I’m about as far from religious as you get. The only reason I wouldn’t describe myself as atheist is because it is as arrogant to be certain there is nothing as it is to be religiously certain of a higher being.
I guess that makes me agnostic: the cop-out position to take.
But the mocking of Scott Morrison for his evangelical views is unbecoming. More importantly, there is every chance it causes a backlash amongst mainstream religious Australians. Of which there are millions. Those doing the mocking are broadly mocking these millions of Australians as well.
Pentecostalism barely makes up one per cent of the Australian population. To be sure it is a fringe religion, albeit a growing one. And one with powerful congregations in outer metropolitan marginal electorates.
Morrison is the first such leader anywhere in the world, quite the achievement for a sect that rates personal success as highly as Pentecostals do.
Were our PM a member of a different minority faith in this country, especially a non-Christian one, the same people making fun of him now probably wouldn’t do so. They would regard such mockery as out of line. Political correctness rightly would have curtailed their bad behaviour.
Were he Muslim, Hindu or Taoist for example, Morrison probably wouldn’t have been elected in the first place, courtesy of societal prejudices. And others would have mocked him, just not those doing it now.
Don’t get me wrong, by all means point out the hypocrisy of Morrison’s faith and public policy settings. For example the lack of Christian compassion the Coalition shows to asylum seekers for example. Or the many weighed down by Robodebts the government fought so hard to avoid admitting fault over.
But that is a different exercise to childishly mocking the PM for holding religious views that aren’t mainstream. The irony, however, is that mainstream religious types watching the pile on (here we go again) online and in certain corners of the commentariat against the PM are only likely to get their backs up about such treatment.
Essentially what is happening is this: secular types are taking their opportunity to sink the boot in because someone they already don’t particularly like doesn’t hide his faith.
I don’t like much about religion every bit as much as the next secular passer-by. I see the hypocrisy, the institutional abuses and the attitude, especially amongst mainstream religions, that they are above the law and beyond the changing norms of society. I have battled these prejudices on issues such as same sex marriage, gender rights and asylum seekers for many years.
But that healthy disagreement and holding to account is a long way from base mocking of hand gestures and evangelical words happening now.
Peter van Onselen is a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Western Australia and Griffith University.
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