Australia’s getting a taste of what politics in the U.S. looks like now that their Pentecostal leader has the backing of the most fundamentalist religious groups in the country.
Prime Minster Scott Morrison has already been mocked for the discrepancies between his own actions and What Jesus Would Do. Now, preachers are warning their congregations that “darkness” will come over the country if Morrison isn’t re-elected.
Pastor Adam F. Thompson of Voice of Fire Ministries told the congregation at Hope City Church that they had two choices: Prayer or Persecution.
… if the prime minister right now doesn’t get elected in this next election, there’s gonna be darkness coming. And I’m not being negative!… The laws are going to change, where darkness is going to come, and there will be persecution on the church. So it’s either [of] the two Ps…
Another pastor, Warwick Marsh of the Australian Christian Values Institute, claimed God responded to his three days of prayer and fasting with two miracles:
“Firstly, on the 15th of August, the Senate voted down the euthanasia in the territories proposal. No one expected this. This was an absolute miracle,” Marsh says in the video, which was posted last month.
“Secondly, on Friday the 24th, the Liberal party voted in a new prime minister, Scott Morrison, after a week of political turmoil.
…
Marsh then reminded Christians that there will be another three days of prayer, repentance and fasting, from 7 to 9 September. He asked them to pray for God to intervene to stop the Queensland government’s bill to decriminalise abortion.
None of this is particularly remarkable from an American perspective. (Imagine those two guys holding positions of power in Morrison’s inner circle and you’ll get warmer.) But it’s still troubling that Christians with large numbers of followers are pretending that political outcomes are part of God’s will, and that their support of Morrison’s leadership decides whether God spreads darkness or light. It’s completely manipulative.
You’d think more Christians would be troubled by the use of religion as a political tool instead of a vehicle to guide their own lives, but guys like these are blurring that line until it disappears.
(Thanks to @HeyfromChe for the link)