Anatomy of a dispute

Rather than starting with topics like jihad and dhimmitude as important as these topics may be, a more profitable approach is likely to begin with the very different conception Islam holds of their god Allah compared to God’s own self revelation recorded in the Bible. Everything we know and observe that is so disturbing about Islam flows from their false understanding of the nature of God.

And we always need to remind ourselves that the Muslim is our neighbour in need of Christ, even as we are disconcerted by specific Islamic teaching or reflect upon the terrible ongoing persecution of Christians in majority Muslim lands.

Where to now with religious vilification law?

As much as Christians may dislike the Victorian law, it is not going to disappear any time soon. The government should be quietly pleased by the outcome.

This is not to say other governments will now follow suit. On the contrary, the uproar over free speech resulting from this dispute scuttled any plans by other state governments to bring in Victorian-style religious vilification legislation.

While the settlement between the parties in this case does not constitute a precedent binding on VCAT or a court, the clause concerning the right to “robustly debate religion, including the right to criticise the religious belief of another”, does point to the likely settlement of the case in favour of the two pastors had mediation failed. This observation is strengthened further by the government's amendment of the Act in 2006 to include proselytising as “a genuine religious purpose”. This amendment implicitly includes the comparison of two religions, and therefore criticising one and advancing another in the course of that comparison.

Does this mean Christians have nothing to fear from the Act?

A lawyer who provided expert legal advice for our approach to government has this to say in response:

The Act as amended still leaves a defendant with the burden of proving that they acted reasonably and for a genuine religious purpose. Even if criticism of another religion can now come within a genuine religious purpose, persons doing that retain the burden of proof to show that they acted reasonably in doing so and that their actions were part of a genuine religious purpose. In short, much of the sting has been removed for the time being but there are still traps to be wary of.

In the meantime we need to strengthen ourselves in our Trinitarian and Christ-centred faith so that we all may have courage to lift our heads out of the bunkers and robustly contend for the faith with Muslims, atheists or whoever, for make no mistake, in a day of general declension, we have the truth about God, ourselves, and the life well pleasing to God and neighbour.