Bill Shorten: “I cannot stay silent” when religion used to discriminate LGBTI people

Bill Shorten: “I cannot stay silent” when religion used to discriminate LGBTI people

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten is expected to come out swinging against religious belief being used as a means to justify sexuality-based discrimination during a speech at the Australian Christian Lobby’s (ACL) National Conference this morning.

Following months of criticism after announcing his attendance for what many LGBTI community members consider to be a homophobic lobby group, Shorten will speak to ACL members for the first time about his personal faith values of equality and inclusion that have guided his in life and in politics.

The Star Observer obtained extracts from the conference’s headline speech this morning, where the Opposition Leader attacks religious organisations that use their beliefs to warrant persecution and intolerance of the LGBTI community.

“Condemning anyone, discriminating against anyone, vilifying anyone is a violation of the values that we all share,” the speech says.

“A violation that can never be justified by anyone’s faith or belief.

“Not yours, not mine. Not anyone’s.”

Shorten is also expected to say that he will not remain silent when bodies purporting to share the same religion as him use doctrine to preach hatred and judgement.

“In our society, under our laws, whether we be Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists or atheists – we are all Australians and we are all equals,” the speech says.

“First, last and always equal under the law of the land. So when I hear people invoking the scriptures to attack blended families… I cannot stay silent. I do not agree.

“When I see people hiding behind the bible to insult and demonise people based on their sexuality…I cannot stay silent. I do not agree.”

Turning his attention specifically to the issue of marriage equality, the Opposition Leader criticises the “slippery slope” argument often used to attack efforts towards extending marriage rights to same-sex couples.

“When I hear people allege that ‘God tells them’ that marriage equality is the first step on the road to polygamy and bigamy and bestiality… I cannot stay silent. I do not agree,” he says.

“These prejudices do not reflect the Christian values I believe in.”

In the speech extracts, Shorten also acknowledges that his views will not sit well with members of the ACL but said that his attendance at the conference allowed for an exchange of differing views regarding religious teaching.

“I know some of my policy ideas will not win acceptance with the Australian Christian Lobby,” he says.

“But the great thing about this country is that we can meet like this, share our ideas and visions respectfully and boldly, assured that the tenets of our shared faiths and philosophical world views can help us shape a free and confident nation in which the dignity of all persons is enhanced by laws and policies determined after mature political deliberation.”

In 2012 Shorten voted in favour of marriage equality but the motion was defeated.

The ACL National Conference starts from 8:45am and the Star Observer will be in attendance and live-tweeting proceedings on @davidFalexander and @star_observer.

The full text of the extracts from Bill Shorten’s key note address can be read below:

“I have spent my working life, both representing workers and as parliamentarian, trying to measure up to their standard of compassion and empathy.
To answer the clarion call to care for the vulnerable, to speak up for the powerless, to reject hatred and intolerance, to help the poor and to pursue peace.
Of course, none of these virtues belongs to Christianity alone.
Nor does a belief in social justice necessarily depend upon the teachings of Christ.
No faith has a monopoly on compassion.
No religion ‘owns’ tolerance or charity or love.
Australia is full of decent and generous people of good conscience, drawn from all faiths and none.
And Australians rightly expect our national leaders, to respect the
constitutional separation of Church and State.

_______________________________

And no faith, no religion, no set of beliefs should ever be used as an instrument of division or exclusion.
As you know, better than I, the Bible teaches us that we are all immutably imperfect.
Condemning anyone, discriminating against anyone, vilifying anyone is a violation of the values that we all share.
A violation that can never be justified by anyone’s faith or belief.
Not yours, not mine.
Not anyone’s.

_______________________________

In our society, under our laws, whether we be Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists or atheists – we are all Australians and we are all equals.
First, last and always equal under the law of the land.
So when I hear people invoking the scriptures to attack blended families…I cannot stay silent.
I do not agree.
When I see people hiding behind the bible to insult and demonise people based on their sexuality…I cannot stay silent.
I do not agree.
When I hear people allege that ‘God tells them’ that marriage equality is the first step on the road to polygamy and bigamy and bestiality…I cannot stay silent.
I do not agree.
These prejudices do not reflect the Christian values I believe in.

_______________________________

I know some of my policy ideas will not win acceptance with the Australian Christian Lobby.
But the great thing about this country is that we can meet like this, share our ideas and visions respectfully and boldly, assured that the tenets of our shared faiths and philosophical world views can help us shape a free and confident nation in which the dignity of all persons is enhanced by laws and policies determined after mature political deliberation.”

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66 responses to “Bill Shorten: “I cannot stay silent” when religion used to discriminate LGBTI people”

  1. I do find it funny that he starts the speech with, I spoke with my local Priest…… I wonder if he spoke with the local priest when he was f**king the GG daughter, while he was still marry.

  2. Bill Shorten having dinner with a cult, and they loved him. The Bigotry had respectability with the Hyatt brand all over it. It is a cracka the Hyatt then used the profits to fund equality events, and told the ACL not to bother us ever again as you do not support our values. Given more Australians have died from homophobia then the Islamic State, you have to question a political party leader giving the credibility of his public office to an anti-Christian cult, who likens homosexuality to cancer, who says we should come with a health warning, a cult who used the Hyatt facebook page to promote an agenda of hate in Australia, where some supporters called for the death of homosexuals no less. The ACL was desperate for credibility, and Bill gave it.

    Great to see Bill Shorten telling them he respected the views of those who do not support equality. A bit like telling a Klu Klux Klan gathering he respects their racism. The ACL must have had a right thumping when Bill said he supports equality. Perhaps they were not panicked, as Bill comes with no binding vote on the Labor Party, ensuring a vote in parliament will fail. Perhaps they were so happy, because Bill Shorten does support same-sex attracted students being expelled from religious schools that receive tax payers funding. Bill still supports the discrimination that puts us at the higher end of hate crimes, self harm, and that put simply, destroys some of us doing it tough.

    For the ACL and Bill Shorten, this was all about looks. The ACL wanted to look tolerant and respectable, and Bill Shorten wanted to look like he supported equality and gave a shit. We must remember Bill Shorten supports the illegal school chaplains program, where the senate was told some chaplains had bullied students who came out, resulting in attempted suicide. This is the same Bill Shorten who wanted same-sex attracted refugees to be deported to Malaysia where they can face jail and state sanctioned torture.

    Time will tell if Bill Shorten will actually support equality by doing things about it. I am glad with what he said, but he knows better then most, the poltical capital he gave to the Christian Lobby to tell them something they already know. Marriage Equality is part of the battle, we have many other areas where we do not have Equal Civil Rights. Giving legitimacy to a cult who is against freedom, against the religious freedom of Australians, and a cult who gives hate speeches and tweets against same sex attracted Australians was a bit of no let down to Labor, let alone the community.

  3. Its a shame Bill doesn’t believe the book that is the basis of his professed faith. You cannot pick and choose which bits of the bible you believe in you either take all of it or leave it.

    • It’s a pity you don’t either Peter. If you think Bill doesn’t do so, then I’m guessing that you must disagree with his disagreements.

      And as his disagreements (as reported here) are concerning the “gay bits”, then you must be thinking about the Old Testament. None of that crap appears in “our” part of the book.

      If you want to follow the rules in the first part – and I’m told some of those are a bit difficult to adhere to completely (f’rinstance, just writing your reply on the Sabbath could be considered to be “work” by some) – then there’s always Judaism… that’s a perfectly fine religion. But it’s not Catholicism.

    • Sure you can Peter, you just have to understand why and when the book was put together, the hard job (for Christians) is to work out what it means Now. For example: followers are no longer a rag-tag bunch of x-Egyptian-slaves that need to rapidly populate to build a credible army (time of Moses/Joshua) to take over a new land. The “No seed shall be spilled” all stems from this imperative. We now face over population, imagine if christendom really took this edict seriously, the average judeo/Christian family would have 10+ kids!

    • Stephen, Follow yes, blindly No the book sets a standard for life, like a ‘Yard/meter’ length sets a standard for measuring – Disregard these standards at your peril as things will not fit together properly any more.

    • So, I take it you don’t wear mixed cloths. do any work on Sundays at all, and don’t eat shellfish? Have you stoned your neighbours for working on the Sabbath? Because you can’t pick and choose what parts of the Bible you follow.

  4. He did a great job! People need to remember that the msg of equality needs to be shared with opposing parties not those who agree with you! We as a LGBTIQ community are becoming too PC and losing sight of what really matters!

  5. “We do not just ‘tolerate’ difference, we celebrate it”. Bill, that is the stupidest comment I have ever heard. Lets celebrate the ‘difference’ of homosexuality but not the ‘difference’ of consensual adult polygamy. Lets celebrate the ‘difference’ of transgenderism but not the ‘difference’ of consensual adult incest . Yes bill, there are actually people out there who want to practice those things you say this is not a slippery slope leading to. You and anyone who professes to change the marriage act to include only one extra group “on the grounds of love and equality’ but NOT to include other groups are essentially bigots. Yes, you are a bigot by your own definition. You are choosing by your own moral/ethical compass to include some and exclude others, so tell me, how is that different to those who want to retain the current marriage act because of their moral/ethical compass?

  6. Gotta laugh at these pro Gay marriage groups having a bitch fight with each other over whether Shorten should or shouldn’t have addressed the ACL.

    • All pollies lie. Libs have told so many lies, I could never ever trust them. Labor did go against what they said because they were forced to. Liberals went against what they said because they are deceitful. No-one forced them to.

    • “No cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS.”

    • Julia is/was not homophobic. She doesn’t believe in marriage for gay people or straight people. Numerous gay people don’t believe in marriage for gay people because it is too restrictive in what it asks of couples and it is trying to make people conform. Are they homophobic too?

  7. Good! The more vocal we are about the ignorance and stupidity of religion the better our future will be! All bad ideas should be ridiculed so they become socially unacceptable.

  8. You say marriage is a holy institution? And that atheists must appel to a god to marry? Have you taken the time to read and understand both the Marriage Act and the Constitution? ‘God’ is not required for marriage under Australian law. Marriage in Australia is a legal institution, not a religious one. The only reason a religiously performed marriage is recognised at law in this country is that most ministers, priests, imams or whatever else are also registered marriage celebrants under the legislation that governs marriage in Australia. If a particular religious person is not a registered celebrant, then they cannot legally marry someone. At the end of the day, it is that little piece of paper called a marriage certificate that determines whether you are married. And guess what, unless that bit of paper is registered with the government through your state or territory’s Births, Deaths and Marriages Registrar, it isn’t legal or binding. Civil marriage celebrants perform marriages without religious connotation or flavour all the time. How the marriage is performed is entirely up to the happy couple, so long as the person officiating is a registered celebrant and they use the correct wording for one lousy sentence that is mandated in the Marriage Act. Sorry, it might have been a religious institution in the past, but it’s a legal institution now, virtually every country governs marriage through statute now, and only nations with a state religion require it to be a ‘religious’ institution, and even they usually require a government issued piece of paper to legitimise it. And, last I checked, Australia had no state religion due to constitutional separation of state and church.

  9. I see all these attacks on religion when it comes to gay marriage. IF there are people out there that vilify gay marriage because of religion, then yes they are out of place. But it would be very rare… These attacks are overly harsh to the religious community. Most congregations are gay accepting these days. To attack “religion” on a broad level is just as bad as what you are attacking them for…

    Religion has been around for around 3000 years. Marriage in religion has been around for almost 2000 years. Issues of homosexuality and discrimination has only been around for no more than 150 year…

    Its time to stop attacking religion. They have 3000 years of history to contend with. And they are doing their best.

    Why doesn’t the Govt implement an equal version of marriage that doesn’t involve religion. It would satisfy everyone.

    But attacking religion on a large scale like that with no real back up is worse than what religion are doing. It isn’t so easy to just change their basic principles of over 3000 years… But you are all so quick to attack them. Not allowing for any compassion or understanding. You are all simply saying “your policies are wrong”. After 3000 years who are you to say that? And what makes you the authority on it? The actual churches no longer discriminate, but their 3000 years of policies can’t just be ignored. Now its the homosexuality community that are being narrow-minded,

    Marriage is a holy institution first and foremost. Just because parliament took it on as a legal standing, doesn’t mean that they have full control over it.

    Do what’s right, and create another institution that has all the same rights but with no religious warrant.

    Btw, there is nothing you can’t get from a de facto or civil partnership that you can’t get from a marriage.

    • Fact Check:
      1.Most congregations are gay accepting these days -wrong.
      Some are, most not unless you pretend that you are not actually having sex. It’s the sex bit they don’t accept.

      2.Issues of homosexuality and discrimination has only been around for no more than 150 year…-wrong.
      The Old Testament has condemned homosexuality for at least 2500 years and instructed religious communities to punish/kill homosexuals, which they have done in varying degrees since.

      3.Do what’s right, and create another institution that has all the same rights but with no religious warrant. -wrong.
      There is no need for another institution as 2/3s of Australian marriages are currently conducted by marriage celebrants with no religious affiliation.

      4.The actual churches no longer discriminate- wrong.
      A Catholic cannot take communion if they are a sexually active homosexual. Catholic schools can expel Gay students and refuse to hire Gay teachers. Just two examples but there are plenty more.

      The churches want their cake and to eat it too. Not happy just to discriminate against homosexuals in church marriages they want to have control over secular civil marriage as well.

  10. Whoa… hang on a second, did you just say religion has no place in marriage? It is a religious institution. As such, I think that it is weird that atheists are allowed to marry, but gays not. The thing that really needs to change in my opinion is society’s perception of marriage as an indicator of the integrity of a relationship. Don’t know if it ever will, but gee it would solve some issues.

    • You think its weird that atheists are allowed to get married? Well get a clue. They aren’t. When getting married they have to appeal to a god. Atheists just chose to ignore that for the sake of marriage.

    • Marriage is not a religious institution. Over 70% of Australian marriages occur in a non religious setting celebrated by a non religious civil celebrants.

  11. Religion and Politics have NO Place in Same Sex Relationships and Marriage. Love knows No Boundaries and when a person wants to marry, it’s a Human Right; nothing more. It concerns ONLY the two people involved.

    • Marriage is not a human right… It is a holy institution first and foremost.

      Just because parliament decided to use it for their purposes, and these days is a common thing, does not change that fact.

      Marriage is not a human right.

      • Marriage is a legal institution first and foremost that sparks thousands of years of history and across hundreds of religions. The fact that some churches have decided to use it for their purposes does not change that fact.

    • Marriage is a holy institution first and foremost. It is not a human right. Why do you say that it is? Love concerns only the 2 people involved. Marriage introduces a god into the relationship.

    • Riley. I have to agree and disagree with you. Marriage, whether Same Sex or Straight, is a Coming together of two individuals who Love each other and wish to Grow together. However, it does NOT require the sanction of a Political Body or Church. It is a Commitment, made before God, between two individuals and a Higher Power, or God if you wish. It is a Human Right, NOT something that has been imposed by a Church or a Political Body.The two individuals involved do NOT have to have permission of a Church or a Political Body to do so. I am getting married in Hawaii in a fortnight to my Best Friend, an Americam Commando, and we are both seriously committed to each other for Life, until death do us part. Although our Wedding will be a Civilian One and Same Sex, the Marriage Celebrant is in fact an Ordained Minister. We will therefore make our Vows to each other in the Eyes of God and with her blessing.

  12. dats funny, an alleged rapist attacking a religion and pretending to be on the side of the gay community, brave words from an opposition leader who just had 6 years in government with a apparently alleged lesbian leader and a confirmed lesbian senator

    was there a more opportune time to do the things you criticise others for

    the twisted rants of an alleged rapist

    • Keyword there is “alleged”… I could say right now you are a bank thief.

      As an alleged bank thief, your opinion is no longer valid here.

    • innocent my arse

      not likely to get a conviction due to ALP stooges not coming forward isn’t the same as he didn’t do it

      if it was anyone else they’d be locked up on less evidence that was presented

      just like Gillard and the AWU slush fund

      she’s only free because evidence the ALP has, is protected

    • The “funny” part is having a go at someone for an alleged sex offence and accusing an organisation of covering up one sex offence whilst defending an organisation that has harbored literally hundreds of known sex offenders and has systematically covered up tens of thousands of instances of child sexual abuse. Let those who are without sin cast the first stone, Australian Christians are the last ones who should be lecturing others on sex crimes.

  13. And who is going to be at the ACL conference to compare the extracts printed with what he actually says? He is an invited key speaker, and a politician seeking votes. Why would he tell them stuff they don’t want to hear? Until it’s law I’m too cynical to think he is on our side.