Australian Limits to Religious Freedom

Letters from Mr Charrington #13

Dear Winston,

My dear chap I think I have somehow travelled through a ‘stargate’ or some such device and have found myself in a completely alien world.  While it may seem a little odd to younger folks, when I was a child most children would go along to Sunday School where we learnt the bible stories and would pray for those who were sick or had some other need about which we knew very little.  Things like this of my childhood world all seemed so very natural. 

Not in my wildest nightmare would I have ever imagined it could be illegal to pray for someone who’s asked for help?  Yes, we heard about the poor people in Communist countries who were not allowed to pray and were so downtrodden they never smiled in the photographs we saw, but not in our free and sunburnt country.  But yet this has become a goal of some in positions of power. 

Many Christians in Australia have faced hostility and even legal action in recent years for making reasonable statements of belief, and now, in at least a part of Australia there is a new law which means a significant portion of the population is at greater risk for living out their faith.

There is a ‘thing’ called Victoria’s Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021 which has just come into force as I write.  

This new legislation can restrict the freedom of Christians to live out their faith, wherever they may live in Australia.  This law gives broad powers to locate, investigate, and punish anyone who holds, and teaches, Christian convictions on sexual orientation and gender identity.  The penalties could be as much as 10 years’ imprisonment together with a $500,000 fine.

Complaints can be reported by “any person”, even those who are not affected, and can be made anonymously – even about conduct in other states such as the one in which we currently live.  People opposed to the Christian faith will now be able to harass and silence churches, organisations, and individuals they simply don’t agree with.

No other law in Australia has this power to not just limit religious freedom but it could land anyone in jail for failing to toe the line on things like LGBT+ issues and, more disturbingly, it could imprison anyone who carries out the simple act of prayer.

Surely ‘they’ have gone too far.  But when did people and particularly those who promise to represent all the electors when they get into power, become so intolerant?  Where did these people come from, and how have they managed to be at the forefront of movements and finally gain the power to restrict freedom of speech and silence all debate and opposition?  This particular State Government seem overly eager to cut corners, bend the Australian Constitution and generally abuse everything and every institution that enabled them to achieve power, in order to get their own way.

I have seen them freely march in the streets for the causes they support over the years, they are supposedly great haters of bigotry but yet sometimes speak of Christians in the most bigoted manner imaginable. 

Tell me, is this all about keeping us safe from the sniffles as well?

Perhaps we need to be praying for them Winston.

Kindest prayerful regards from your friend,

Bob Charrington