple

Frank

Arkell.

thethen

WollongongCity

Lord

Mayor.

played

a

pivotal

roleas

a

key

decisionmakerand

negotiator

in

securing

NanTien

Templebyarguing

in

favour

ofatfin-nativeactionfor

nonfihrisn’an

religions

in

Wollongong.

Unlike

many

localcouncillors

elsethre.

Arkell

reputedlypossessed

an

extensive

knowledge

ofBuddhist

history.

hada

longstanding

interestinmeditationand

wascommitted

to

the

promotion

of

religious

tolerance.

Putatively.

these

helped

Arkellestablish

a

strong rapport

with

Grand Master

Hsing

Yun

and other

directors ofthe

lntemational Buddhist

Association. with whom

negotiations

were

conducted.

_

Lam/mg

aBuddhist

temp/2

in

Wollongong

81

Arkell

portrayed

the

temple

as

culturallyenrichingWollongong‘s

already

ethni-

cally

diverse

community.

At

thesametimeas

portraying

the

temple

as

nationally

‘in

place‘

withinthetermsof

multiculturalism‘srhetoricof

equivalence

of

faiths.

Arkellalso

represented

the

temple

as

locally

‘in

place'

as

atourist attraction.

Opposition

fromlocalresidents

and

city

councillorswasthusdiminished

by

the

realizationthat

building

Nan

Tien

Temple

creatednot

only

a

place

ofBuddhist

worship.

educationand

pilgrimage

butalsoa

potential

mechanism

for

revitalizing

thelocal

economyalong

cultural

capital

lincs.

Arkell drew on multiculturalism‘s

imagined

national

community

to both

facilitatethe

project

and

allay

localconcerns.

Arkell

portrayed

hirnsclt~

asa

very

spiritual

person.

anauthoritative

person

onworld

religions

who

acknowledged

an

equivalence

offaiths.Heis

quoted

as

having

builta

rapport

withGrand

Master

Hsing

Yun

bydrawing

onthe

strength

ofhis

RomanCatholicbeliefsand

finding

an

afiinity

betweenBuddhismandRomanCatholicism

through

theirshared

interest

inmeditationandsilentretreat

(IllawarruMercury

l994:

35).Simultaneously,

in

thelocalmediahe

championed

thecause

of

religious

tolerance

bycitingscripture.

Themedia

reported

his

response

to

the

opposition

voicedinletters

addressedto

WollongongCity

Council

by

theChristian

‘right‘(forexample.'Keep

yourself

from

idols‘.

'Healhenswill

bring

the

country

down'and‘Godwill

punish

us‘)by

reportedlyquoting

theBiblical

injunction

to‘love

thyneighbour'.

He

wentonto

explain

that”Christis

veryunderstanding

ofallsortof

religions

More

people

needtounderstandthat’

(llluwarra

Mercury

1994:

35).

Inofficialcouncil

letters

attempting

to

allay

concernsoverthe

temples

construction,

Arkellalsoarticulated

themulticulturalrhetoricof

requiring

toleranceofculturaldifferenceand

equiva-

lenceof

faith.

arguing

that‘the

community

of

Wollongong

is

comprised

of

people

from

manybackgrounds

and

religions

and

that

they

shouldbe

pet-mined

to

freely

exercisetheir

rights

of

worship’

(letter

on

filefrom

WollongongCity

Council.

I989).

erilclocal

authorityplanning

instruments

were

employed

elsewhere

in

NewSouthWalestoexclude

minority

culture

religions.

inciting

racismtodiscrim-

inate

against

thelocationofBuddhistand

[slamic

places

of

worship

as‘out

of

place’,

in

Wollongong.

such

prejudices

werediminished

by

thethenLord

Mayor

championing

thcircause.

Arkellalsocirculateda

representation

ofNan

Tien

Temple

asamechanism

with

whichtorevitalizethe

Wollongongeconomyalong

cultural

capital

lineswithin

media

releases.

councrldebatesovertheland

salevalueandletters

responding

to

opponents.

in

1989.

whenLaborcaucus

leader,

AldermanBillBamctson.

and

FrankArkellclashedoverthe

proposed

landsale

price

of

AS450,000,

Arkell

argued

thatthe

temple

wouldassistwith

theestablishmentol'aculturalandtourist

development.

Inlettersfrom

Wollongong

City

Counciltoresidents

opposing

the

plan.

Arkell

again

raisedthe

potential

economic

benefits.stating

that:

[C]ouncil’s

decisiontosell the

land took intoaccountboth theneeds

of

councilto realise

upon

itsunused

assetand toassistthe

community

of

Wollongong

withthe

provision

ofnot

only

aBuddhist

Temple

buta

significant

touristattractionforthe

City.