Creativity Quote by Peter Garrett

A politician-musician insisting he "hasn't chosen to make an issue of faith" is doing two jobs at once: lowering the temperature and drawing a boundary. The phrasing is careful, almost lawyerly. It casts faith not as a core identity marker but as an optional battleground - something that becomes "an issue" only when someone decides to weaponize it. Garrett is signaling restraint: he won’t turn belief into branding, and he won’t let opponents bait him into culture-war theatrics.

The subtext is about control. In public life, faith can be demanded as proof of decency, or attacked as evidence of hypocrisy. By framing it as a choice - "I haven't chosen" - Garrett claims agency over what gets politicized. He also implies that others do choose to make it an issue, and that the decision is often strategic rather than spiritual. It's a subtle rebuke that doesn’t name names, which is exactly why it travels well in interviews.

Context matters: Garrett comes from a world (music, activism, environmental politics) where authenticity is currency and moralizing can read as performative. His line protects that authenticity by keeping private conviction out of the campaign script. It’s not a grand declaration of belief or disbelief; it’s a refusal to audition for anyone’s approval. In an era where personal faith is routinely mined for votes, the quietness is the point - a stance that reads as principled precisely because it won’t become a spectacle.