Far Right-Christian Jihad – Why we should be worried in Australia
There is a growing movement in Australia that equates fundamental Christianity with hatred of the Federal Labor government.
We have heard of the shocking events in Norway as a Christian fundamentalist bombed a government center and perpetrated a shooting attack on a nearby island holiday camp that together left at least 70 people dead.
The acts of this extremist, with admitted links to far-right/neo-Nazi cells, has by his actions copied Islamic extremists, in fact almost making common cause with them.
The big difference with this attack was that this terrorist did not just target random people, like on Sept 11 or in the Bali Bombing. He targeted members of the Norwegian Labour Party only – especially it’s youth wing and its central office. This is a sobering issue for political debate in Australia – these people where killed because of their moderate, mainstream political beliefs.
In Australia there is a growing resentment among fundamental Christian and political “conservative” movements that equates godliness with hatred of our Federal government. In fact I would go as far as to say there is a hatred of our country. This is because it is perceived as “fallen” and “evil” due to the fact that mainstream Australia allows women choice, support gays to marry, immigration from other cultures and the promotion of a green energy future thru a Carbon Tax.
While the traditional mainstream church congregations have shrunk, new evangelical mega-churches have tapped into widespread economic uncertainty, finding followers among layers of the population who are leading an increasingly precarious existence. The activism and wealth of these groups have lead to significant influence by the religious right over conservative politics and debate.
The hatred unleashed towards the Federal Government by political anti-carbon tax demonstrators and commentators such as Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones — is the sort of white, Christian; far right extremism we can expect more of – which in turn leads to the promotion of political violence. Their comments and promotion of violence can only bring fuel to the fire and justify the actions of extremist groups.
There is a history to the far right, religious right extremism on the rise today, extremism so intense that it risks our social-democratic values and open non-violent political debate.
During the 1980s and early 1990s Australian law enforcement investigated and targeted far-right political groups such as the National Front, National Action and the League of Rights. These groups were either directly linked to terrorist violence in Australia or their members actively took part in criminal violence with racist or political undertones.
After the events in Norway, and the influence such “successful” actions have on fundamentalist groups throughout the world, there is a need for a reorientation of federal and state policing intelligence resources in Australia to focus once again on far-right extremist in Australia.
Furthermore, Australian State and Federal Government, regardless of political persuasion, must send a strong message that extremism of any form is unacceptable and unAustralian – left or right, Christian or Muslim – in political debate – including in our press.
Dr Hugh McDermott is a Criminal Barrister and Senior Lecturer in Law Enforcement at the Australian Graduate School of Policing, Charles Sturt University, Sydney.
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ccollin6
September 21, 2013 at 2:30 am
Christian politics
When Christianity is expressed in terms other that love and respect for Existing Civil Authorities. Is it really Christian? Jesus message of love did not include civil unrest. The Kingdom that Jesus preached did not compete with Rome.