Fury at religious freedom Bill just vacuous virtue signalling

Labor MPs inventing imaginary children in a bid to attack a Bill designed to protect Christians from persecution is virtue signalling at its worst.

It’s the ultimate in vacuous virtue signalling. Now Labor MPs are inventing imaginary children to attack a Bill to protect Christians and other believers from very real persecution.

The opposition to the Morrison government’s religious freedom bill is really that stupid.

In Australia today, if you believe the critics, there’s a transgender child about to be thrown out of their school by religious bigots, thanks to this government.

“Transgender students won’t be protected from expulsion,” wails the ABC.

“Let’s not do something in the name of freedom of religion that does damage or harm to those of us who we love,” pleaded Labor frontbencher Stephen Jones, in a speech that a host on the supposedly impartial ABC called “powerful”: “Everybody should look it up.”

Stop the hype. There’s not one known example of a school here expelling a child for being transgender, and I doubt there will be. I trust Australians.

Only last week, a “Christian” school that asked parents to sign a contract agreeing not to enrol transgender children in the first place was forced to back down by people power – a public outrage joined by some of the school’s own parents.

The fury over Morrison’s Bill, promoted by the Christian-hostile ABC, comes from people just striking moral poses.

Sadly, they include some of the Liberals’ own MPs, who have too little respect for Australians’ freedom to practice their faith.

Morrison’s Bill tries to tackle a problem that’s very real, unlike this imaginary child who’s facing expulsion.

Christians, for instance, face a new persecution. Rugby superstar Israel Folau, was driven out of his sport here for quoting the Bible.

The Catholic Archbishop of Tasmania was dragged before an anti-discrimination tribunal for stating his church’s teaching on traditional marriage.

A Melbourne student was threatened with suspension unless she took off her crucifix.

So what triggered the attacks?

Morrison, to ease fears his Bill will license religious bigots, agreed to amend the Sex Discrimination Act to ban schools from expelling students and teachers for their sexual orientation.

He’s also asked for time to study whether transgender students should get the same extra protection.

That was the excuse for all the activists now accusing the government of cruelty to the transgendered, and demanding its religious freedom Bill be scrapped.

This makes as much sense as demanding Morrison stop feeding the poor because he isn’t also curing someone of an illness they haven’t had.

It’s just virtue signalling, and the most cynical politics.