When #EqualityForAll does not include Christian bakers
Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, opens his doors to everyone. “People of all walks of life are always welcome in the store… I serve everybody, I just don’t make cakes for every event,” Phillips has said. Phillips is a Christian, which means he refuses to use his artistry to decorate cakes that endorse a message contrary to his faith and conviction. “There are certain messages that I don’t create,” Phillips states. “I don’t do cakes for Halloween, I don’t do cakes that would promote sexual things, or anti-American things, or things that would disparage other people, including [those] that identify as…
Religious liberty and Australian culture
Roughly 40% of Australians voted No to same-sex marriage and, according to a recent Newspoll, roughly 40% also reject the legitimacy of religious protections for Australians who disagree with same-sex marriage. The debates taking place in Federal parliament regarding religious liberty are culturally significant. The cultural reformation of the 1960s has transformed social views on sex, marriage, family, and, increasingly, gender. And yet clearly not all have gone with the tide. What became increasingly obvious during the same-sex marriage debate and now with the debate over religious protections is that culturally Australia is shifting back to the acrimonious sectarianism that…
Thou shalt not remain neutral
Student teacher, Lindsay Shepherd, was chastised by school authorities after she aired a video during two tutorials. The clip featured University of Toronto professor Jordan B. Peterson and involved a debate on gender-neutral pronouns. For context, Peterson’s full debate can be viewed here: Genders, Rights and Freedom of Speech According to a report by The Star: The excerpt from TVO’s current affairs program The Agenda shows Peterson, who has famously refused to use gender pronouns other than “he” or “she,” defending his position against a professor who argued it was necessary to use the pronouns that a person prefers to be…
We told you they wanted more than marriage
Well, they certainly waste no time. The campaigning is over, so let your true rainbow colours shine! Karl Stefanovic and Alex Greenwich scold Cory Bernardi for wanting to preserve freedom: Karl Stefanovic: So, you’re actually going to push ahead with that — with laws allowing wedding businesses to reject gay couples? You’re going to push ahead with that regardless of today’s result? Cory Bernardi: I’m going to make sure that freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom of parental rights in education are upheld. That’s what everyone’s promised us… During the campaign they told us they would defend these things. This is why this has…
What comes after same-sex marriage?
What comes after same-sex marriage? You only have to look to the countries that have already redefined the institution to get an idea. Here are twelve examples. Example #1: John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, has argued that the fight for “equality” is not over until churches abandon their faith. “We don’t want to behave like it’s all over [now that SSM is legal]… I still feel we’ll only have proper equal marriage when you can bloody well get married in a church if you want to do so, without having to fight for the equality that should…