With the succession of Scott Morrison to the nation's highest job, Australia now has its first Pentecostal Prime Minister. Many people of faith are lauding this as fulfilling God's will, that the nation will be blessed, yada, yada, yada.
Those who are singing his praises completely overlook the evil in Morrison's heart. He claims to be a family man with Christian values, yet the families he is only interested in are white, Christian, Australian families. From another country? Forget it. From another religion, particularly, Islam? He will insult you and vilify you. Fleeing persecution, war, torture? He will persecute, abuse and torture you. On minimum wage? He will reduce your income even more. Yeah, Christian values.
Let's face it. No-one is perfect. No-one expects Christians to be perfect, however, this goes beyond imperfections. Morrison has taken deliberate action through the law to persecute people, to torture them, to send unaccompanied children to a remote island where they are imprisoned, raped, abused. He has deliberately destroyed the lives of the most vulnerable.
Some of his supporters argue that Morrison is a tough leader. However, how tough is a man who picks on the most vulnerable people in the world. As an analogy, Morrison's treatment of refugees is comparable to those nations where rape victims are blamed and charged for being raped. Morrison has demonised refugees by blaming them for the persecution and torture they have suffered, and then charged imprisoned them for daring to flee their attackers. Morrison is not a Christian, nor is he tough; he is a bully, a coward who picks on those who can't fight back.
To understand just how much of a lying, deluded hypocrite Morrison is, let's have a listen to him in his own words. In his maiden speech to parliament on 14 February 2008, he waxed lyrical about his values being based on his family and faith. He even had the hide to quote biblical scripture about compassion and love for others ... as he went on to torture adults and children fleeing their persecutors.
Excerpts from Morrison's maiden speech(1):
'I turn now to the most significant influences on my life—my family and my faith. Family is the stuff of life and there is nothing more precious.
So what values do I derive from my faith? My answer comes from Jeremiah, chapter 9:24:
... I am the Lord who exercises loving-kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things, declares the Lord.
From my faith I derive the values of loving-kindness, justice and righteousness, to act with compassion and kindness, acknowledging our common humanity and to consider the welfare of others; to fight for a fair go for everyone to fulfil their human potential and to remove whatever unjust obstacles stand in their way, including diminishing their personal responsibility for their own wellbeing; and to do what is right, to respect the rule of law, the sanctity of human life and the moral integrity of marriage and the family. We must recognise an unchanging and absolute standard of what is good and what is evil. Desmond Tutu put it this way:
... we expect Christians ... to be those who stand up for the truth, to stand up for justice, to stand on the side of the poor and the hungry, the homeless and the naked, and when that happens, then Christians will be trustworthy believable witnesses.
These are my principles. My vision for Australia is for a nation that is strong, prosperous and generous: strong in our values and our freedoms, strong in our family and community life, strong in our sense of nationhood and in the institutions that protect and preserve our democracy; prosperous in our enterprise and the careful stewardship of our opportunities, our natural environment and our resources; and, above all, generous in spirit, to share our good fortune with others, both at home and overseas, out of compassion and a desire for justice'.
If Morrison is to be compared to the words of Desmond Tutu that he so proudly quoted, then he is not a 'trustworthy, believable witness'.
Morrison displayed how much of this 'christian' compassion he has when he made a smart-arse comment about the suicide of an Indian student during an interview with Barry Cassidy of ABC's Insiders program on 16 February 2014(2):
BARRIE CASSIDY: Three days ago an Indian student took his own life at a detention centre in Melbourne. He was in that centre because he overstayed his visa. Could that have been avoided?
SCOTT MORRISON: Could he have avoided overstaying his visa?
Even going back to 2011, when he was in the Shadow Ministry, he urged the Liberal Party to exploit fears of 'Muslim immigration', 'Muslims in Australia' and 'inability of Muslim's to integrate'(3). In 2015, as Immigration Minister, Morrison stoked Islamophobia by beating up a story about Muslim children not standing for the National Anthem(4). What he didn't bother acknowledging was that it was the month of Muharram, which commemorates the death of Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein Ibn Ali. As it is a month of mourning, Shia Muslims abstain from joyous activities, such as singing. A number of Shia Muslims later said that it would have been ok to sing the national anthem, however, these children were aged between eight and ten years old and not mature enough to weigh up religious and national priorities. Morrison, being a bully, used them to stoke hatred of Muslims in the minds of people too immature or unwilling to look at the context.
Funnily enough, Morrison accused the teachers who allowed the children to leave the school assembly, as being 'do-gooders' that should be awarded 'muppet of the year'(5). Accusing someone of being a 'do-gooder' is the old chestnut that the rabid right-wing throws at anyone who has any consideration for others or who simply questions bigoted attitudes. It's funny, because Morrison claims to be a Christian, yet the Bible tells him to be a do-gooder ... Ephesians 2:10 says, 'For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do'. So there's that! Who's the muppet now, Morrison?
Morrison has further inflamed the Conservative paranoia about 'political correctness gone mad' with his dogwhistling over the non-existent war on Christmas. For instance, in 2017, a couple of Greens senators, Nick McKim and Peter Whish-Wilson, trolled the religious right who keep arguing that Christmas is under attack ... even though it is Australia's most popular holiday(6). Morrison accused McKim and Whish-Wilson of being 'pathetic muppets'. He went on to state:
'Grow up and show some respect to your fellow Australians. You may not share their views or their beliefs, but as elected members the least you could do is not mock them, especially during a time of year that is very important to them'.
Apparently, someone who claims to love Jesus while facilitating the torture of refugee children who have no crib for a bed, should have the right to sing about how Jesus fled persecution as a refugee and who blesses all the children in his tender care. Meanwhile calling out the hypocrisy of political predators such as Morrison and his 'tender care' is disrespectful, offensive ... political correctness gone mad ... all the while, Morrison wants respect for Christian celebrations while he attacks children commemorating a Muslim holy month.
Why do conservatives label criticism of vilification and hate speech as being 'political correctness', when all that is asked of them is to treat other people with respect.
Here's another funny thing ... get this ... Political Correctness is Christian! It is also what many parents taught their children back in the day. Just some examples of Political Correctness in the Bible:
- Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31)
- Turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39)
- Take the plank out of your own eye before picking on the speck in someone else's (Matthew 7:5)
- Love does no wrong to its neighbour (Romans 13:10)
- Love your neighbour as yourself (Galatians 5:14)
The rabid right vehemently rail against political correctness so they can be blatantly rude and disrespectful, but then bang on about lack of respect in today's children ... 'Do unto others ... ' bitches! What goes around comes around.
Overlooking Morrison's willingness to abuse human rights just because he goes to a pentecostal church, speaks volumes about the values of pentecostals.
However, what difference should his faith make in whether or not someone chooses to support him? What should be important is not his faith (or pretence of it), but whether he truly has the welfare of the country at heart, genuinely values human rights, compassion and kindness, or whether he is just another politician willing to victimise others for his own political gain.
The current Chief of Army, Lieutenant-General David Morrison stated, 'the standard you walk past is the standard you accept'. Far too many conservatives (Christian or not), accept Morrison's standards for abusing and vilifying the world's most vulnerable.
This is how Morrison has voted on key issues(7):
- Voted very strongly for a same-sex marriage plebiscite
- Voted very strongly for civil celebrants having the right to refuse to marry same-sex couples
- Voted very strongly for decreasing funding to ABC and SBS
- Voted very strongly for decreasing welfare payments
- Voted very strongly for getting rid of Sunday and public holiday penalty rates
- Voted very strongly for drug testing welfare recipients
- Voted very strongly for putting welfare payments onto debit cards
- Voted very strongly for Temporary Protection Visas (reducing access to permanent residency for refugees)
- Voted very strongly for turning back asylum seeker boats
- Voted moderately against refugee and protection conventions
- Voted very strongly against a Royal Commission into Violence and Abuse against People with Disability
- Voted very strongly against ending immigration detention on Manus Island and Nauru
- Voted very strongly against extending government benefits to same-sex couples
- Voted very strongly against increasing Aboriginal land rights
- Voted very strongly against increasing scrutiny of asylum seeker management
- Voted very strongly against increasing trade unions' power in the workplace
- Voted very strongly against letting environmental groups challenge the legality of certain government decisions
- Voted very strongly against protecting the Great Barrier Reef
- Voted very strongly against removing children from immigration detention
- Voted very strongly against same-sex marriage equality (even though the plebiscite he voted for resulted in most Australians wanting marriage equality)
You don't have to be a Christian to be compassionate. Christianity claims to be the religion of love, yet we see the true colours of those who accept Morrison's standards. The bible says that without love, you are just a 'sounding gong', all noise and bluster.
Morrison stated in his maiden speech that his faith gave him his values of 'loving-kindness, justice and righteousness, to act with compassion and kindness, acknowledging our common humanity and to consider the welfare of others' ... his actions speak far greater than his words ...
He also said, 'a fair go for everyone to fulfil their human potential and to remove whatever unjust obstacles stand in their way' ... yet imprisoning innocent people in a remote and harsh prison indefinitely without charge and abusing their human rights and liberties. It should not be forgotten that many of these people had been assessed as being genuine refugees.
Then there was the fair go that he gave to Australia's lowest paid workers by removing penalty rates that dramatically reduced their wages so that the businesses they work for can pocket more money. Morrison is like an antithesis of Robin Hood, taking from the poor to make the rich richer. He also supported the reduction of welfare payments to those without jobs. Talk about kicking people while they're down.
How would Morrison respond to the parable of the sheep and the goats? You know the bit about, 'For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me'.
Pentecostals have nothing to boast about with Morrison being elevated to the nation's highest office ... unless they are happy with transmogrifying Christ's message of love to one of hatred, intolerance and rancor. The only people Jesus didn't tolerate were the religious hypocrites who attacked others and misused the word of God.
Morrison isn't a Christian, he is a self-serving, malevolent coward.
1. Parliament of Australia, Governor-General's speech, Address-in-reply, Scott Morrison, 14 February 2008, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2008-02-14%2F0045%22 and http://sievx.com/testimony/2008/20080214Morrison.html. Viewed 26 August 2018.
2. ABC Insiders, Barrie Cassidy, 16 February 2014, Scott Morrison joins Insiders, http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/scott-morrison-joins-insiders/5262888, viewed 25 August 2018.
3. The Sydney Morning Herald, Lenore Taylor, 17 February 2011, Morrison sees votes in anti-Muslim strategy, https://www.smh.com.au/national/morrison-sees-votes-in-anti-muslim-strategy-20110216-1awmo.html. Viewed 25 August 2018.
4. The Conversation, Leticia Anderson, 10 October 2014, Politicians and media let us down in fight to curb rising Islamophobia, http://theconversation.com/politicians-and-media-let-us-down-in-fight-to-curb-rising-islamophobia-32677. Viewed 25 August 2018.
5. The Guardian, Shalailah Medhora, 28 October 2015, Morrison chastises 'do-gooders' who let Muslim children not sing anthem, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/28/morrison-chastises-do-gooders-who-let-muslim-children-not-sing-anthem. Viewed 25 August 2018.
6. Junkee, Rob Stott, 18 December 2017, The Greens Have Expertly Trolled Conservatives With Their Christmas Message, https://junkee.com/nick-mckim-war-christmas/139760. Viewed 25 August 2018.
7. They Vote For You, 'Scott Morrison - Liberal Party Representative for Cook', https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/cook/scott_morrison. Viewed 31 August 2018.
7. They Vote For You, 'Scott Morrison - Liberal Party Representative for Cook', https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/cook/scott_morrison. Viewed 31 August 2018.
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