Don Batten, ‘Superstition vs Christian faith’, ibid., 6:

‘Creation’ magazine provides abundant evidence that supports biblical creation.

[I've been reading Creation since its inception and can state, hand on heart, that I have never seen a piece of evidence supporting 'biblical creation' appear in its pages. Bible quotes, yes. Fanciful speculation, most certainly. But not one scintilla of evidence.]

Jim Wallace, Australian Christian Lobby, ‘Cloning vote a tell-tale for Christian constituency’, media release, 4 Dec. 2006:

For the most populous and active part of the Christian constituency, the Patterson (therapeutic cloning) Bill is a direct attack on one of the most fundamental beliefs of Christians - the sanctity of human life.

[Jim represents an indeterminate number of conservative Baptists and Pentecostals, hardly 'the most populous and active part of the Christian constituency'. Opinion polls down the years have indicated strong Christian support for liberalised abortion laws and there's little doubt that most Christians back therapeutic cloning too.]

Pastor David Hodgens, Warrnambool and District Baptist Church, quoted in Matt Neal, ‘Women attack pastor who linked sex assault to “provocative dress”‘, Melbourne Age, 13 Nov. 2006:

Parading ourselves in a sexual way, from a Christian point of view, is reserved for marriage.

[The mind, she boggles.]

Peter Stokes, Salt Shakers, email to supporters, 24 Oct. 2006:

If you want to know why we are having a prolonged drought, [homosexual rights] legislation should be at the top of your list, along with 100,000 abortions and a largely apathetic, lukewarm and compromising church.

[You sure know how to hurt a meteorologist, don't you, Peter?]

Peter Stokes, Salt Shakers, email to supporters, 21 Oct. 2006:

With all undue respect to the Democrats’ strategists, we might well ask just what have they got between their ears?

[That Peter! Always 'speaking the truth in love' (Ephesians 4:15).]

Pastor Danny Nalliah, self-styled ‘polemical Melbourne Christian leader’, Catch the Fire media release, 16 Nov. 2006, regarding the forthcoming Victorian state election:

To Christian believers state-wide, Mr Nalliah says they must NOT VOTE for Labor, Greens or Democrats because of the blatant humanist anti-Christian ideologies and agendas of these political parties … Mr Nalliah said many people, including many Christian pastors and leaders, have confided to him that they fully agree with him on this but then lack the guts to say it as it is.[Nalliah concluded]: ‘Most people are very naive when it comes to voting and need proper leadership and guidance to vote the right way!’

[Nalliah claims that Jesus speaks directly to him and that he sometimes sees God floating in the sky. Whether this qualifies him to direct all Christians on their voting choices, I can't say.]

Brian Handley, (National Civic Council, Australian Family Association, National Party), Moe, Vic., letter in Melbourne Age, 6 Nov. 2006:

I’m sorry, but until I see the ‘hole in the ozone’ with my own eyes, I must remain a sceptic like Andrew Bolt.

[If you think Mr Handley was joking, you haven't read enough of his letters to the editor.]

Nancy Campbell, ‘Fully Female’, Above Rubies, Jun. 2006 (distributed in October), 16:

As females, I believe we should seek to be as feminine as we possibly can. We should glory in our femininity. We should talk femininely … We should walk femininely and train our daughters to do so. We should dress femininely …The man reveals the fatherhood anointing of God. In the divine order of creation God has given him headship … He protects [his wife] from the deceptions of this world so she can walk in security and peace. It is the privilege of the female to submit to this covering and be blessed.

[And if you play your cards right, your husband might follow Danny Nalliah's lead and tell you exactly how to vote.]

Rebecca Barnes, ibid., 24:

Mama’s Apron …

The uniform of the joyful,
The tribute of toil,
The hallmark of the helpmeet,
The modelling of motherhood,
The symbol of feminine servitude …

[I've heard of 'false consciousness', but this is ridiculous!]

Jenni Silliman, ibid., 26, regarding table manners in the Christian household:

… Seconds. Take a modest portion if there is plenty of food. Do not take the last of a dish. It is impolite to take a third helping. Do not take seconds on dessert.Be Polite. Do not read, hum or sing while eating, make rude jokes or be offensive.

[Burping OK? And who gets the last thing on the dish? You?]

Peter and Jenny Stokes, Salt Shakers, Salt Shakers Journal editorial, Nov. 2006, 2:

Have you been persecuted lately? If not, why not?

[Having to read this bilge is persecution enough.]

Salt Shakers, ‘Victorian election - 25 November’, ibid., 13:

… [T]his is a Christian country under Almighty God, not a secular country where we simply make up the rules as we go.

[Are we playing 'true or false'?]

Rev. Fred Nile, Christian Democratic Party, Focus on Parliament, Nov. 2006, 3 (supp. to Family World News [FWN], Nov. 2006):

[Headline] Rev. Nile Supports Anti-Domestic Violence Measures

[Really, Fred? You surprise me. Back in 1976 your 'Festival of Light' organisation had this to say about proposed laws against rape in marriage. It was ludicrous, said the Festival:

... that husbands who have intercourse with their wives without permission are as guilty of rape as the teenage lout who waylays a young girl crossing the park ... A husband who is consistently and unreasonably refused intercourse by a vindictive wife could be pushed into ignoring his wife through fear of reprisal and seek adulterous relationships instead ... The proposed law on rape within marriage threatens the whole concept of the special marriage relationship. (Light magazine, Nov. 1976, 6)

A year later, Fred, you yourself were still describing anti-rape-in-marriage provisions as 'weird' and 'anti-marriage'. (News Weekly, 16 Nov. 1977) Fred, have you changed your mind about violence against women in the domestic context?]

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch, congratulating Fred Nile on 25 years in NSW State Parliament, FWN, Nov. 2006, 10:

[Fred Nile] is arguably the most important Christian politician Australia has known.

[Possibly true. And what an indictment!]

Stephen Chavura, Festival of Light, in Ramon Williams ‘Festival of Light “Changing the Tide”‘, FWN, Nov. 2006, 12:

[Chavura] believes that most of the problems facing Australia now can be traced back to the decay of the family. The trends noted were based on ‘incorrect marriages’ - living together, de facto relationships and the ‘try-before-you-buy’ approach.

['Cart before the horse' department. Go back a few more decades and look at things like the social disruption caused by World Wars I and II and technological developments like the car (a.k.a. the mobile bedroom) and the advent of the contraceptive pill. Chavura's quaintly-titled 'Incorrect marriages' are much more effect than cause.]

Babette Francis, Endeavour Forum, ‘The ALP’s abortion agenda’, News Weekly, 11 Nov. 2006, 15:

Opposing Premier Bracks [on abortion policy] is a new pro-life grouping, the recently formed Coalition Against the Decriminalisation of Abortion (CADOA). Over 50 pro-life organisations and churches have already joined CADOA.

[Many of these 'organisations and churches' could hold their AGMs in the cupboard under the stairs - . They include such behemoths as Culture Watch (i.e. Bill Muehlenberg), Ethiopian Zion Church, Fire and Rain Christian Centre, Hope of Glory, Kids of Gold, Rain and Fire Christian Centre (obviously very different from the Fire and Rain Christian Centre) and numerous 'ministries' and 'fellowships'. Several others like the Australian Christian Lobby and Festival of Light Australia have mainly interstate memberships and weak Victorian followings.]

Alan Barron, Institute of Men’s Studies (associate organisation of Babette Francis’s Endeavour Forum), ‘Child care is not only wrong but it’s costing taxpayers heaps’, Endeavour Forum Inc. Newsletter, Oct. 2006, 11):

Child-care payments [by government] are clearly a mindless concession to placate the snapping hordes of femocrats ensconced in the bureaucracy.

[Thanks, Alan. These payments also allow many women and children to eat, but I guess that's a minor consideration.]

‘Prayer Focus’, FWN, Nov. 2006, 8:

November 28 - Please pray protection of the Blood of Jesus on [NSW Upper House] bills relating to Christian schools.

[Won't it make the bills soggy and hard to read?]

Charles Colson, convicted Watergate conspirator and New Life columnist, New Life, 2 Nov. 2006, 9:

This book ['Darwin's Nemesis' by Phillip Johnson] really shows just how far the Intelligent Design (ID) movement has progressed in a relatively short time, despite the best efforts of many Darwinists to shoot it down - because, as is becoming clearer and clearer, ID has the evidence on its side.

[Except that there is no evidence for ID whatsoever. None! No predictive power either.]

Marcel White, Right to Life Australia, ‘Abortion in the Northern Territory’, Right to Life News, Nov.-Dec. 2006, 6:

[Northern Territory] Chief Minister Claire Martin and her government acted shamefully during this [abortion law reform] debate. Claire Majella Martin comes from a background that one would think informs her conscience to be pro-life …

[Gee, Marcel, whatever could you be driving at here? Did you consider that Martin's 'informed conscience' might lead her in a pro-choice direction? Or is Cardinal Pell's informed conscience the only one worth following?]

Filed in: Their Own Mouths