DID you hear about the Muslim who got the sack because of his Islamic beliefs and the Indian who was similarly dismissed because he was a Hindu?
How about the Aborigine who was shown the door because of his traditional beliefs? You didn’t because these events never occurred and if they had, there would have been shrieks of outrage while accusations of Islamophobia, racism and religious intolerance echoed around the nation and social media erupted in an explosion of condemnation.
If, however, you happen to be a white Christian male with conservative views that don’t align with the woke-Left view of the world and you have your employment terminated because of your religious beliefs, then sorry, mate. Suck it up. It’s your fault for being a holy-roller and not running with the mob.
My late father once told me that when he was growing up in Brisbane in the 1930s and looking for work as an apprentice, it was not uncommon to see advertisements offering employment, which carried the qualification that “Catholics Need Not Apply”. Bigotry was entrenched back then and thankfully we now live in a more enlightened age, one in which inclusiveness has become the mantra of the times.
Sexual and gender preferences of every alphabetic combination are welcomed. Corporations laud their inclusiveness and point proudly to their ongoing pursuit of gender balance and a multicultural workforce, but what happens when a white bloke gets the chop because he belongs to a particular Christian church?
Not much, as Andrew Thorburn discovered when he was forced to resign as chief executive of the Essendon Football Club the day after he was appointed when the club discovered that the church to which he belonged preached that homosexuality was a sin and was anti-abortion.
Professional football clubs, of course, are paragons of virtue unless you count the revelations of domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse and public affray in which their players so regularly feature.
I’ve no brief for Thorburn. He was forced to step down as head of the National Australia Bank after a royal commission blasted the bank for charging customers $650m in fees for which there was no service.
The issue, however, is not about the man’s business ethics, but about being a Christian in today’s society.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison was regularly lampooned because he openly practised his Christian faith, as was former PM Tony Abbott. When Dominic Perrottet became NSW Premier, the focus was not of his qualifications for the role, but that he was a Catholic and had six and now seven children.
Had he been a Muslim with a large family, it would have gone unremarked. Rugby player Israel Folau suffered the wrath of the woke Left and paid a price for standing up for his beliefs.
Essendon thought that Thorburn, a passionate and long-time supporter of the club, was the right person for the job, but then in a heartbeat, it didn’t.
It folded at the first hint of faux outrage. Thorburn’s church, the City on a Hill, is hardly the only one to have unfashionable views.
According to the Australian National Imans Council: “From the Islamic standpoint, homosexuality is a forbidden action; a major sin and anyone who partakes in it is considered a disobedient servant to Allah that will acquire His displeasure and disapproval.”
Does this mean that all those who have applauded the actions of the Essendon Football Club including to his external disgrace, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, regard Muslims as unsuitable to hold responsible office?
Andrews is a professed Catholic and the Catholic Church is anti-abortion so how can he justify supporting Thorburn’s treatment? The answer, of course, is that he is a politician with an election coming up and is trying to curry favour with Left-leaning inner-city electors.
The hypocrisy is staggering.
Will Essendon now interview all its players and demand to know their views on abortion and homosexuality, tearing up the contracts of those whose beliefs do not coincide with what is believed to be acceptable? You know the answer.
There’s an ugly undercurrent tugging at our society, one seeking to sweep away those who would stand up for their right to hold Christian beliefs. If we fail to fight against it, we do so at our peril.
Philosopher John Stuart Mill put it succinctly when he wrote: “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”