Beginning of the End for Hill$ong?
Meh, probably not. Still, one can but hope...Will have to keep a very close eye on any future federal grants. Why the Attorney-General's department didn't properly verify the fraudulent second grant application is certainly worth asking.
A cynical person might casually point out that one of the Liberal Party's latest star recruits, Louise Markus - the woman who won the Blacktown-based, once-safe Labor seat of Greenway in 2004 - was a high-profile counsellor for the Hillsong church and is still an active member.
Said cynical person might also note Treasurer Peter Costello's visit to Hillsong in 2004, where he spoke "to Brian, to Bobbie, to the wonderful people of Hillsong".
And a reallllllly cynical person might notice Markus, Costello and Liberal ministers Alexander Downer, Kevin Andrews and Peter Dutton all in the audience at Hillsong's 2005 annual conference.
I'm not against faith, I'm not against spirituality. I'm not against young people walking proudly with God in their hearts. I'm even not against infusing JC's messages with the odd guitar riff or two.
But I am against people exploiting the abovementioned for financial profit. And I'm also against my government not doing its job properly for political expedience.
And if this means I'm a heathen bound for hell - well, I've always wanted to meet Janis Joplin.
posted by Sam @ Wednesday, February 15, 2006
2 Comments:
It's wishful thinking to imagine that Hillsong will be done over simply because of a bit of inconsistency and financial hanky panky.
Those of us who are more mainstream liberal Christians shudder at what they get up to. And have no interest in becoming like them.
Is this a cop out?
The problem is that they are popular, and popular in swinging electorates. And we are not...even if we are intelligent and moderate.
What Stephen said. That was good!
Post a Comment
<< Home