The Truth Of It - Season 2 - Episode 1 - Kathy Clubb

In April 2019, pro-life activist Kathy Clubb, a mother of 13 children, had her criminal conviction upheld in the High Court of Australia. Clubb became the first person in Victoria to be charged under laws which were formally passed in November 2015 that make it illegal to protest within 150 metres of an abortion clinic. In August 2016 she approached a couple within the exclusion zone and offered them pamphlets. She belongs to a ministry called The Helpers who make offers of help towards women as they approach abortion clinics. As a result of their efforts and practical and counselling support they have seen over 300 babies saved.

Iles highlights the lack of counselling support vulnerable women receive when they find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy, and also the lack of a cooling-off period legislated in other countries. He also reflects on the challenges we face as Christians when the law of the land is pitted against God’s law - when there is a reversal of the social compass.

Kathy Clubb and Graham Preston have both lost high court challenges to overturn their convictions for picketing outside abortion clinics. They say that free speech is dead in the wake of a High Court ruling upholding laws in Victoria and Tasmania to prohibit protests near clinics.

In 2015, Catholic Archbishop Julian Porteus became the subject of a complaint to Tasmania’s anti-discrimination commissioner after he authorised the distribution of a booklet advocating for traditional marriage in Catholic churches, agencies and schools. The booklet had been distributed by bishops across the country, at the urging of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

Operation 513 is a global organisation of street preachers. In the 12 months to December 2016, Operation 513 in Queensland were issued with 26 fines amounting to more than $10,000 for sharing the gospel in Queen Street Mall.

An advertisement featuring a pregnant woman’s stomach with the tagline “A heart beats at four weeks” has been taken down by Ooh! Media following public complaints that is offensive. O’Rourke, representing Emily’s Voice stated: “We should be able to represent vulnerable women and unborn children in a sensitive and respectful manner without falling victim to political correctness and confected outrage.”

In Ngole v the University of Sheffield, the English Court of Appeal has decided: “The mere expression of religious views about sin does not necessarily connote discrimination.” As the British appeal court stated: “The university wrongly confused the expression of religious views with the notion of discrimination. The mere expression of views on theological grounds (e.g. that "homosexuality is a sin") does not necessarily connote that the person expressing such views will discriminate on such grounds.”

Christianity in Politics - Rev. Dr. Mark Durie

Mark Durie provides a biblical framework that commands Christians to speak God’s truth to others and stand-up for justice. Mark explains how a culture of shaming Christians for speaking out and society’s habit of forcing people to align their views on the political spectrum as either right (traditional and conservative) or left (progressive and on the right side of history) challenge our courage and our clarity of standing for God’s truth and justice. We are in a spiritual battle. Durie challenges us to engage with others in the public square by “speaking the truth without embarrassment or looking over our shoulder or worrying about what other people will think, knowing that we will be accountable to the living God who judges the nations.”

Campbell asks “Is the Bible really to be considered hate speech? Are we really at the place in Australian society where quoting the Bible can be used as material evidence against an individual?” He claims that as a society we have a Bible comprehension problem and urges that churches focus on biblical literacy.

He argues that ideas stemming from the Bible have built fairer societies, outlawed slavery, established better working conditions for the poor and built homes for orphans and the elderly.

The Scotland Police posted a sign on a bus stop: ‘Dear Bigots, you can’t spread your religious hate here. End of sermon. Yours, Scotland.’ They encouraged people to report ‘hate incidents’ to police. David Robertson reported the police’s sign to the police as an incident of hate against religious people. The irony would be hilarious if it were in an Orwell novel. But you can see more of how David responded in this blog post.

Peter Singer is as atheist as they come, yet even he can see the problems with Rugby Australia firing Israel Folau.

‘As this example shows – and as John Stuart Mill argued in his classic On Liberty – once we allow, as a ground for restricting someone’s freedom of speech or action, the claim that someone else has been offended by it, freedom is in grave danger of disappearing entirely. After all, it is very difficult to say anything significant to which no one could possibly take offense.’

Oppositional Religious Speech: Understanding Hate Speech

This article explores whether Christian preaching can be considered a hate crime or hate speech. Although the article pertains to UK law, it makes some valuable points:

• Hate preaching is capable of constituting both hate crime and hate speech.

• The significance arises where religious values clash with state values. Consideration of this clash tends to focus on benefits of expression to the speaker, the cost to the speaker of restricting expression, the costs to targets of such expressions.

• Pluralism is a dynamic force that can slowly transform and shake the status quo.

• Religious critique is one way in which the values of a society can be challenged.

• The status of Scripture will vary even within religious communities.

• Sometimes the understanding of Scripture from within the religious community may differ considerably from that of an outsider.

• Hate speech is a communication apt to create hatred in the minds of others in relation to a prohibited ground - e.g. race, sexual-orientation.

There has been much misinformation about what Israel Folau posted on his social media page. This article shows the posting and explains the implications for freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Everyone wants to flourish and indeed many of our values and actions are designed to help us flourish individually. The motivations of non-Christians in seeking recognition and identity in law is motivated by a desire to flourish. This article describes how human flourishing is a major theme in the Bible.

The Truth of It - Season 2 Episode 8 - Harm and Suicide

Opponents of verses from the Bible on homosexuality often claim that the publication of these verses causes harm and increases the incidence of suicide among the LBGTI community. Iles says that we must always be careful not to cause harm with what we say and do as Christians. Alternatively he quotes comparative statistics on high rates of suicide and self-harm in countries where the LGBTI community have been supported for some years and shows that these rates among the LGBTI community are still far too high, despite them being more LGBTI-friendly.