It’s not hard to notice that the “progressive” left has a rather problematic relationship with religion.
Not to put to fine a point on it, they hate religion. It’s all “sky fairy” myths and child abuse and holding humanity back from reaching the great, communist, Star Trek sci-fi utopia that we’d be destined for, if it weren’t for those “morons” who follow a religion.
If by “religion”, you mean “Christianity”. Absolutely, if you mean “Pentecostal Christianity”. Now, I’m no big fan of the whole happy-clappy thing, but, hey, if that’s your bag, go for it. And face it, if you had to have one Simpsons character as a neighbour, you could do a lot worse than ol’ “Charlie Church” Ned Flanders.
But the left, who hate Christianity with all the zeal of a Red Guards cadre, positively swoon over certain religions. The same mob who come over all solemn and “spiritual” at a Welcome to Country ceremony, or rush to don a hijab, spin their heads and vomit kale at the very sight of a crucifix.
Never mind that sheikhs who froth about homos and whores who show their knees in public could still snaffle an invite to Malcolm Turnbull’s Ramadan knees-up at the Lodge. There’s Christians afoot!
Rumours of a happy clapper religious coup began when someone anonymously tweeted this week:
“Australia’s population. 25.5 million. Hillsong has 43,000 members in Australia. 0.0019% of the population. Federal Cabinet has 22 members. 13 are Hillsong posse. 59.09% of the cabinet. Not concerned? You should be. Digest the numbers.”
The numbers should not be digested. They should be spat out, because they are patently false.
That hasn’t stopped the left getting all in a lather about an imminent happy-clapper coup. We’re just a Richard Dawkins polemic away from turning into a Handmaid’s Tale dystopia.
It all seemed to start when The Bulletin tweeted a McCarthyite list of known or suspected Hillsong operatives in Cabinet. One which, frankly, they’ve apparently pulled out of their arse.
Not even Scott Morrison is a member of Hillsong. He attends a different Pentecostal church. Stuart Robert, Minister for Government Services, is also a non-Hillsong Pentecostal.
And that’s it.
Of the other cabinet members, their religious beliefs range from Catholic, to Anglican, to “Agnostic Libertarian”.
But The Bulletin’s little Protocols of the Elders of Hillsong sent the Twitter left into a characteristic frenzy. Not from any old bottom-dwellers in the Twitter sewer, mind you. The great and good of the left elite gleefully joined in the virtual progrom.
In case you are tempted to dismiss this Hillsong-derangement syndrome as affecting only a bunch of crazy nameless trolls, former senior public servant and policy maker Paul Barratt retweeted the smear and added:
“Given the low number of Hillsongers in the population, the numbers gaining pre-selection and the numbers appointed to Ministerial office seem wildly improbable statistically – there has to be co-ordination of effort.”
Former Courier-Mail senior journalist Terry Sweetman threw chum into the social media water, tweeting:
“Remember when Tony Abbott’s cabinet had at least eight Catholics out of 19 members, far in excess of the 22.6 percent of Catholics in the general population. Must be Hillsong’s turn.”
He was duly rewarded with, at last count, 108 retweets and more than 400 ‘likes’.
Barrister David Ewart tweeted:
“More people follow Collingwood than Hillsong how would you like it if they made policy?”
Now it’s tempting to imagine how much money might be diverted to dental care if Collingwood members were setting government policy, but I digress.
Mr Ewart didn’t mention which government policy Hillsong was setting. He also neglected to mention that Collingwood has more members than both the ALP and the Liberal Party.
Not only is this undisguised bigotry ominous enough, with its whole, “first they came for the Pentecostals” vibe, but it also – yet again – highlights the shocking double-standards of the Twit-Left.
This week it’s Pentecostals.
Next week it will be an even less fashionable religious minority that is attacked by the baying mob.
And eventually you’ll end up with enough people agreeing that “We need to out who in Cabinet and Parliament are Hillsong/Pentecostalists”, as one woman – getting that ‘round up the Jews’ vibe going – tweeted enthusiastically.
Replace “Hillsong/Pentecostal” from the aforementioned tweet with the word “gay” or “trans” or “Muslim” (or any other identity for that matter) and tell me if you’d be allowed to get away with it.
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