“All who hate me [God] love death” (Proverbs 8:36). The two always go together, and we see this perfectly on display in the People’s Republik of Victoria. The Hyper leftist Labor Government under Daniel Andrews keeps on pushing a radical secular left agenda, dragging the state down with it.
In just the past few days we have had ultra-draconian laws being pushed through attacking the rights of Christians and the unborn. Within days of banning hymns and religious instruction in Victorian schools it has done a North Korea imitation by banning free speech for those concerned about the slaughter of unborn babies.
Christmas carols: too religious for schools? While Jingle Bells is safe, Little Drummer Boy, may not make the cut. According to new Victorian education guidelines, children in state schools can sing carols in class, but only if they’re not hymns. State school students can sing Christmas carols in class time, but they can’t sing hymns.
And honey-dipped apples are allowed for Jewish New Year, but programs that use the Koran and bible are banned from class time. The Andrews government has released detailed new guidelines for special religious instruction in state schools, after announcing in August that it would scrap the controversial program from the curriculum.
Under the new rules, which come into effect in January, the 30-minute classes must be delivered during lunchtime, or before or after school. A ministerial directive says principals must ensure SRI providers do not entice students with treats and rewards. Teachers still have to supervise the classes and SRI instructors “must not attempt to convert students”.
The state’s largest SRI provider, Access Ministries, has described the new policy as “ambiguous and confusing”.
“When we sing a Christmas carol, that is based on a biblical story. Do you need permission to sing a Christmas carol?,” Access Ministries spokesman Rob Ward asked.
Yep, can’t have those nasty hymns which proclaim God’s love for the world and the need to love your neighbour as yourself. That is just too dangerous for the God-haters like Andrews. And his hatred of the unborn is just as great – as is his hatred of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
And in the wee hours of this morning the secular leftists in Labor (and sadly also in the Liberal party to a lesser extent) voted to hand a crushing blow to free speech:
Aggressive anti-abortion protesters have been banned from picketing around clinics in Victoria. A law passed by the Legislative Council early this morning after 12 hours of debate, will see 150m buffer zones created around all fertility clinics in Victoria.
The move was vehemently opposed by eight MPs including Liberal members Inga Peulich and Bernie Finn along with Democratic Labour Party Dr Rachel Carling-Jenkins. The bill was passed at 2am this morning. The prolonged vote follows the legislation being debated until 4.30am on Wednesday morning. Sex Party MP Fiona Patten pushed for the changes.
The amendments to the Health and Wellbeing Act were put forward by Health Minister Jill Hennessy earlier this year. The bill was introduced after Sex Party MP Fiona Patten introduced a similar bill to the upper house last month that would ban people from protesting within 150m of fertility clinics. The Government chose to work with the Sex Party to ensure the legislation was passed.
This is a sad day for Victoria. This is a sad day for babies. This is a sad day for freedom. One has to applaud the courageous work of Finn, Peulich, Carling-Jenkins and others who defended free speech and the fundamental right of life for every Victorian baby.
Finn told the Parliament just hours ago that 12 months in jail for offering to help people was something more suitable to North Korea than Australia. Quite so. Indeed, he had been at the forefront of this debate. Part of his speech from two days ago is worth sharing here:
Next February I will have been a very proud member of the Liberal Party for 35 years. I must have joined when I was very, very young. I am a Liberal because I believe in freedom. I believe in freedom of speech, I believe in freedom of assembly, I believe in freedom of religion and I believe in freedom of choice. This bill offends all four of those freedoms.
To begin with this evening I would like to congratulate my colleagues in the Australian Capital Territory, the Liberal members of the Legislative Assembly in the ACT who have voted as a party to oppose a similar piece of legislation to the one we are debating now. They have voted to oppose that legislation on the basis that they, too, support freedom. I congratulate the ACT Liberals on the stand they have taken.
This bill is another example of the hypocrisy of the left. We hear so often from those on the left that they believe in freedom of speech. We hear so often from those on the left that they believe in civil liberties. We hear so often from those on the left that they respect other people’s rights to do this, that and the other thing. And of course they do — until somebody disagrees with them, and then that respect disappears out the door. That is something we have come to expect. They will not tolerate dissent, and this bill is another example of what I am talking about.
I have been a victim of this many times over the years when I have expressed views and been attacked — at times violently — as a result of this. I think the most public example of that was just two years ago when I led the March for the Babies through Melbourne. About 5000 or 6000 of us — families, old people, young people — were attacked. Many of us were physically assaulted. We were ambushed, in fact, by a group of thugs — hooligans representing the abortion industry in this state. I do not say that people in the abortion industry were actually involved. They are cleverer than that; they send others to do their dirty work. Those who were involved in the assaults and the savagery that day were the ones I saw riding bikes into old people, the ones who left a bruise on my daughter’s cheek that she had for two weeks after that. They were the ones who are apparently so very, very tolerant of different views and indeed would be very supportive of this legislation tonight.
So we come to the question of: who exactly is pushing this legislation? I have to say that I get a lot of emails. We have been getting a lot of emails about a lot of things lately. I think last night another group started on another thing, and I have been getting a lot of emails on that today.
I have to say that in my 16 years in this Parliament I have not received one single email or piece of mail — in the old days, by snail mail — or at any stage had any representation from anybody asking me to introduce bubble zones, as they are called, around abortion clinics.
Who then is pushing this? I think it is a fair enough question to ask. First of all, it is a hardline, left-wing government we have in this state. I do not think there is any doubt that anybody could argue in this case that we have as Premier of this state the most hardline, ideological, left-wing individual who has ever held the position of Premier of this state. This bloke makes Joan Kirner look like a softy.
He concluded his speech with these words:
I can assure the house that if this bill stands as it is, there are more than enough people ready to go to the High Court to strike it down, because this bill is a conflict. It is an attack on freedom of speech and an attack on freedom of religion in this state as well. I can assure Mr Dalidakis, Mr Herbert, Ms Shing and the rest of them over there that they cannot legislate away opponents of abortion. They can try, but it is not going to happen because we are not going to go away. We stand for life, we stand for women, we stand for babies and, tonight of all nights, we stand for freedom.
Thank God for Bernie Finn and the few others who stood for truth, for life, and for freedom. As Victoria gets increasingly dark with anti-Christian bigotry and anti-life animus, these brave souls stand forth as bright and shining lights. God bless you – you are champions.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/psalm-things-are-off-limits-at-schools-but-not-christmas-carols-20151124-gl6svm.html
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/antiabortion-buffer-zone-laws-introduced-by-victorian-parliament/news-story/6f19a39d7b4de26335c7e0e0fd85e06b
[1454 words]