Associate Professor Luke Beck: “The [Religious Discrimination Bill 2019] protects ‘statements of belief’ from being the subject of a complaint under any federal, state or territory anti-discrimination law. The protection extends to statements made in writing or by spoken words that ridicule, humiliate or even intimidate another person. Employers will be able to ridicule Christians in the workplace. For example, an atheist boss could put a poster above a Christian worker’s desk saying ‘Christianity is superstitious nonsense’. The boss could also say things like ‘Christianity is like a mental disorder’ to a Christian during a job interview. Doctors will be able to humiliate Christian patients. For example, a Buddhist doctor could tell the Christian parents of an unwell child, ‘If you spent less time praying and more time caring about your child’s health, your child wouldn’t be this sick.’ … The bible cautions people against making life difficult for others. Psalm 7:16 says ‘The trouble they make for others backfires on them.’ … The bill was meant to give conservative Christians the right to be nasty to gays. But Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Christian Porter have stuffed up big time. The religious discrimination bill backfires, giving everyone else a right to be nasty to Christians.”
25 February 2020