Morrison’s religious discrimination act is a sop to homophobes – pure and simple
Scott Morrison has announced his determination to go ahead with his failed religious discrimination act, without the promised concurrent amendments to the sex discrimination act to protect gay and transgender students.
According to Morrison, there is no problem.
“We’ve been having this conversation for about the last four years, and on each occasion, it has been presented that apparently students are being expelled each and every day, each and every week, or each and every year. There is no evidence [of that] because the religious schools themselves don’t wish to do that. They don’t wish to do it. This is an issue that is actually not occurring in these schools.”
They may not want to expel students, just threaten them with burning in the fires of hell unless they give up their perverted, evil ways.
And that’s what this bill is designed to do – to protect the right of the religious to abuse and discriminate.
Back in 2017, Morrison revealed the true beginnings of this bill – a payback for losing the marriage equality plebiscite.
“There are almost five million Australians who voted no in this survey who are now coming to terms with the fact that they are in the minority. That did not used to be the case in this country for most, if not all, of their lives. They have concerns that their broader views and beliefs are also now in the minority and therefore under threat. They are seeking assurances from this House and this parliament at this time – whether one agrees or disagrees and whether rightly or wrongly – that the things they hold dear are not under threat because of this change.”
Malcolm Turnbull, as kind of a consolation, commissioned Philip Ruddock to do a “religious freedom” review which found Australia did not, in fact, have a religious freedom problem and that there was evidence of only very low levels of intolerance towards Christians.
In December 2018, the Morrison government promised a Religious Discrimination Act, observing that Australians of faith felt “the walls have been closing in on them” despite the fact that no-one was asking religious people to change their lives or views or beliefs in any way.
Introducing the revised third draft of the bill late last year, Morrison told Parliament it would bring “clarity” and “confidence” that “Australians of faith would be protected from discrimination”, noting how people from “various religious traditions” were concerned about “cancel culture”.
Morrison originally told the Parliament the core idea of the bill was to give legal protection against discrimination for people of faith, including in employment and education – a problem that the review showed doesn’t exist.
What the bill actually does is provide protection for people of faith to discriminate against others.
Most controversial are the provisions that override all other federal, state and territory anti-discrimination laws so that “statements of belief” are immune from legal action.
For example, a childcare provider could tell a single mother that childbirth out of marriage is evil, a doctor could tell a patient that their disability is punishment for sin, a boss or colleague could tell a gay employee that they would go to hell for their sexuality.
The bill would also allow religious bodies – including schools, hospitals or aged care services – to seek to preserve their “religious ethos” by ensuring all employees are of a particular faith. In reality, religious institutions such as schools can already discriminate in hiring and firing under special exemptions from existing discrimination laws.
This whole exercise is not to fix any existing problem of discrimination against people of faith – it’s a sop to homophobes. Pure and simple.
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14 comments
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James Robert LEONARD -
Kerri -
New England Cocky -
Kaye Lee -
Gus -
Kaye Lee -
Deidre -
pierre wilkinson -
Michael Taylor -
Geoff Andrews -
GL -
Michael Taylor -
Bruce Winchester -
Michael Taylor
Return to home pageAbsolutely true. If this Bill is allowed to pass, we will see immediate agitation for reform of the laws relating to marriage, abortion and euthanasia – none of which is compulsory and none of which has any direct effect on those who choose to not use them.
Why are the religious right so obsessed with other peoples romantic/sex lives?
Does that strike anyone else as strangely perverse?
Another lie to disguise another bullying tactic against Australian voters who likely vote LABOR (in Scummo’s unChristian eyes) BUt wait ….. now a Pastor at the ”Hell$inger$ Choru$ Buy Your Way to Heaven” cult perhaps the legislation will exclude members of Hell$ingers who continue to pay their weekly tithe to the good Pastor during his long demanded ”retirement”.
@James Robert Leonard: Agreed. The amazing thing is the very small number of such nutters who have such an almighty impact on the lives of Australian voters.
@Kerri: To quote Julia Roberts – [They} have a dick the size of a peanut” and consequently are suffering from penis envy.
Kerri it goes beyond just a weird fixation with other people’s sex lives. Faith doesn’t allow for choice. The rules that were set by men a couple of thousand years ago are what modern society is supposed to obey. Yet the hypocrisy is glaring. Many of the anfi-vaxx, anti-mandate, anti-lockdown crowd are religious. Ironically, they want the right to make their choice about their own body regardless of the health consequences for the rest of us. Yet they want to deny that same right to other people about things that have zero consequence to other people.
Romans 14:12-13
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.
Sort of makes Religions Homophobic and not sympathetic to Homosexuals.
Genesis 1:28. “be fruitful and multiply.” may be an answer?
1 Timothy 2:11–15
11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
The Christian faith is supposed to be based on the teachings of Jesus.
Love, forgiveness, care for the poor and needy, care for one another, bless all the children do not judge one another ….
Where are these Christian churches?
once again. it is
” I cannot do that because it is against my religion”
not
“You cannot do that because it is against my religion”
Last night Carol read (somewhere) that if the Morrison government is returned, some Liberal MPs have vowed to cross the floor (again).
Michael,
I think she promised to cross the floor if the discrimination against gays was reintroduced.
Sheer desperation and almost blind panic that he’s going to lose the election. Nothing more, nothing less.
Thank you, Geoff. I need to listen to Carol more carefully. 😁
I have been studying the gospel of Mark recently and I discovered that the KJV version of Mark 7:22 runs off a laundry list of sins and sinful behaviour including “lasciviousness”. Some modern bibles like the American Standard Bible (ASB) and the Catholic Public Domain (CPD) have a slight alteration swapping out “lasciviousness” wholesale for “homosexuality”. By my readings, the KJV translation of “lasciviousness” comes from the Greek “Aselgeia” – “uncontrolled desire, lack of constraint, excess and obsession with sensual pleasures” – which apply to heterosexual activity and not exclusively to homosexual activity as well as to gluttony and alcoholism, drug addiction or any addiction to any physical pleasure. Ironically Mark 7 starts with Pharisees and scribes heavying Jesus about his followers not washing their hands and transgressing Sabbath food restraints. Such careless religious freedoms we know can lead inevitably to telling lies for Jesus.
I just saw a post on Facebook from the Australian Christian Lobby titled “The truth about Helen Haines.”
Their problem with Helen is that she voted against this piece of shite as well as against gender discrimination.
That tells me more about the ACL than it does about Helen. What a sour, nasty bunch.