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We’re not advocating violence or revolution … yet

When Martyn Iles, the head of the Australian Christian Lobby, recently suggested at a Church and State Conference in Brisbane that society would not be so concerned about climate change or gender identity if we were at war with China, conference convener Dave Pellowe, who once appeared in an infamous selfie with members of the neo-fascist Proud Boys group, interjected: “We’re not advocating violence or revolution … today.” Mr Iles added: “Not yet, that’s down the line.”

The conference, titled “Kingdom Come”, is about “arming Christians” to be influential in “the ongoing formation of our society’s culture, institutions & legislative bodies” through political participation.

This supposedly ‘non-denominational, nonpartisan’ collection of Christian Right activists exhorted people to join the Coalition parties.

“It’s not branch stacking, it’s participation. It’s what they’ve been doing with the Frankfurt School and the infiltration of the institutions for 50 years. It’s just turning up. And it’s our turn to turn up,” said Pellowe.

George Christensen suggested Christians proceed by stealth.

“We have got to pick the battles that we can win on in the public arena in order to get elected and be in government, and then prosecute the other battles while you’re in government,” he said.

Obviously still fuming about losing the marriage equality debate, Iles has identified the “transgender thing” as the weakest part of the LGBTQI rights movement.

He boasted about his organisation’s campaign against Victoria’s recent ban on “conversion” therapy which he said yielded 13,000 calls to MPs.

“All of a sudden I’m actually seeing people rising up more and more and more,” he said. “Give this a couple of years and we’ll be able to put such a shockwave through any Parliament in the country they won’t even know what hit them. And we’re almost at that point.”

George Pell also contributed his two cents’ worth (adjusted for his inflated self-opinion), proclaiming that “Christianity is self-evidently the best paradigm for public policy in human history,” and urging the audience “not to co-operate” with attempts to change “Christian language patterns” about gender, motherhood and fatherhood.

“Politely, stubbornly, persistently refuse to be silenced and refuse to give ground,” he instructed.

These men see an “existential” threat to the practice of Christianity. They are also agreed that climate change is leftist crap.

In 2018, The Age reported that “at least 10 of the 78 people elected to the Liberals’ administrative bodies at the party’s April state council are Mormons. Combined with conservative Catholics, evangelical Christians from churches such as Victory Faith Centre and City Builders, the religious right-wing now has unprecedented sway in Liberal Party politics.”

After Scott Morrison had ‘absolutely nothing to do with the knifing of Malcom Turnbull’ and assumed his ‘divinely inspired elevation to power’, the Pentacostals stepped up their campaign warning that, if Morrison wasn’t elected in 2019, “The laws are going to change where darkness is going to come and there will be persecution on the church.” (Cue lightning and thunder)

Persecuting transgender people will, however, be a key campaign strategy.

Not that they are advocating violence … yet.

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12 comments

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  1. New England Cocky

    Persecuting the church???? That is a new one!!!!! The Roman Church is responsible for most of the deaths in Europe outside the two World Wars. Innocent II wanted a Near East imperialist empire surrounding Jerusalem and caused the seven Crusades to reduce the European male population. The Vatican supported the Nazis with lethal effect for Jewish people. Anybody for a dispensation or two … to fill the Vatican coffers and finance the building of the Vatican Palace.

    Perhaps English King Henry VII had the correct idea with banishing the priests and recovering the fortunes held by the monasteries.

  2. pierre wilkinson

    and what a bunch of sanctimonious hypocrites they are producing, eager to feather their own nests, spew their exclusive and hateful doctrine, deny science based facts and insist that their freedom should be allowed and that they should be able to dictate what all others believe and think…
    the right to freedom of religion means “hey, that is against my religion so i can’t do that” not “hey, that is against my religion so YOU can’t do that”
    and in a country where religion has dropped down the popularity scale, why has the political religious force increased?

  3. Alpo

    I am unconvinced that it was the underground work of the churches that delivered power to ScuMo in 2019. The Coalition won the last federal election in Qld, as they have done for quite some time now, thanks to second preferences from Hanson and Palmer, both of whom look very unlikely to attract the interest of the churches. Methink that they are overstating their influence…. most likely in order to attract big bucks from the usual suspects, just as IPA overstates its influence for the same reason…. Let’s see whether there is another “miracle” at the coming federal election. With both Hanson and Palmer losing very many supporters, my prediction is that there won’t be any miracle, which, however, I will be first in line to spin as the wrath of God directed against those sinners who call themselves Christians, but they are not!…. May you all burn in the non-existent eternal flames of Hell…

  4. Michael Taylor

    In Canada the Proud Boys have been classed as a terrorist organisation. In Australia, it appears, they are lauded.

  5. Andrew J. Smith

    The ACL-Proud Boys picture above the article is a metaphor for how in the US evangelical Christians have buddied up with alt right and/or white nationalists as a cultural ‘wedge’ against Democrats, then also a Trojan horse and voting coalition, to enable business friendly but employee and society unfriendly bills to be passed by government.

    Radical right libertarianism joined at the hip with eugenics and Christianity for support of ageing white nativist Conservatives…..

    PS: Someone else not deemed to be an extremist or racist is Lauren Southern, now able to immigrate to, live and work in Australia, described by The Atlantic (Oct ’20) in an article ‘Why the Alt-Right’s Most Famous Woman Disappeared. Lauren Southern could spew racist propaganda like no other. But the men around her were better at one thing: trafficking in ugly misogyny’

    One wonders where her beliefs e.g. the ‘Great Replacement’ theory, outlook, looks and endorsement by Barnaby Joyce could hit the jackpot for employment, yes, Sky After Dark……

  6. Pagnol

    Religion is an anachronism. It belongs to pre Copernican times. It is superstition and often the belief system of choice for wishful fantasists and the intellectually lazy. Sky fairy indeed.

  7. John OCallaghan

    Wow! just lucky our Federal Govt is made up of white mainly male Christians Hey?… outstanding pillars of society possessing high moral values and Christian ethics in politics and business, and setting a wonderful example to our citizens and especially the young ones who can look up to these outstanding men and women to show them the benefits of a strong moral honest ethical Christian up bringing!

  8. DrakeN

    Good article, Kaye.
    When persuation through myths, lies and social manipulation has failed, “Christians” and other “Be reasonable – do it my way” types have traditionally resorted to violent in order to ensure and perpetuate their power and priviledge.
    I wish people would educate themselves in the histories of their own “Faiths” and question the veracity of their religions claims and take responsibility for allowing their early-years indoctrination to control their beliefs.
    It is almost half a century since I was considering entering ecclesiatical college during which period I became fully aware of the fundamental evils of the religions which I was studying.
    Much has occurred in the meantime to consolidate that opinion.

  9. Wam

    Haha I have automatic read whenever we talk about the government so Martyn iles became Martyn lies then later I thought Who TF is ‘Iles’?
    I wonder if the old song will rise again:
    Onward christian soldiers marching as to war
    With the swastika going on before??

  10. Margot

    There is nothing Christian about the ACL.

  11. Wam

    Sorry, Margot, ACL???
    Surely, trump’s people are Christians against the godless socialism of Biden and against the mindless violence and looting of BLM?
    Doesn’t Christianity have elements in common with both Antifa and the Proud boys, as well as with Black Lives Matter?
    Still when the god of Abraham has spawned, Jews, Christians and Muslims with a few schisms each who knows what, why or when?

  12. Jon Chesterson

    ANOTHER CRUSADE ‘KINGDOM COME’! HILLSONG & BROADER CHURCH CHRISTIAN LOBBY INCLUDING CATHOLIC CARDINAL PELL – THREAT TO OUR DEMOCRACY, CIVIL FREEDOM AND WAY OF LIFE (BRISBANE)

    ‘We’re not advocating violence or revolution…’ Yes you are!

    ‘Mr Christensen also advocated Christians take a “smarter” approach to debate by self-censoring some of their agenda until they were in power. “We have got to pick the battles that we can win on in the public arena in order to get elected and be in government, and then prosecute the other battles while you’re in government,” he said’.

    How dishonest and deceitful, apart from the very insult of allowing church and state to mix in Parliament, lying is unchristian, how gross.

    Fundamental to democracy is the separation of church and state. These people are either ignorant morons or power hungry evangelists who once again as history has repeatedly demonstrated seek to control other people’s lives and what they believe. Either way morals, ethics and humanity unbecoming of an alley cat. This will not end well, it never does.

    ‘In a later panel discussion, Mr Iles joked that his father often said “we need a good war” to sort this out and “there’s a little bit of truth in that”, because society would not be so concerned about climate change or gender identity if we were at war with China’.

    ‘Mr Pellowe (associated in infamous selfie with members of the neo-fascist Proud Boys in the USA) then interjected: “We’re not advocating violence or revolution … today.” Mr Iles added: “Not yet, that’s down the line.”

    Mr Iles – who is this young upstart Martyn Iles, who the hell does he think he is?

    You can see the aggressive warmongering unchristian thinking being discussed and God forbid at a Christian conference! The creeping power of fundamentalist pseudo-christianity which goes against all legitimate teachings. Perhaps that is where Morrison is taking us – to a self-righteous war we cannot win because that is where conservative Liberal broad church corruption will end us.

    And I see Cardinal Goerge Pell involved here pushing this agenda after all his alleged misconduct, which just because a court conviction is quashed does not prove his innocence and christian proprietary.

    But what we should be concerned about is some of these so called Christians do want to go to war. ‘Yet’ is like a ‘but’ and a premise to be ignored. A holy war, a crusade here in our own country – sound familiar to medieval history and other contemporaneous fundamentalist religions?

    Be afraid – Title of conference – ‘Kingdom Come’; Yes they want to put the fear of their god among the people of Australia and they will mess in politics, elections and government to do it just like we have seen in bible belt America. Rule by fear, lies and prejudice sits square with Liberal politic and the only way they can win elections, no surprises here.

    We will expose these frauds who are not practicing Christianity, but seriously misrepresenting Christ’s teachings.

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