Protecting the Bad Guys

I’ve started reading our book of the month, ‘Being the Bad Guys’ by Stephen McAlpine, and it’s reminded me of just how much our society has changed in its attitude to religious people.

There was a time when we were tolerated for being nice, and maybe useful, but then before too long, we started to be seen as restricting the freedoms of our society with our views.

The book reminds me of the strategy that we adopted, where we thought that we could now become one of many voices in the marketplace of ideas, finally having the chance for our views to rise like cream to the surface.

However, that’s not happened: we’ve become the ‘bad guys’, and far too often, we and others have become ‘cancelled’.

Whether or not people think that Christians are wise or dangerous, I believe that silencing the voices of opposing views is something that our society should resist at all costs.

We should be pleased to tolerate the views of people we disagree with, so that we can be humble enough to learn from others.

That is a healthy society, and this genuine tolerance needs to be encouraged at every level.

That’s why the Religious Discrimination Bill that was introduced this week in Federal Parliament is so important for atheists and believers, alike.

Our society needs to restrain its natural desire to ‘cancel’ opposing views at the drop of a hat, and to instead allow different voices to speak in a safe way.

Furthermore, it makes perfect sense to continue to legally protect the choice of religious schools to employ staff who share the beliefs and ethos of their faith.

This bill appears to be a sensible move forward for our nation, especially as we continue to become more and more multicultural and diverse in our land.

Let us pray that our nation would listen to each other, and ultimately, speak the truth in love.

JODIE McNEILL