Cory Bernardi’s main man in SA accusing the Greens of enabling Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster devotees
FRINGE religious ideologies would hold sway in an ‘un-Australian’ Senate if compulsory Christian prayers are dropped, says Cory Bernardi’s main man in SA. And it’ll be the Greens’ fault.
CORY Bernardi’s main man in South Australia has lambasted the Greens’ bid to ditch traditional prayer from the Senate in a move that he says encouraged groups like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to criticise Australian values.
Conservative Party SA Senate candidate Rikki Lambert has accused the Greens of wanting to “tear our traditions down” by scrapping the Lord’s Prayer from the start of sittings.
Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon wants the prayer replaced with a statement that reads “Senators, let us in silence pray or reflect upon our responsibilities to all people of Australia and to future generations.”
A Senate Committee was established to consider the proposal and will hand down their findings on Friday.
The Committee has been bombarded with 320 submissions both for and against the proposal including one from South Australia’s Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Mr Lambert said the Greens’ bid to ditch the prayer had opened the door for organisations like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, who say they practice the religion of Pastafarianism, to trash Australian traditions.
“Green activism opens the way to foreign influences and ever-crazier ideologies demanding they also be accommodated,” Mr Lambert said.
“It’s time the Greens took the colander off their heads and started respected Australian tradition, and the best way to do that is to throw them out of Parliament at the next election.”
Senator Rhiannon’s office has been contacted for comment.
In it’s submission to the Senate inquiry Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster spokeswoman Captain Tanya Watkins backed the Green’s move.
“A silent prayer or reflection, as proposed by Senator Lee Rhiannon, will allow all people who identify as Christian, Muslim, Pastafarian, humanist, atheist, agnostic, pagan, the spiritual but not religious, and all other religious and non-religious categories, to feel that the Senate is
also representative of them,” Ms Watkins said.
In 2014 an Adelaide man and Pastafarian lost his bid to be able to wear a colander on his head in his drivers licence picture arguing it was a religious head piece.