Sacred skullduggery exposes the unholy reality of Equality opposition

When the CEO of Qantas sounds more like Jesus than any Archbishop then there is something wrong with the church we have grown up with and it’s time to say so

“Leaks” from the Anglican church in Sydney outlining strategies to defeat marriage equality are a threat to an inclusive society that need to be called out into the open just as any other threat to national wellbeing

Like passive smoking it is not simply gatherings of intolerance cloistered in gothic buildings that compromise best outcomes, but the consecrated hatred floating through the atmosphere finding a home in a new generation giving permission for private fears to be publicly played out as has already experienced in regional Albury .

It is not that churches don’t want gay people at their altars, they don’t want them living equally in God’s world

Unhappily this is not a new war, it is just another battle in the same conflict that has used the bible to justify slavery, subjugate women, discriminate against other cultures and faiths and to uphold priorities of institutions over the welfare of minorities .

Courageous Lay people such as Dr Muriel Porter ,Michael Kirby and Rodney Croome have a freedom to speak while the dog collars of clerical office are quietly tightened to prevent alternative views being expressed .

These days of global communication present a challenge to all repressive regimes but also explode the myths and propagandas of prelates and politicians when shared in the public arena .

This is an ugly reality casting a long shadow over the place of conservative Christianity in contemporary Australia, but this hymn singing embarrassing Pandora released by the plebiscite is another surprising inconvenience unlikely to get back into the box .
The Venerable Peter MacLeod-Miller Archdeacon of Albury and the Hume St Matthew’s Anglican Church Albury