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Sleeper cells and Australian election victory

By Spencer Gear - posted Tuesday, 21 May 2019


She previously wrote to ScoMo:

God impressed on my heart – that once the election date was announced, we should stand together and call 21 days of Pray[er] & Fasting. Through the Bible, Prayer and Fasting has (sic) impacted the course of history and adjusted the spiritual course of Nations. I'm reminded of – 'If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land' (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Let our united prayer be: 'Thank you Father that the righteous rule in our Nation of Australia, in Jesus Name. Amen'.

On 15 April, the Australian Prayer Network began 30 days of prayer for the nation and the 2019 election. This prayer included 'asking God's forgiveness for where we have in the past failed to collectively pray for our national leaders and Government'.

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These are some of the 'quiet Australians' who were praying and acting behind the scene, seeking God's action for his intervention in the government of the nation.

Freedom of religion

The agenda of the ALP and the Greens threatened freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Only 5 days out from the election, The Catholic Weekly, warned: ''ALP-Greens win would be a disaster for Catholics'. Why?

The ALP policy pamphlet A Fair Go for LGBTIQ Australianssigned by Bill Shorten does not equivocate when it states 'A Shorten Labor Government will amend the Sex Discrimination Act to remove the exemptions that permit religious schools to discriminate against students and staff on the basis of their sexuality or gender identity'….

There is also no doubt what the Greens Party intends to do if it forms an alliance with an incoming ALP Government. Its policy also denies religious freedom when it states, 'The Greens will protect LGBTIQ+ rights in law, through a Charter of Rights and by legislating to remove religious exemptions in federal and state anti-discrimination laws'.

After the election, this led The Age (20 May) to report that 'Christian leaders say religious freedom was among factors that influenced voters'.

Before the election (8 May), Martyn Isles, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) confirmed the:

…ALP's legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus [stated] a Shorten government would remove important legal protections for religious schools.

'This is out of step with what Tanya Plibersek said last week when she seemed to show a willingness to support religious schools' right to teach their values, and employ staff that faithfully represent those values,' commented Mr Iles.

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'Religious freedom for schools remains a critical issue for millions of Australians, and so far, it has been sidelined from the election campaign', he stated.

Labor and the Greens should have seen this coming. They were warned before the election, 'Parents of Christian school students urged to vote for religious freedom'. SBS reported 329 Christian schools had sent a pamphlet to parents whose children attended those schools. Mark Spencer, Christian Schools Australia national executive officer, told SBS News, 'We have to be very careful, we've provided the policy information and it's really up to parents to work out which parties are going to protect their values'.

Mr Spencer said this was an unprecedented move and 'we have certainly ramped it up a lot because this issue is so important to us'.

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About the Author

Spencer Gear PhD (University of Pretoria, South Africa) is a retired counselling manager, independent researcher, retired minister of the The Christian & Missionary Alliance of Australia, and freelance writer living in Brisbane Qld, Australia.

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