Conservative Christians running foreign policy are scary

Much has been written about Andrew Hastie’s idiotic comments this week comparing the rise of China to that of Nazi Germany. Having James Patterson come out in support just added to the Nazi theme with his unnerving likeness to the stereotypical Hitler Youth image.

Did it not occur to Hastie, as head of the parliamentary security and intelligence committee, that writing articles insulting our major trading partner is perhaps not a wise idea? If there are security concerns, is the newspaper the best place to address them?

Or is this just called profile raising?

China is, understandably, not impressed. But we have an ace up our sleeve.

Tony Abbott’s daughter will soon take up a position in the Australian Embassy in Beijing.

Speaking at the CPAC conference in Sydney – which has disturbingly close connections with the gun lobby – Tony revealed what he said to his daughter when she asked for his advice on the best things about China.

He said she should be more focused on what’s good about us and to act as a judge rather than an analyst regarding China.

What a typically narcissistic, self-absorbed, ridiculously provocative thing to say publicly.

It got worse.

He recommended she read Winston Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples as well as the Bible. Gee that should prepare her well for dealing with the Chinese government and people.

“I would certainly say to anyone who wants to be an effective centre-right activist or conservative activist, you can do no better than immerse yourself in the great books of which by far the greatest is the New Testament,” the Mad Monk preached to what must have been a rather strange audience.

Perhaps Tony’s daughter could quote 1 Corinthians 15 to warm up the crowd in Beijing:

24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

I heard Gareth Evans quote Bill Clinton once with words to the effect of “Is it better to put all your resources into trying to stay top dog or should you try to help shape the world you want to live in when you are no longer top dog?”

Tony thinks Jesus is still top dog, backed up by the military might of the English-speaking Judeo-Christian Western world crusaders.

Scott Morrison’s foray into the matter was not helpful when he relegated China to “customer” status.

And they wonder why our relationship with China is at an “all-time low”.

 

[textblock style=”7″]

Like what we do at The AIMN?

You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.

Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!

Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.

You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969

Donate Button

[/textblock]

 

About Kaye Lee 1328 Articles
Kaye describes herself as a middle-aged woman in jammies. She knew Tony Abbott when they both attended Sydney University where she studied for a Bachelor of Science. After 20 years teaching mathematics, with the introduction of the GST in 2000, she became a ‘feral accountant’ for the small business that she and her husband own. Kaye uses her research skills “to pass on information, to join the dots, to remember what has been said and done and to remind others, and to do the maths.”

22 Comments

  1. I often wonder how it came about that we have conservative Christians running us in 2019. Really is scary. We took the eye off the ball, methinks. Now we have to wrest it off them if we are to remain a sane country.

    And what’s this about Abbott’s daughter taking up a position in the Australian embassy in Bejing? That wouldn’t be nepotism or anything, would it?

  2. Conservative christians are a poor lot, self inflated triumphalists, self forgiving, full of righteous drive to recommence the cycle of sin again and again, contemptuous of all outside thought, culture, variation, intellectual individuality, obedient to fictional poor interpretation of barely known myth, rumour, legend, fantasy. When they find their god, not from Mecca, or Delhi, or Beijing, or even Wall St. and the Pentagon, get a personal appearance before the High Court of Australia, we’ll all agree then, will we not?? The old Roman and Greek gods were a mix of fun, riotous ego, frailty, weaknesses, that one could enjoy the stories. But excess superstition killed Socrates, and Jesus, and drove out Gautama and even Mohammed. So, superstition kills because it is evil ego inflated fuel for political perverts, aggressive murdering dictators and hunnish horribles. Religion cripples, kills, thieves, acquires, dominates and it should be stopped. The romanist form has fuelled so much fascism, that its believers are unfit to occupy democratic office. Conquistadores endanger us…

  3. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to picture the goons above with black moustaches and a side swept fringe.

  4. Surprised no journalist has questioned Abbott about his links with the US Heritage Foundation, like IPA part of the Atlas Network.

    Like IPA, Heritage promotes right wing libertarianism, however it also teams of eugenics.

    What’s a good pro-life Catholic boy doing by hanging out with types like that?

    Then again, why are too many conservatives spouting another offshoot of eugenics, white nationalism?

  5. Bottom line: “And they wonder why our relationship with China is at an “all-time low”….. Easy answer, it’s because the political leaders and their groupies talents are at an all time low….With more the 60 years of watching, reading, and assessing Australian “governments” I believe there has never been a more deceitful, inept, out of touch bunch of lunatics in “power”. Certainly worse than McMahon, at least he was naturally just a dill, this lot are just loudmouthed liars, cheats and bullies.

  6. I would have thought that Christian Conservative would stand alongside military intelligence as a classic oxymoron.

  7. Hastie, in a ‘get to know me’ puff piece said “There’s such a lack of poetry in politics at the moment. It’s more and more technical, it’s more and more fickle. Things like the Psalms and poetry more generally have a huge pull for me, because it gives you truth in a way that is so different to what and how you receive it in politics.”

    In the same piece, he urges others to stick their neck out.

    “Take the hit, show a bit of courage,” he says. “Because if people step away from the public square, we’re all poorer for it.”

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-02/keeping-the-faith-andrew-hastie/8477382

    Tell that to Michaela Banerji, or Anika Smethurst, or Witness K or Emma Alberici or Yasmin Abdul-Magied, or…..everyone except the Christians it seems.

  8. Thanks for the insights, Kaye.
    And that SMH article about the sleazy damn Dominionists trying to foist a theocracy on us. Ugh! They seem to see “The Handmaid’s Tale” as a prescription, instead of a warning.

  9. The Christian Taliban has significant political influence in America and their doctrine has spread to our shores.

    There’s little difference between the religious fundamentalists supporting Trump and the nature of Hillsong and other local cashed-up evangelicals behind Morrison. Both push the notion of the Prosperity Gospel and the worship of wealth above personal matters. Opus Dei plays an influential role in both NSW State and Federal politics with many representatives infiltrating the Liberal Party in particular and some Christian groups are channelling money into Party coffers..

    The last time western civilisation was ruled by theocracies was called The Dark Ages for a reason.

  10. Kaye:

    “A group promoting religious freedom is working to recruit 5000 Christian conservatives to the NSW Liberals as part of an ambitious scheme aimed at taking “control” of the state division of the party.”

    Do you think they’d get far with the electorate? Or are we in a death grip of the Christian Right. Oh Gawd I hope not.

  11. For those who are interested in where Australia might be going in the (Morrison) ideological sense, can I recommend this perspective via Erik Jensen, editor-in-chief of The Saturday Paper:

    Morrison’s Australia, Jensen says, is an Australia built on a division “between the worthy and the unworthy, and the worthy in Morrison’s Australia are already rich and they will seek to become more rich”. He describes Morrison as someone who is “very sure of himself”, who is “deeply unable to imagine anyone not like him”, and who suffers “a troubling failure of imagination”.

    Lest anyone believe Jensen’s viewpoint is partisan, he assures listeners that his interest is the health of the country. While he was enthusiastic about Shorten’s reformist platform he is damning of Labor’s post-election funk: “The Labor Party has come out of this election, and very quickly said ‘we don’t stand for anything’”.

    https://radio.abc.net.au/programitem/pel3Nq04JD

    Certainly worth a listen. Even if I quibble with his analysis.

  12. If you have been wondering what’s happening at CPAC it seems that Nigel Farage, the poster boy of conservatism in the UK, was flown in at great expense to deliver the keynote address which in this case was to vilify the former Liberal party leader Malcolm Turnbull :

    Nigel Farage won the largest burst of applause of the morning at a conservative political conference in Sydney on Saturday for describing Malcolm Turnbull as a “snake” who had “hijacked” the Liberal Party.

    “Your Liberal party, your conservative movement was hijacked by the other side, taken over by Malcolm Turnbull, who pretended to be a conservative but actually turned out to be a snake.

    Still lots of spare seats at CPAC if you want to go. I hear that the organisers started buying up tickets, particularly the ‘Reagan VIP’ tickets at $599 a pop, so that it wouldn’t look too bad : one observer noted that you would get a bigger crowd at a KISS cover band concert in Mt Isa and probably a higher average IQ.

  13. Baby Jewels – “I often wonder how it came about that we have conservative Christians running us in 2019.”

    since the ACL, borrowing tactics heavily from its US counterparts, formed and was unleashed upon us, with the Lying Rodent’s blessing, in the mid-nineties. They have oodles of money.

  14. With God on Our Side
    Bob Dylan
    Oh my name it ain’t nothin’
    My age it means less
    The country I come from
    Is called the Midwest
    I was taught and brought up there
    The laws to abide
    And that land that I live in
    Has God on its side
    Oh, the history books tell it
    They tell it so well
    The cavalries charged
    The Indians fell
    The cavalries charged
    The Indians died
    Oh, the country was young
    With God on its side
    The Spanish-American
    War had its day
    And the Civil War, too
    Was soon laid away
    And the names of the heroes
    I was made to memorize
    With guns in their hands
    And God on their side
    The First World War, boys
    It came and it went
    The reason for fighting
    I never did get
    But I learned to accept it
    Accept it with pride
    For you don’t count the dead
    When God’s on your side
    The Second World War
    Came to an end
    We forgave the Germans
    And then we were friends
    Though they murdered six million
    In the ovens they fried
    The Germans now, too
    Have God on their side
    I’ve learned to hate the Russians
    All through my whole life
    If another war comes
    It’s them we must fight
    To hate them and fear them
    To run and to hide
    And accept it all bravely
    With God on my side
    But now we got weapons
    Of chemical dust
    If fire them, we’re forced to
    Then fire, them we must
    One push of the button
    And a shot the world wide
    And you never ask questions
    When God’s on your side
    Through many a dark hour
    I’ve been thinkin’ about this
    That Jesus Christ was
    Betrayed by a kiss
    But I can’t think for you
    You’ll have to decide
    Whether Judas Iscariot
    Had God on his side.
    So now as I’m leavin’
    I’m weary as Hell
    The confusion I’m feelin’
    Ain’t no tongue can tell
    The words fill my head
    And fall to the floor
    That if God’s on our side
    He’ll stop the next war
    Source: LyricFind
    Songwriters: Bob Dylan

  15. Abbott loves addressing right wing organisations both here and abroad.

    Some examples.

    TAKING TRUMP SERIOUSLY: ADDRESS TO THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION, WASHINGTON DC
    July 12, 2018

    Media


    TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MP, ADDRESS TO THE ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM, NEW YORK
    November 1, 2017

    TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MP, ADDRESS TO THE ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM, NEW YORK


    TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MP, ADDRESS TO THE INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, HILTON BRISBANE, ELIZABETH STREET, BRISBANE
    June 27, 2017

    TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MP, ADDRESS TO THE INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, HILTON BRISBANE, ELIZABETH STREET, BRISBANE

    More can be found at

    Media

  16. I had a look at ‘positive Christianity’ and the way it was used by Hitler, embraced by Protestants and to some degree by Catholics. It frightened me.
    I did not click onto the links to the current positive Christianity movement pages, but it all sound familiar – positive versus negative Christianity (negatives are the ones that pointed out that the positives were actually a long way from what Christ taught.)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


The maximum upload file size: 2 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here