In 1967 Dionne Warwick recorded the hit song, ‘I Say A Little Prayer For You’. Fast forward to 2020 and the Victorian Government is proposing to make it a criminal offence to say a little prayer with someone about their gender identity. This gives rise to all manner of implications. It reminds me of the story of the small-town Texas liquor store which was in the process of building an extension to its premises. The local church, in response, started an around-the-clock prayer meeting to try to stop it. Work continued on the project right up until the week before its opening when lightning struck the building and it burnt to the ground.
With the store in smouldering ruins, the church folk boasted of their accomplishment and of the power of prayer. That was of course, until the angry owner sued the church on the grounds the church and its congregation were responsible for the destruction of the store – either through direct or indirect actions or means.
In its reply to the lawsuit, the church denied liability and any connection with the liquor store’s demise.
At the opening hearing of the court case, the presiding judge read through the plaintiff’s (owner’s) complaint and also through the defendant’s (church’s) reply and said, “I’m not sure how I’m going to decide this, but it appears from the paperwork that what we have here is a liquor store owner who believes in the power of prayer, and a church congregation which does not”.
While this may on the surface appear to be somewhat amusing, there’s a very serious side to this, particularly in light of what is happening in Victoria.
Victoria’s proposed legislation targets anyone, including parents, pastors, priests, psychiatrists and psychotherapists, who engage in formal therapy or informal prayer with the purpose of helping a person struggling with same-sex attraction or gender confusion, unless the therapy supports their same-sex orientation or affirms their belief that they are ‘trans’. It also makes it a criminal offence to take a child out of Victoria to receive therapy.
As I have said before, the proponents of this type of leglislation are not trying to convince or persuade with reasoned arguments. Their aim is to shape society, and they want to use the power of the state to do it. To quote Mark Steyn, “They don’t want to win the debate, they want to prevent the debate”.
This assault on family, life and liberty sums up what the Australian Family Party is all about.
We have to resist this intrusion by politicians into every aspect of our lives. If we don’t, things will only get worse. We mustn’t be like the congregation in the story which didn’t have the courage of its convictions.
Part of the strategy has to be taking seats in parliament from them, State and Federal, either directly in Upper Houses, or in Lower Houses, through preferencing.
This is eminently achievable, but we need your help. Please support us by circulating this article, enlisting others and making a contribution by clicking Support here.
Thank you.
Further Reading: https://freedomforfaith.org.au/articles/labor-government-in-victoria-makes-prayer-a-criminal-offence/