Australia
All posts tagged Australia
Australia will be voting the 18th May, 2019 for a new Federal Government which means also a new Prime Minister. Bill Shorten is the leader of the Australian Labor Party and is seeking the PM position after being the leader of the opposition for six years.
Now, the main purpose of this article is what Bill Shorten said in the third PM debate. 
‘Mr Shorten then surprised by arguing strongly for religious freedoms, before adding he doesn’t believe in Hell.
“People should be free to practise their religion,” Mr Shorten said.
“… Mr Morrison is right. It’s a contractual negotiation at one level, but I’m uneasy about where that debate’s gone.
“On one hand, I think Israel Folau is entitled to his views. And he shouldn’t suffer an employment penalty for it … But I also think that we’ve got to be mindful about the other side of the equation.
“People putting out on social media that if you’re gay you’re going to go to Hell, I get that’s what he genuinely believes.
“I don’t think if you’re gay you’re going to go to Hell. I don’t know if Hell exists actually. But I don’t think if it does that being gay is what sends you there. So I am uneasy.”’ https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/election-2019/2019/05/09/no-need-to-get-nasty-pm-and-labor-leader-trade-policy-blows-in-final-leaders-debate/
So, Bill Shorten doesn’t believe in Hell but he does claim to be a Christian. ‘“I am a Christian and a supporter of marriage equality under the law”. – Bill Shorten’ https://www.eternitynews.com.au/archive/kind-christian-bill-shorten/
What is scary in what Shorten and the present Prime Minister say is that they believe in religious freedom but if your religious beliefs are verbally voiced, such as Israel Folau’s were, then that can be hate speech. PM Morrison said “Free speech is one of our fundamental freedoms, so is religious freedom. I feel this very strongly. I mentioned it in my maiden speech to the Parliament. If you’re not free to believe, what are you free to do in this country?”
“Freedom of speech is important, but we have to exercise it responsibly and exercise it in a society such as ours with civility and due care and consideration to others.”
Now, what did Israel Folau say? 
To a Bible-believing Christian all Israel did was quote the Bible and say what it means and that is, those that commit such sins will not go to Heaven! However, it must be admitted that those words would not go well with those committing those sins. For instance, Alan Joyce of Qantas Airlines (which is also a sponsor of the team Israel plays for) is a Sodomite and he personally took offense. Does that mean Israel doesn’t have the liberty to say what he believes? Joyce as head of Qantas had plenty to say when Australia was getting ready to vote for so-called same-sex marriage. Even though Joyce’s words offended many who did not hold his view he had the freedom to state what he believed. The same should be for Israel Folau!
But, my point in all of this is Bill Shortens statement ‘I don’t know if Hell exists’. Therefore, let me seek to show that according to the Bible there is a place of torment waiting for unrepentant sinners.
First, what makes mankind different from all other creatures? Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. That statement carries a lot with it which would take more time than we have here but one thing it is saying is that man is eternal. No other creature is said to be in the image of God other than mankind! It is this God of which it is said in Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity…
God is eternal and mankind will live eternally with Him, which is called ‘eternal life’ or live that which is called the ‘second death’ in Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Some will argue over interpretations but taking the PLAIN SENSE of Scripture certainly makes COMMON SENSE. Paul declared we are to be “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” which is Scripture compared with Scripture.
In concluding, there are at least three things that stand out here.
- Both men seeking the office of PM say they are Christians. PM Morrison is a member of a Pentecostal church and Shorten of an Anglican church. Pentecostals historically have believed in a real hell but contemporary Anglicans perhaps not so much. Nevertheless, whether one believes or does not believe there is a real hell doesn’t do away with the reality of such a place.
- Freedom of speech should not even be questioned in a free society! Whether one’s speech, written or verbalized, disagrees with another person’s lifestyle or beliefs shouldn’t restrict one’s freedom of speech!
- It seems that the stimulus for freedom to live less moral lives, such as men having sex with men, has an impact on many other things including the freedom of speech.
The future is in the hands of the God of Heaven and earth but we are still responsible for making proper and correct choices. Our governments here in the West do not seem to be making the right choices.
When 9/11 occurred Islam began its walk toward domination. Western Governments have capitulated in so many areas to Islam that it is impossible to state them all here. This video is just one example of how near an Islamic Caliphate may be here in Australia.
After the New Zealand mosque shootings, the New Zealand Government seems to have submitted itself to Islam so a New Zealand Caliphate is just a matter of time. It can, therefore, be assumed that perhaps the New Zealand experience is just a precursor to what is going to occur soon right here in Australia.
If are a conservative and you live in New South Wales this is a must watch! There is a lot on the line when you vote this Saturday. 23 March.
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
I don’t know what you think but a good clean joke or cartoon can change one’s attitude and even their day! Well, the PC police are out to make sure jokes, cartoons and other forms of entertainment are what they believe is politically correct even if that means they are disgusting, dumb, dopey, and in Hillary Clinton’s words deplorable. For instance ‘During the January 16 episode of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, the Comedy Central host slimes Second Lady Karen Pence for teaching at a school that promotes “Biblical Morality.” Noah begins the segment by insinuating that both Karen and husband VP Mike Pence secretly have disturbing sexual fetishes. He jokes, “Moving on to other hiring news, Mike Pence’s wife Karen or ‘Mother’ as she’s called during their BDSM late-night kink sessions, announced she is going back to work.
Netflix’s first season of Sex Education pushes hard for pro-abortion propaganda in January. The show — about a son coming to terms with his mother being a sex advice columnist and eventually deciding to take up her mantle in his high school community — is no doubt steeped in progressive and new age-y sexual themes involving teenagers.
The worst theme involves female character Maeve undergoing an abortion, and the procedure is presented in a healthy, coming-of age way. After the procedure, Maeve meets up with Otis, a love interest who has brought her flowers to celebrate. She tells him, “Nothing says happy abortion like a bouquet.” https://www.lifenews.com/2019/02/11/33-tv-shows-in-january-slam-terrorist-trump-but-praise-abortion/
Well, in the Land Down Under the PC police wouldn’t think of stopping the above ‘garbage’ but they are slapping the hands of the cartoonists they believe are being racist.
For instance, ‘Another News Corp cartoonist is under fire for what has been described as a racist depiction of asylum seekers in Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph.
Warren Brown weighed into the debate on the medical evacuation of people from Manus
Island and Nauru detention centres with a cartoon that depicted a crazed Arab chasing a white, female health professional.
It also shows key backer of ‘medivac’ laws, independent MP and doctor Kerryn Phelps, reading the bill while telling the ‘refugee’ “do you mind not doing that until I’ve got the bill passed”.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, the cartoon had yet to appear on The Daily Telegraph website or Brown’s social media platforms.
Online, the criticism was scathing, with many posters on Twitter noting that News Corporation has form in depicting racial stereotypes.’
Now, is it wrong to draw a cartoon depicting the way some may perceive what is being played out in Parliament and what the result might be? This cartoon may be telling the truth but even if it is not should it be banned? However, there probably would be no ‘scathing criticism’ about any cartoon if it was portraying a conservative politician seeking to pass a bill and a person carrying a Bible!
However, I digress for this ‘…latest controversy comes after veteran Herald-Sun cartoonist Mark Knight rejected suggestions last September that his depiction of American tennis champion Serena Williams was racist, saying those condemning him were “making stuff up”.
HIs contentious cartoon came after Williams lost to Japan’s Naomi Osaka after being given three code violations. Mr. Knight’s cartoon shows Williams stamping on her racquet with a dummy on the ground and the umpire telling Osaka, “Can you just let her win?”.
The outrage that following the work prompted the newspaper to publish a front page full of Mr. Knight’s cartoons saying “Welcome to PC world. Satire free zone”.
To date, there has been no Press Council adjudication on complaints made about that cartoon.
In 2016, the late cartoonist with The Australian, Bill Leak escaped sanction from the Press 
Council over a cartoon depicting an Aboriginal father unable to recall his son’s name.‘ https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/02/12/criticism-racist-news-corp-cartoon/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PM%20Update%2020190212
Let’s be frank, not all cartoons, not all jokes, and not all books are created equal. The point is, who or what is the Australian Press Council to say what a cartoonist should draw or not draw? You nor I have to watch a television programme, read an article or look at a cartoon if we do not want to! So far anyway, we aren’t forced to! There are many articles, jokes, tv shows, ads, cartoons, etc. etc. that are offensive to Christian conservatives but are they going to do what Muslims did to Charlie Hebdo? No, they are not!
However, in this writer’s opinion, if those in charge of television programming and printed cartoons had some true blue old fashioned character some of the rubbish written, verbalized, and put on air today would soon disappear. Now, that’s only my opinion!
There are certain foods one must grow up eating. Vegemite is such food for it has its own particular smell and taste! Anyway, ‘THE tiny town of Beaufort, Victoria, has a well kept secret, and it tastes like an 
Australian icon.
Ten minutes north of Beaufort, in Chute, the man who invented Vegemite was born and raised.
Cyril Callister was born in 1893 and spent his early years there in a house that is still standing.
The fact is not widely known but the Beaufort Progress Association wants to change that – beginning with Australia Day 2019.
“With Australia Day coming, what do we all think about?” Association president Liza Robinson said.
“We think about our traditions, we think about Vegemite, Anzac biscuits, our flag, and all 
that stuff.”
Beaufort’s cafés and hotels will be offering Vegemite-themed food, including Vegemite flavoured sausages, cheese and Vegemite scrolls, and more.’ https://www.theland.com.au/story/5862663/celebrate-the-man-who-invented-vegemite/?src=rss&utm_email=1ec342a17f&utm_source=The+Land+Newsletters&utm_campaign=e88cb54e2d-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ade9099b1a-e88cb54e2d-114568689
Beaufort Progress Association members Liza Robinson and Sarah Beaumont with the iconic product outside the first home of its inventor.
What scares me most is not so much Ocasio-Cortez and her socialist ideas but those who voted her in!
‘According to an eye-popping PJ Media analysis based on a new report from Power the Future, the “Green New Deal” proposed by democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) would cost more than 8,000 times as much as President Donald Trump’s border wall.
The “Green New Deal” will cost approximately $49,109 trillion in the first ten years, enough to fund Trump’s border wall 8,616 times over. The president is requesting $5.7 billion for the wall.
PJ Media calculated the cost of the “Green New Deal” by integrating each of the cost aspects involved in a Power the Future analysis and calculating their cost for the U.S. over about ten years — and in one case through 2050.
According to Ocasio-Cortez, the “Green New Deal” will force America to transition to an economy run from 100 percent renewable energy. Christopher Clark, a physicist who has studied rapid deployments of renewable energy, told The Hill that building this kind of generating capacity would cost “at least $2 trillion.”
Ocasio-Cortez has also called for a smart power grid to replace the U.S. power grid, an estimated cost of $338 billion on the low end ($476 billion on the high end), according to the Electric Power Research Institute. This kind of transition may be a good idea in general, but it drives up the cost of the “Green New Deal” nonetheless.
The proposal would also call for decarbonization of U.S. industries — a massive task. According to a June 2018 study from McKinsey and Company, the cost to decarbonize steel, cement, ethylene, and ammonia manufacturing worldwide is between $11 trillion and $21 trillion through 2050. It remains unclear exactly how long this would take for U.S. markets, but calculating the U.S. percentage of each industry and applying that industry’s percentage of the global $11 trillion cost should provide a ballpark figure.
The U.S. produces roughly 5 percent of the world’s steel, 1.8 percent of the world’s cement, 18.6 percent of the world’s ethylene, and 6.3 percent of the world’s ammonia. The McKinsey study did not explicitly break down the exact cost of decarbonizing each separate industry, but cement roughly contributed 60 percent of the cost, with steel contributing roughly 25 percent, ammonia roughly 5 percent, and ethylene roughly 10 percent. Applying these numbers to the U.S. production yields $496.3 billion.’ More of this insanity may be read at https://pjmedia.com/trending/ocasio-cortezs-green-new-deal-would-cost-more-than-the-gdp-of-most-countries/?utm_source=PJMCoffeeBreak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=January2019
Here in Australia, the leftists believe pretty much the same thing. In New South Wales the so-called Energy Minister is ‘…a sanctimonious windbag, is part of a small and insidious clique of Liberal politicians and lobbyists heavily invested in the renewable energy scam. His recent unhinged rantings sound more like what might be heard at a Green party RE love in, rather than what should be emanating from a Minister in a notionally conservative government, claiming the pretense of caring about industry, jobs and growth.
Among the complete and utter nonsense spouted about Australia’s self-inflicted energy debacle, Harwin made the ludicrous statement that wind and solar are more reliable than the conventional generation sources, gas and coal. Perhaps the sun never sets on Harwin? And he can never have seen a graphic like the one above: the output from every wind turbine connected to Australia’s Eastern Grid last month.’ https://stopthesethings.com/2019/01/05/delusional-nsw-energy-minister-claims-wind-solar-more-reliable-than-coal-gas/
Why, are these elected officials so determined to take society back to the dark ages? I personally believe; (1) they are servants of the Devil. God has provided mankind with not only a mind that has thought through those methods to bring forth the machines that have made our lives better but God has given us the natural resources such as coal and gas that power most of the things that make our lives better. (2) They are at war with God. (3) They believe IF there is a God they are wiser than God is!
Well, they have a hard lesson to learn and all my ranting and writing will probably not stop these buffoons but I know He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
The other day THE LAND carried an article by the Very Reverend Dr Peter Catt. Here it is in a very abbreviated form. 
‘When it comes to climate change, religious leaders of all faiths are increasingly of one mind.’
‘Now, a multi-faith campaign to stop new coal mining, run by the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) is gathering momentum. It includes Indigenous, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish and Christian leaders from all around Australia. They are speaking with one voice about taking urgent, emergency action on climate change. This is much more than a political or even a scientific issue. It is a profoundly moral one.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says global coal use must drop by at least 59 per cent in the next 12 years if we are to avoid catastrophe.’ https://www.theland.com.au/story/5789102/climate-change-is-indeed-a-moral-problem/?src=rss&utm_email=1ec342a17f&utm_source=The+Land+Newsletters&utm_campaign=e9286c4b32-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ade9099b1a-e9286c4b32-1145686
Is Climate Change a religion? It would seem that it is. Knowing there would be false gospels Paul said even if ‘…an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.’
It was a surprise to read the good Reverend saying “When it comes to climate change, religious leaders of all faiths are increasingly of one mind.” Wow! He assuredly cannot say that concerning the Christian faith of which he claims to be a practitioner of.
The Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) was something new to these ears but with a little search, it’s Internet presence was found https://www.progressivechristians.org.au/. At their website, they have a page where they may be contacted. This I did by quoting Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
ARRCC’s chair replied:
‘Dear David
I received your message via the contact system, thank you. Genesis 8: 22 is reassuring. I agree that the earth will remain, but ARRCC is quite concerned that humanity’s greed and carelessness means we may be facing the end of times for our own species and we will take many other species with us. It’s happening already. There are plenty of other readings which align with the experience of waters rising, species extinctions, more wild fires, etc and these are linked in the Bible to human sin.
Hosea 4:3 …’Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.’
Luke 21:25-26 …’and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.’
Our hope is in the many millions of people around the world who want to prevent environmental destruction from happening or who, as believers, also want to restore God’s rule on earth. We do our best to be among those people. Want to be among those who are trying to save humanity from itself?
Kind regards’
My Reply:
‘Dear Thea,
Thank you for such a quick reply. I am amazed you used the Bible to promote your cause for those passages quoted have nothing to do with climate change! Here, are some observations concerning the passages quoted.
1. Hosea 4 speaks of God’s dealing with Israel and their sins. Hosea is showing Israel what the grounds were for God’s contention with them, (Hosea 4:1,2) speaks of a general prevalence of vice and profaneness in the land, and (Hosea 4: 3) is the consequence of this contention God has with Israel. This has NOTHING to do with climate change. However, God will someday judge this world because of people’s reluctance to repent of their sins and acknowledge Him as God; Revelation 6: 9-17; 16:9-16.
2. Luke 21: 25-26 also has absolutely NOTHING to do with climate change. Luke 21:25 follows verse 24 which speaks of when the times of the Gentiles ‘be fulfilled.’ When they are then ‘there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring’.
Luke 21:26 speaks of these signs shaking men to their very heart.
Then in Luke 21:27 there will be seen the Son of man (the Lord Jesus Christ) ‘coming in a cloud with power and great glory.’ All of this future judgment is of God on men for their forsaking His Son the Lord Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection as (1) payment for their sins, and as (2) their personal Saviour from the penalty of their sins.
However, we MUST take notice that there will come a tumultuous time of political, religious, and climatic change to this world and those days are explained in Revelation 8, 9, 11-20. It MUST be also noted that the climatic changes that will be coming upon this earth are brought about by man’s rebellion against God! All the solar and wind turbines will NOT keep this world from the impending judgment of God! For, as the Lord Jesus said to the religious of His day ‘except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish’ and the same holds true today.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Looking for that Blessed Hope,
David Bennett’
So far no reply but from my perspective, these religious folk at the ARRCC are similar to those to whom the Lord spoke in Mattew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Those at the ARRCC and their so-called concern for the environment hit a chord with many in today’s society but their singing is off key as far as the Word of God is concerned. Those who know the Lord as personal Saviour are ‘…to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.’
However, ‘…the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness…’ After reading much of what is contained on the ARRCC website those associated with ARRCC seem to be an embodiment of that last verse!
