THE WAR ON CHRISTIANS
The War on Christians reaches a new front: Private Schools [2 Minute Read]
Written by Matthew Fischer, co-host of the Backbench Drivers podcast
Livingstone Christian college has recently come under attack from the Guardian over its stance on Christian morality. The Gold Coast private school launched an internal investigation into the case of a teacher promoting cohabitation (CCC 2284, CCC 2353) to her students, which has attracted the attention of the Queensland Human Rights Commission and the State Government. Unfortunately but not unsurprisingly the Commission is taking this opportunity to advocate for the overhaul of current legislation which affords all religious organisations the ability to discriminate on the basis of employee actions.
The consequences of this measure would open all religious institutions in Queensland to be infiltrated by potentially hostile agents or face the wrath of the justice system. Further, Queensland education minister Grace Grace has suggested that the powers of the independent schools’ regulator should be expanded in order to ‘protect and support’ students in the sector. This protection will presumably only apply to students and teachers the Labor party has deemed oppressed; minorities, sexual deviants and non-Christians who will be given a mandate by the government to infiltrate and destroy Christian institutions.
Many observant readers may recognise the similarities between this situation and the case from earlier this year. Citipointe Christian School, another Queensland private school also came under attack for their student policies based on Christian morality. The Carindale school issued an enrolment contract that asked parents to denounce homosexuality as sinful (Leviticus 18:22) and recognises students by their true gender (Genesis 5:2). The school also enforced a dress code that restricted students to the uniform of their gender (Dueteronomy 22:5). All of these measures are based on biblical teaching and have been ingrained within Western Civilisation for two millennia. However, when Australia’s pentecostal prime minister Scott Morrison was asked his opinion on the matter, he responded with “I don’t support that” and he further elaborated that he didn’t want his daughters' school enforcing similar Christian morality.
The discrimination against Christians is not just limited to private schools, it has also affected those in the corporate world. Essendon’s recently departed CEO Andrew Thorburn was given a choice between his faith and his career, he chose his faith. The usual crowd of news media pundits, left-wing politicians, and political activists were gleeful that they had secured another scalp in the culture war. Many thought that with Scott Morrisons’s loss in the 2022 election and the subsequent leadership election of the Liberal party's right wing faction leader Peter Dutton, that the party would come out in support of Thornburn. However, these people would be dismayed by the recent statements made by the Liberal party leader Peter Dutton.
As reported in the Spectator, Peter Dutton has sided against Christians with Thornburn’s dismissal. The opposition leader responded to the controversy by siding with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews in attacking the departed Thornburn; Dutton proceeded to denounce the core Christian moral principles on homosexuality and abortion as ‘an abomination’.
All these recent incidents of anti-Christian discrimination and more importantly the subsequent responses they garnered from the Liberal party demonstrates a clear rejection of basic Christian morality throughout this nation's political class. Long time observers of Australian politics shouldn’t be surprised by this, the Liberal party is responsible for legalising both no-fault divorce and same-sex marriage. The only consolation that the coalition government has offered to its Christian base is the ‘Religious Freedom’ bill, a neutered bill where any actual benefit to Christians was removed out of fear of a moderate revolt in the Liberal party room.
Australian Christians spend their lives working and providing for their children. The cost of private education is not negligible for most families, but parents are willing to make this sacrifice for their children. Is it too much for Christians to expect their political representatives in the coalition to aid them in supporting their children? Apparently so. The Liberal party proves time and again that it would rather vilify and demean Christians for temporary political gain.
Why Christians should support the Liberal party, when the Liberal party does not support us?