In some further digging on Sen Abetz I have unearthed the following document hosted on Beware of the God. While there may be no concrete link to Hillsong. I am left in no doubt he would be supportive of them and Mercy. Here are some snippets, but please, disturb yourself by reading the whole document.
I believe in an Australia where we have a set of values which would have Mother Teresa in place of Madonna on the magazine covers. (Maiden speech, 1994)
Suicides and some of the social problems that our nation faces often have their roots in a lack of spiritual dimension in the lives of the people concerned. People see no hope or purpose beyond the immediate problem. They often see themselves as an accident,as some would have us believe this whole world is, that is, it just happened as a result of some big bang theory - they are here as the result of an accident and if the ride is not too good, they might as well put an end to the accident ... (‘Reflections on the
Millennium’, Senate Hansard, 8 Dec. 1999, reprinted in Senate in Light, Feb. 2000, 12) This line of reasoning is generally employed by creationists.
He was also supportive of the Exclusive Bretheren and is quoted as saying
we need to reclaim our society for Christ [source]
Next on the agenda Senator Guy Barnett, and thanks again to Beware of the God we have this dossier. Again some highlights.
Played a major role in the subsequent amending of the Marriage Act to exclude same-sex marriages. Pressured Prime Minister John Howard via a letter that he persuaded 30 Coalition backbenchers to sign. In his Senate speech, Barnett personally acknowledged the help of Jim Wallace (ACL), Warwick and Alison Marsh (Fatherhood Foundation) and Bill Muehlenberg (AFA). (Senate Hansard, 13 August 2004)
Prior to the October 2004 federal election, the ACL(Australian Christian Lobby) described Barnett and Senator Eric Abetz as ‘some of our strongest supporters’. (ACL National Newsletter, September 2004, 2)
Parliamentary Convenor, ‘Australian Christian Heritage’ National Forum (Age, 4 August 2006). While this forum was attended by a wide variety of Christians, Barnett was surrounded by friends from the AFA, ACL, Festival of Light (social conservative organisation), National Alliance of Christian Leaders (Christian conservative ‘umbrella’ group) and similar bodies. (http://australiaschristianheritageforum.org.au/)
Accepted Jesus’ at the age of 8. Had a dream as a little boy to be a member of Federal Parliament ‘and now I am living the dream’. (Green op. cit.)
So that's just two very conservative and very evangelical friendly politicians that voted the motion down. It really should be harder than this. For a bit of a breather I might bring you some comment on Abu Bakar Bashir tomorrow.
5 Comments:
what a load of old bollocks that guy is talking about suicide- I work with suicidal kids every day and not one of them has put their feelings down to a lack of spirituality in their lives- to being abused, being beaten up, having an awful disease, feeling ugly, feeling abandoned or ignored by their family, being abandoned or ignored by their family - etc etc- but not one has ever in the last 15 years told me it was a lack of spirituality!!
Of course kids see no hope beyond the 'problem' of having been abused by their dad or grandad- or raped by four gown men, or being fed bleach by their mum, or being made to feel abnormal because they have feelings for somebody who happens to be the same gender! what the fuck are they supposed to look for? they have to find that hope and want to live on by finding their own worth in themselves, not in an imaginary being.
end of rant- sorry- I get really wound up by people who talk about mental health problems who obviously have no experience of them!! and no training!!
The comment about suicide because people are believing that they were an accident because the scientific community has put forth that we are all here because of an accident, blah, blah, blah! What a crock! Many of the most precious and amazing things in my life were accidents! Without accidents and random occurrences and such, life would be one dull existence. The thought that some deity purposely maneuvered everything on the planet so that hubby just happened to show up to visit the a-hole that happened to be my boyfriend at the time is so whacked! It was a random, crazy occurrence that led to something awesome. What's wrong with that? I'm a big fan of accidents!
And I'm sorry, but religion intermingled with politics just pisses me off in general! Grrrrr!
Ok, I should clarify, I'm a big fan of the more cosmic type accident... not the accident that Fido leaves on the rug by the back door!
@Psychodiva,
I appreciate your rant and your professional insight.
@trina,
I am not a fan of those accidents either :)
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