Gibe is way off the mark

Ms O’Connor’s suggestion therefore that Pentecostals, and our Prime Minister, hold a view on the “rapture” that precludes environmental care is a far cry from the reality.

In fact, the recent June 2021 edition of the Australian Pentecostal Studies Journal was entirely dedicated to the environment and creation care. Additionally, a few weeks ago I personally chaired a discussion for the City Bible Forum titled, Re-imagining Hope: Discussing the possibilities of climate change, which explored the challenge of climate change and how the very tenets of the Christian faith motivates action and inspires both an individual and collective response to the risk of climate change.

I would suggest that the Green’s leader apologises unreservedly to the Pentecostal community. Ms O’Connor has deliberately used a privileged position to incite contempt on my community on the basis of their religious beliefs without accurately representing their views.

It is particularly unfortunate that this kind of ill-informed and targeted rhetoric towards a religious community comes from the leader of a political party. Many people of faith face discrimination for their beliefs regularly, and such “death cult” comments only encourage it. This is another reason why a federal Religious Discrimination Bill is so important.

It is clear that in our society there are many people who hold a diverse range of strong opinions on every issue under the sun – from Covid to climate change. What Ms O’Connor fails to understand, however, is that division and antagonism, although effective in getting attention, is ultimately not going to help the Australian community journey to a consensus on the best approach to these incredibly important issues. A commitment to respect and understanding should always be the first priority, especially from our leaders.