Category Archives: State

To criticise and insult people is a somewhat precarious activity. In fact, for one sinner to have the temerity to criticise another seems particularly galling, and liable to do more harm than good. Therefore, it is not altogether surprising that one should hear praise, especially at funerals, that a certain person ‘never said a bad word about anyone’. It reflects a sentiment which is not without truth, but there is also truth in Richard Baxter’s barbed comment, cited by J. C. Ryle in discussing the parable of the talents (Matt.25:14-30),  ‘To do no harm is the praise of a stone,…

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The American Psychological Association (APA) is forming a task force to “promote awareness and inclusivity” of people who engage in sexual relationships with multiple partners, such as people who practice polyamory and swinging. According to the website for Division 44 of the APA, the task force is designed to address the needs of those who wish to practice polyamory “including their intersecting marginalized identities” without the social and medical stigmatization. “These include but are not limited to: people who practice polyamory, open relationships, swinging, relationship anarchy and other types of ethical, non-monogamous relationships,” the website states. The task force’s stated…

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Often we hear like-for-like comparisons made between church leaders and the Pharisees. People might say something such as, ‘Jesus reserved his harshest criticisms for the religious leaders.’ A famous passage where Jesus seemingly does this is Matthew 23:2-4, 17, 27, 33, where he refers to the Pharisees as lazy, hypocritical, whitewashed tombs, snakes vipers, and children of hell. I could give a rundown of the modern-day equivalents of these insults, but I want to keep my job as a pastor. Suffice to say, Jesus hammered the Pharisees with enough invective that we can fairly accurately declare that he didn’t like…

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Muslim jihadists in Mali have slaughtered over 100 Christians and wiped out an entire village in the nation’s worst massacre in over 70-years. A contact told the Barnabas Fund: “the jihadists encircled the isolated village of ethnic Dogon people at night and set fire to everything that moved in a well-targeted attack.” According to a BBC report, one survivor told the AFP agency: “About 50 heavily armed men arrived on motorbikes and pickups. They first surrounded the village and then attacked – anyone who tried to escape was killed.” “No one was spared — women, children, elderly people,” he added.…

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A Christian doctor who was fired by the UK government after he refused to identify his patients by anything other than their biological gender, is suing his former employer for discrimination. Dr David Mackereth worked for 26-years as an NHS doctor before he was sacked from his position as a Department for Work and Pensions disability assessor. The 55-year-old was deemed “unfit to work” after he refused to identify his patients by their preferred gender pronoun. The father-of-four said it would be dishonest for him to act contrary to his beliefs and warned of the dangers in not allowing doctors…

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Last month was Pride Month, so it’s a fitting time to reflect on the last decade and what made it such a revolutionary period in Australia’s history.  Consider just a few of the radical things that have happened… 2016-17 — The Safe-Schools fiasco 2017 — Same-sex marriage is legalised 2019 — The Australian Human Rights Commission releases its ‘Guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people’ When you look back, it is unthinkable that same-sex marriage would have been legalised even ten years ago! In fact, just read this 2010 statement from Labor Party’s Penny Wong: The party’s…

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There are well-substantiated rumours that Australian Rugby is seeking to produce a coffee table revision of the Christian Scriptures, to be called the New Rugby Revised Version (NRRV). Some of the contents have had to be changed. Sodom and Gomorrah are showered with blessings, and Lot’s wife is turned into a pillar of the PC establishment. No real place could be found for John the Baptist, who has been relegated to a footnote while Herod Antipas receives an unusually favourable press. But the enduring message remains the same: Christ Jesus came into the world to try to make people nice.

Tommy Robinson has filmed an impassioned plea to Donald Trump, asking the President and his administration to grant him and his family political asylum in the United States. In a video aired by InfoWars and later uploaded to social media, Robinson states: My name is Tommy Robinson, today I am calling on the help of Donald Trump, his administration, and the Republican Party, to grant me and my family political asylum in the United States of America. Robinson went on to say: I’ve been found guilty of exercising what is the equivalent of exercising First Amendment rights. Benjamin Franklin had…

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Two years after marriage was redefined in the U.K., Felix Ngole found himself in a discussion on Facebook. The topic was same-sex marriage, and during the discourse, the-father-of-four put forward the Christian position on the matter. At the time, Ngole was a postgraduate student, enrolled in a social work course at Sheffield University. Two months after posting his comment, Ngole received a letter from the university informing him that he was under investigation. He was eventually summoned to a disciplinary hearing where he was told that he had breached social work guidelines regarding “personal conduct” and “brought the profession into…

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Four miners have died while a Government safety committee sat idle for months after failing to reach their female gender quota. Queensland’s Mine Health and Safety Advisory Committee was dissolved in late 2018 before the spate of deaths, taking the mining fatality total to six over the last year. Labor’s Queensland Mines Minister Anthony Lynham said the committee had not met this year because of challenges meeting gender quotas. “Certain representation has to be made on the committee, you have to make sure that gender representation is respected,” Lynham said. “Because of the significance of the appointments, that has been…

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Eric Abetz gave one of the most important short speeches in Australian political history this week. Yet few Australians would know he even spoke a word, let alone know who Abetz is or what he stands for. Eric Abetz was born in Germany in 1958 and came with his family to Australia in 1961. In the 1980s, Abetz worked his way through ‘University as a part-time taxi driver, and farmhand. Once completing his law degree, he went on to practice law in Hobart’s northern suburbs’. He joined the Liberal Party in 1976 and was appointed to the Senate in February…

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There is an aspect of the gospel that you don’t hear about very often anymore. If you speak to any Christian they will tell you that the gospel is good news, indeed Gospel means good news. Many Christians will be able to tell you what the good news contains – that it is the message that God has saved sinners. Paul tells us this very clearly in 1 Corinthians 15 for example. Romans 10 also expresses a similar thought, as do many other passages. The good news that people recognize is that Jesus died on the cross, paid the penalty…

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Ever witness an ugly break up? Perhaps none come more spectacularly than Nivea being dumped by their own advertising agency amidst allegations the brand refused to feature a homosexual couple in a recent media campaign. The popular skin-care brand, owned by German-based company Beiersdorf, reportedly had a long-running relationship with advertisers FCB Network, dating back more than 100-years. The advertising agency, however, has refused to renew their contract with Nivea after an employee allegedly said, they “don’t do gay” in response to an advert proposal featuring a homosexual couple. According to Ad Age: “The allegations [are] that the brand rejected…

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Tommy Robinson is facing jail time again after being found guilty of contempt of court. Robinson was accused of breaching reporting restrictions by live-streaming outside Leeds Crown Court last year during the grooming gang trials. Robinson denied the claim, saying he only broadcast information that was already published by other news outlets and in the public domain. Two senior High Court judges, however, said Robinson’s conduct “amounted to serious interference with the administration of justice.” One of the judges, Dame Victoria Sharp, said the court is yet to consider the penalty for contempt which carries a maximum two-year penalty. The…

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A new mural has been unveiled on the wall of a Sydney hotel, mocking Israel Folau and depicting the former rugby star as a self-righteous, money-hungry beggar. The Australian Family Coalition shared photographs of the mural on social media today, pointing out that hidden within the artwork is the phrase, “Go to hell, a–hole.” The mural, painted by Scott Marsh on the side of the Botany View Hotel in Newtown, shows Folau sitting on a milk crate in front of a Lamborghini begging for donations to put towards his property portfolio. “The righteous shall taketh from the punters, for the…

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Nike’s decision to pull a special edition of Air Max shoes featuring the ‘Betsy Ross’ Flag, used by Revolutionaries, during the 1776 American war of Independence, is shallow and proves that social justice warriors are hypocrites. Reasons for the recall vary. The BBC reported, that Nike recalled the shoes because of ‘complaints about the use of an old US flag embraced by white nationalists’. The BBC rightly pointed out, that American Nazi sympathizers (German American Bund) used the flag during the 1930s. However, the Bund also used the Stars and Stripes. Leaving unanswered the question of how and why this…

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Wayne Swan is the former federal treasurer who promised a budget surplus over and over and over again but never delivered a single one. He retweeted this tweet in response to the Government’s new tax rates. That the office cleaner and the company executive will pay the same rate of tax while one takes home two or three or five times as much as the other, does not just entrench inequality, it masquerades the powerful’s exploitation of the powerless as “economic policy”#auspol“ This is either idiocy or willful ignorance. It’s simplistic propaganda to sell socialism, using sneaky and manipulative language…

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Under current defamation law, social media users can be held legally responsible for third-party content on any post they make. The guiding rule seems to be: You posted it. You incited it. Ergo, you’re responsible for it. In other words, anything someone posts on my timeline or writes in the comments section, that is deemed offensive, defamatory or “hate speech” could end in a lawsuit. For those who only have a private Facebook account, there is currently no mechanic to prevent this from happening. The only real preventative measure is to keep an eye on comments or keep your friends…

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In May, the UK government rejected a proposed definition of Islamophobia that was so vague it would essentially prohibit all criticisms of Islam. The definition, proposed by a cross-party group of MPs and adopted by the Labour party, states: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” The proposed definition was backed by more than 750 British Muslim organisations, 80 academics and 50 MPs. Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford and shadow minister for women and equalities, argued the definition is crucial for fighting the rise of the far-right…

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A response to Claire Harvey, deputy editor of the Sunday Telegraph: “I’m more of a Christian than Israel Folau is. I’m more of a Christian than anyone at the Australian Christian Lobby – and I don’t even go to church.” There were two people in the temple – a journalist and a footballer. The journalist could hardly be bothered going in because she was superior to all those inside. But on this occasion, she deigned to stoop down and enter. ‘I thank you, God, that I am not brainless like all those who worship you as this footballer does. I…

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