It has often been said that we should not be afraid of a politician’s religious belief; that it is their private business and it should concern nobody else; after all, most Australian Prime Ministers have been adherents of one or other sect. However, never in my experience, have I seen anyone so dominated by their religious belief (Pentecostalism) as Scott Morrison.
Pentecostalism is not a church in itself, but a protestant movement that includes many different churches. Pentecostal churches base their theology on the text of the Bible which they believe to be the word of God and totally without error (!). Most Pentecostals think that their movement is returning to a pure and simple form of christianity that has much in common with the very early church. The Pentecostal movement’s foundation is usually taken to be the American Azusa Street revival in the first decade of the 20th century. However, its roots go back to the 18th century with such movements as the Wesleyan ‘Holiness’ tradition which was a reaction against the formality and ritualism of the traditional christian churches of the time1.
Pentecostalism believes in miracles, that their god can actively intervene in everyday life, transgressing the laws of physics to answer the prayers of a believer. Scott Morrison seemed to think that this was the reason for his re-election2, rather than the lies told and the nefarious activities undertaken by the Liberal Party during the election campaign as well as the lies in the Murdoch media3,4.
Pentecostalism believes in divine providence. According to that, all of history and all of the future is in the control of God. There are two types of providence, general providence, in which god keeps the universe ticking over, and special providence in which god intervenes in people’s lives2,5.
Pentecostalism believes in the actual existence of the devil (yes, seriously!)2. Morrison’s belief in the existence of the devil was clear when he referred to the ‘evil one’ in a speech he gave to the religious: “That’s why people start writing stupid things on Facebook and the internet, being disrespectful to one another and we all know how that is corroding and desensitising our country and our society, not just here but all around the world. I think it’s an evil thing. I think it’s a very evil thing and we’ve got to pray about it, we’ve got to call it out and we’ve got to raise our spiritual weapons against this because it’s going to take our young people. It’s going to take their [inaudible]. It’s going to take their hope. It’s going to steal their hope. We’ve got to pray about that, we’ve got to pray against that because it is such a corrosive thing that we’re seeing take place. Yeah, sure, if, social media has its virtues and its values and enables us to connect with people in ways we’ve never had before, terrific, terrific. But those weapons can also be used by the evil one and we need to call it out.”6
Pentecostalism is also exclusivist. An immediate personal connection with god is the exclusive property of those who are saved. This leads to a binary view of the world. There are the saved and the damned. Only those who have been saved (generally those who have been ‘born again’) have any hope of going to heaven. Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, and non-born-again types are doomed to spend an eternity being tormented in hell2.
Pentecostalism believes the second coming of Jesus is imminent, something numerous religious people and groups have believed for well over a thousand years. As Morrison’s Horizon church says in their blurb: “We await the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, and we believe that the second coming of Christ with His saints to rule on the earth will be personal, pre-millennial, and visible.”7 They believe that their god has a divine plan for the end of everything. Premillennialism is a doctrine that is often mocked as the belief that “the end of the world is nigh”. Premillennialism says that things are getting steadily worse on earth and will go on deteriorating until their god has had enough and takes action in a way that will be catastrophic for humanity. Premillennialists believe the second coming of Jesus will begin the start of his 1000 year reign. However, they believe that before the second coming there will be the tribulation, a period of war, destruction and disaster, until god beats the ‘evil one’ in the Battle of Armageddon.8
The Rapture, another Pentecostal belief, is the event in which Jesus carries the faithful believers off to heaven before the Tribulation. The word, rapture refers to a “taking up” of christians, both alive and dead, at the return of Jesus. During the Millennium the ‘saved’ will remain in heaven, while god ‘works’ on earth.8
While such a series of beliefs would be entertaining when spouted by a bloke down the pub or on a street corner, Morrison is the Prime Minister and these beliefs colour every aspect of his performance in that role. His belief in the second coming and the tribulation are disturbing in the extreme. Premillennial beliefs affect the way believers behave. They believe that the important thing to do, is to prepare themselves for the end-time and to convert as many people as possible into righteous believers ready for the rapture. They don’t see much point in trying to improve the world, since their god is about to clean up the world by destroying it and then remaking it.8 This is why action to reduce carbon emissions to attempt to mitigate the environmental damage wrought by climate change may engender little interest with Morrison. If the end of the world comes through climate change and is part of the tribulation, there is precious little that we need to do about it, because god will fix it.2. What if Morrison actually believes this?
There has been much talk about an impending war with China, with people such as Coalition ministers, former ministers and departmental secretaries seemingly believing that it is inevitable9,10. What if Morrison believes a war presages the end-times and the second coming and is unconcerned if it should happen?
Given that Morrison clearly believes in miracles and the existence of the devil, what if he believes in all the other drivel of his church, and is just waiting for the end with open, welcoming arms?
Sources
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/pentecostal_1.shtml
- https://theconversation.com/five-aspects-of-pentecostalism-that-shed-light-on-scott-morrisons-politics-117511
- https://blotreport.com/2020/03/08/corruption-galore/
- https://blotreport.com/2019/05/23/black-and-white-lies/
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Providence-theology
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aziBueAsv6U
- https://horizon.org/our-faith
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/endtimes_1.shtml
- https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/04/17/china-taiwan-australia-war/
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/25/australian-defence-minister-says-conflict-over-taiwan-involving-china-should-not-be-discounted
This bloke is possibly the most dangerous person we have ever had leading this nation. Not just because is he a religious nut whose “faith” is hoping for the end of our world, but also because he is stupid and arrogant. Stupid, arrogant zealots are everywhere. A world that has creatures like Morrison, Modi, Bolsonaro, Erdogan, Orban, Putin, Xi, Duterte, and the rest, in positions of power, is a world that is on the edge of catastrophe. A world where these disgusting, vile people are actually admired and supported is one that has completely lost it’s collective mind.
Mark,
I cannot disagree. However, I think the problem has been that the wealthy have spent so much effort shoring up their position, and the punters have been dissatisfied with this trickle-up economics. So what do they do? They elect animals which promise to make life better for them, but these animals are those who continue the trickle-up con. Now, a proportion of the punters are starting to realise that they have been conned, and the anger is building. But the wealthy do not want to relinquish control, so they keep supporting the animals through their corporate media. That will lead to chaos, and many of the wealthy will be casualties in that chaos.
given that these ‘prosperity’ numpties do not actually seem capable of adhering to the teachings of jesus, it is difficult to determine which particular god they are beholden too. I suspect it may be Mammon.
Clive,
Without a doubt.
What should we think about someone who speaks about human dignity but acts to deny that to millions, who sees “the evil one” everywhere but ignores him/her/it totally when it involves his mates in politics, denies responsibility for anything that spin can’t paper over, and is paid to lead but refuses to hold the hose? I know what I think but it’s unprintable.
Jon,
With so many of the religious these days, religion is just a cover or a convenient excuse for abject bastardry with the aim of wealth and power. I am constantly appalled by them. The hypocrisy has to end.
“it’s going to take our young people. It’s going to take their [inaudible]. It’s going to take their hope. It’s going to steal their hope. We’ve got to pray about that, we’ve got to pray against that because it is such a corrosive thing that we’re seeing take place. ” [Morrison 2021]
As David Crowe might say: substitute CLIMATE CHANGE for social media and compare the hypocrite’s rhetoric.
“The evil one” may be everywhere but as a powerful entity he/she/it obviously knows that the place where you can make most impact is in guiding the wealthy and powerful – politicians and “leaders” of nation for example – to do his/her/its bidding. As modern and ancient history both show, so far “the evil one” has done a tremendous job and is way ahead of God on the scoresheet – unless of course God is guiding our tiny bit of the universe towards self-destruction (the irony of the belief in The Hand of God is lost on zealots). Seems all that prayer (not to mention war waged by religious devotees) over centuries hasn’t worked, just as it hasn’t to quell the death, destruction and misery mother nature (another evil influence) has often meted out to the poorest and most undeserving peoples on the globe.
The good news for us all is that Morrison is so utterly hopeless at holding the hose of government that he rarely actually does ANYTHING significant, and so limits the damage (to some extent) his undoubted ineptitude might wreak on this malignantly complacent nation’s people. As many Christians say every day in their prayers: we thank God for the small mercies he grants.
Personally, I pray that the Neocon Dark Ages will last less than a decade so that the hopes and futures of the young (not to mention generations to follow) aren’t buggered beyond repair by Morrison, Joyce, Littleproud, Taylor, Tudge, McCormack, Porter, Robert, Tehan, Cash, Seselja and other assorted Hunts in our parliament.
Jon,
Most of those Hunts should be in gaol.
The party coalition that is presently non- and mis-governing Australia is referred to with the abbreviation LNP. Actually, I say that henceforth the three letters are best changed to “T E O”.
No reference to neurosurgeons. What it means is “THE EVIL ONES”, TEO. Could there be any more appropriate moniker for the gross, unbelievable hypocrisies, unethical ideas, dishonest machinationas and betrayals of democracy than those three words?
For a twisted, morally defunct, ten-faced acolyte of Satan, Scomo is the top candidate.
TEC also comes to mind.
The great Gough Whitlam’s quip to [Sir] Winston Turnbull comes to my mind, although there is no comparison between conservatives and country members then – let alone the true liberals who did exist in the LP at the time – and their conservative counterfeits now.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/21/gough-whitlam-in-his-own-words
Although it didn’t appear to be so then, the standards, understanding of responsibility and accountability, and personal integrity of Ministers and other parliamentarians half a century ago was in the main far greater than it is with today’s rabble of the right. The person or group who can track down and dismantle forever the Munt Factory which rolls out these clones will have done the nation a huge service. Defunding the elite schools where many of them received their higher schooling would be a good start.
Jon,
The RWNJs only like education of their own. They want to create an underclass of people who will be too panic-stricken about where their next meal is coming from, so they are unable to kick up a stink or even start a blog. Unless the wealthy give ground voluntarily, they will be forced to do so.