Couldn't Help Noticing

Telling the truth can be an offence

(From Briefing reader, Roslyn Phillips, National Research Officer of Festival of Light Australia.)

The long-awaited decision on an appeal by two Christian pastors may have been handed down on 14 December last year but the full implications have yet to hit the nation's headlines. The pastors had appealed against a decision by Judge Higgins of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) that they had vilified Muslims. The alleged vilification had occurred mainly in a 2002 seminar on Islam conducted by Pastor Daniel Scot, but also in a Catch the Fire Ministries newsletter and website article published by Pastor Danny Nalliah.

Three Victorian Supreme Court judges—Nettle, Ashley and Neave—upheld the pastors' appeal, saying that Judge Higgins had erred in interpreting the law. In 2004, Judge Higgins decided that the pastors' presentations about Islam were unbalanced. The Supreme Court ruled that secular courts cannot make theological judgements, and, in any case, truth and balance were irrelevant. Justice Nettle said, “[S]tatements about the religious beliefs of a group of persons could be wholly true and completely balanced and yet be almost certain to incite hatred of the group because of those beliefs” (source). Justice Neave said,

It is ... possible that a person may make true statements about the characteristics associated with a religion eg ‘Muslims have a duty to proselytize’ which may, in particular circumstances, incite hatred. Section 11 of the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act ... does not provide that the fact that words are true takes them outside s.8 of the Act. (Ibid.)

In effect, Justices Nettle and Neave said that laws against inciting hatred, contempt or ridicule can make it an offence to tell the truth where the truth would portray a religion or race in a negative light.

However, Justice Nettle drew a clear distinction between inciting hatred against Muslim beliefs about the Koran, and inciting hatred against Muslims. He said that Judge Higgins had not adequately acknowledged substantial parts of the seminar, newsletter and website article which encouraged listeners and readers to love and respect Muslims and their culture. It should be noted, though, that the other judges did not agree on all points.

The pastors' trauma may be far from over for the complaint against them has not been dismissed—it has been sent back to VCAT where a different judge will reconsider the evidence. But for other Australians, the trauma may only be just beginning.

Anti-vilification laws have been passed in one form or another in parliaments across the country during the past 10 years or so. Victoria enacted the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act in January 2002. Section 8 makes it an offence to “engage in conduct that incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, that other person or class of persons” on the ground of their race or religion. Other states have similar laws relating to the grounds of race or religion and/or sexuality. The South Australian government, for example, is now proposing a law covering over a dozen different grounds, including sex, sexuality, marital status, lawful occupation and area of residence.

However the Victorian Supreme Court has now told us that it could be an offence to tell an unpleasant truth about a person or group on the ground of their race, religion or sexuality. Defamation laws were made uniform throughout Australia only last year. All such laws now state that “truth or substantial truth” is a full defence. So why is truth irrelevant in laws against vilification? And why are church leaders largely silent on this important issue?

Was it not Jesus Christ who said, “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32)?

Sheik’s claims not so shaky?

Sheik Hilaly's comment that white Australians are ‘liars’ should not really be regarded as offensive, despite claims by others. Nor, for that matter, should it be thought inaccurate. Actually, he's right on the money. The Bible says so in Romans 3:13.

What he may be wrong about is any implication that non-white Australians (including members of his community) are not inclined to the same evil. They are. So is he.

As for his claim that Muslims are more entitled to be in Australia than those with a convict heritage, I'm not sure I could advance a compelling argument against his logic there either. Perhaps we could give the Mufti the benefit of the doubt and assume it was also said with a bit of a twinkle in the eye and tongue firmly in cheek? (Apparently he has a ‘wicked’ sense of humour.) No doubt those of Aboriginal heritage, such as the late Eddie Mabo, would regard any sense of ‘entitlement’ to Australia as somewhat spurious from both sides of this curious ‘debate’.

Praying for the Lottery

We live on the border between two states. These two states participate in separate multi-state lotteries, and several times a year, the grand prize money of one of these two “super” lotteries rises to above $100 million. Last week when we drove by a billboard advertising one of these lotteries, we noticed that the jackpot was well over this mark.

The conversation in the car turned to what we would do with that kind of money. God in his mercy has granted both Abby and I generous hearts (especially when thinking about hypothetical money!). So our discussion was mainly about how we could support gospel ministry through various groups and people.

At that moment, my sin got the better of me. I wondered, “Why doesn't God grant us this money?” Unlike others who would probably spend the bulk of the prize on cars and houses, we would use it to support missions and outreach. So why wouldn't God in his wisdom fix the lottery so that we would win?

The following morning my self-righteous bubble burst. While studying the Scriptures, I was reminded of my lack of prayer. What does prayer have to do with this? Well, all the things I had hoped to do with that kind of money God can do through my prayers. The Sovereign God advances the gospel in the way that he sees fit. He doesn't need a lottery prize to accomplish his plans. If what the Bible says about God's definite plan to save the world is true, I shouldn't be spending my time hoping and wishing for grand things to happen through me; I should be praying that God will do (and will keep doing) the great things he has promised through the gospel. Our God is great and merciful: he knows what is needed and he can supply that which is so much better than $100 million, amazing as it sounds.

So now I am trying to make up for my lack of prayer. Abby and I are trying to be faithful in praying for the missionary groups we support. We are trying to be constant in bringing the needs of people involved in gospel ministry—the ones who would have been the recipients of our hypothetical winnings—before our mighty God, day by day.

Prayer just might call into action the generous heart I claim to have.

Drive to serve

As Ian noted in his CHN, there's been a lot of debate and discussion recently regarding restrictions for provisional driver's license holders in New South Wales. For those unfamiliar with the current licensing system here, learner drivers must have 50 hours of driving experience under their belt before they can apply for a provisional P1 license. If they pass the test, drivers stay on the P1 for a minimum of 12 months and they are not allowed to exceed speeds of 90 km/hr. After the successful completion of a second test, drivers progress to the P2 license which they must hold for a minimum of 24 months. They are not allowed to exceed speeds of 100 km/hr. Upon successful completion of a third test, provisional license holders can graduate to a full license. It's quite a contrast to other states in Australia who don't impose as many restrictions on their provisional license holders.

With the highest state road toll for the holiday period in three years, the NSW government is pushing through laws to place further restrictions on provisional license holders. These include more challenging tests, a ban on mobile phone usage (including mobile hands-free kits), regulations about the age and number of passengers, and tougher penalties for speeding.

Some of these reforms sound sensible and helpful, but I couldn't help noticing the absence of the concept of service. “Society is based on service”, wrote D. Broughton Knox in ‘The Gospel and Society’ (Selected works of Broughton Knox (Volume 3): The Christian Life, p. 155), and service stems from God's love of us which motivates us to love one another (1 John 4:11). A driver who loves his passengers isn't likely to drive recklessly and dangerously. A driver who cares about other drivers and pedestrians won't drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol. And a driver concerned about the welfare of children is less likely to speed in a school zone during school hours.

However, as Knox observed in 1976, the modern world is starting to forget that service is essential to society. Just last November a jury was discharged from a criminal trial when one of its members was no longer able to serve because her boss, perhaps as a result of the current workplace relations climate, refused to pay her salary while she was performing her civic duty. As our culture becomes more focused on the individual at the expense of relationship, I suspect that we will see more of the same. It's all the more reason to bring to society the gospel that drives us to serve.

Learning to Drive

In my part of the world, there has been considerable discussion lately of the problem of inexperienced teenage drivers being killed in car accidents, and what to do about it.

Here's a thought:

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Prov 22:6)

By the time they are teenagers, just getting their license, it may well be too late to train them. They have had over a decade of sitting in their parents' cars learning not just how to drive, but what attitude to have to road rules and to other drivers.

How might knowing this change the way you drive with children in the back seat? As you drive, ask yourself this: what are my children learning from me about driving, and will I regret it when they start to drive and when I worry about whether they are going to make it home?

What is the Christian way to drive a car? Love, treating others as you would want to be treated, grace, generosity, forgiveness, and obeying authority are concepts that spring to mind—concepts that would make us very different (‘holy’) drivers on our roads.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pet 1:14-16)