Archbishop Anthony Fisher lashes identity politics in Christmas sermon

Anthony Fisher told the congregation of St Mary’s Cathedral that safe spaces and trigger warnings were “coddling our fragile egos”.

Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher has used his Christmas mass homily to criticise identity politics, saying safe spaces and trigger warnings were “coddling our fragile egos”.

“In an era of avatars and multiple universes, you can be one person at home, another at work, a third on the road and various online,” Archbishop Fisher said to the congregation at St Mary’s Cathedral.

“It’s just code for self-indulgence. We humour our preferences with the excuse it's who we are. No need to abide by laws of faith or reason or to compromise to the needs of others. Safe spaces and trigger warnings coddle our fragile egos. As desires change we can revise our bodies surgically or our beliefs ideologically.”

He said by reducing ourselves to a single attribute, we risked neglecting other important things about ourselves.
“Amid celebrity adoration and identity politics, narcissism is now endemic. Too much focus on identity can be distorting.”

Archbishop Fisher’s comments were backed by Liberal MPs Craig Kelly and Jason Falinski. Mr Falinski used the Archbishop’s Christmas message to question whether humanities courses at major universities should receive government funding.

“(Archbishop Fisher’s message) is consistent with Jonathan Haidt’s critique in his book The Coddling of the American Mind and Jordan Peterson’s view on free speech and identity politics,” Mr Falinski said.

“The evidence that they have gathered is compelling and can only lead to the conclusion that taxpayer funding of such ideologies is state sanctioned harm of people’s long term mental health and life prospects.’’

Mr Kelly said Archbishop Fisher was “right to criticise these things”.

“Identity politics as practised by the Left is racist, sexist and divisive,” Mr Kelly said.

“It corrodes what was once a great strength of our nation: independent thought.”

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce addressed climate change, God and how he’s “sick of the government” in his Christmas message.

The former deputy prime minister filmed his unconventional Christmas video beside a herd of cattle, posting it to Twitter on Tuesday with the title ‘Merry Christmas’.

“You probably wonder what politicians do on Christmas Eve, well when it’s drought, [we] feed cattle,” he said.

“Now you don’t have to convince me that the climate’s not changing. It is changing. And my problem’s always been with you believing a new tax is going to change it back.”

Getting visibly angry he said he didn’t “want the government any more in my life, I’m sick of the government being in my life.”

Merry Christmas pic.twitter.com/QGYPv51pTN

— Barnaby Joyce (@Barnaby_Joyce) December 24, 2019

Mr Joyce also said, while pointing the camera towards the sky, that a “higher authority … right up there in the sky” needed to be respected or “we’re going to get nailed”.

Scott Morrison thanked firefighters and volunteers in his festive message to the country, after a “difficult” year of floods, drought and the ongoing bushfire crisis.

In a recorded message with his wife Jenny, the Prime Minister said he and his family knew it would be “a really difficult Christmas for so many Australians”.

“From the floods up in north Queensland earlier this year to the drought that continues to ravage the country for years now, and of course the bushfires which have been raging since September … despite all of these great challenges Australians have stood up,” Mr Morrison said.

The Prime Minister thanked “all of those who serve our nation”, and paid tribute to the two NSW Rural Fire Service firefighters who died in the line of duty at the Green Wattle Creek fire last week – Andrew O’Dwyer and Geoff Keaton.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese also paid tribute to firefighters, and said that while Christmas was a time to celebrate, it could also be a difficult time for some.

“We think of those empty seats at tables where people have lost loved ones. This is the greatest country on Earth. And the thing that makes it the greatest country on Earth is our people. Our people are resilient. Our people are courageous. Our people are committed to each other and to their local communities. So, at this time in particular, a huge shout-out to those people who fought fires and done themselves, their community and our entire nation a great deal of pride.”

Anglican Primate of Australia – Archbishop Philip Freier – focused on Jesus’ birth in his Christmas message, saying it was both “ordinary and extraordinary”.

“It doesn’t matter who we are or who we will become, this same beginning is shared by all,” Archbishop Freier said.

“At our best and at our worst, the gift of Christmas is here for us all. If you’re tired of the ordinary, make your Christmas a little more extraordinary this year.”