This story is part nine in a series. For the full series go here.
Scott Morrison’s Pentecostal Christian faith is at the centre of his understanding of political life. In his maiden speech to Parliament in 2008, he described himself as standing for “the immutable truths and principles of the Christian faith”.
But there is a paradox at the heart of Morrison and the relationship between his religious beliefs and his political theory and practice.
On the one hand, there is genuine concern that in a secular state the prime minister’s Christian faith will influence government policy untowardly. There is little evidence of this so far. But “religious freedom” legislation seems as likely to give Christians the freedom to persecute others as to protect them from persecution.
On the other hand, ironically, Morrison is not even close to being Christian enough. He shows no care, concern or compassion for the poor, the marginalised, the sick, the stranger at the gate, and so on.
Nevertheless, his political theory and practice do map closely on to the narrow band of Pentecostal evangelical Protestantism. When Morrison began his election victory speech on May 18, 2019, with the words “I have always believed in miracles”, it was no mere hyperbole. Morrison was declaring that God had actively intervened in the political process to bring about his election.
The environment
As a Pentecostalist, Morrison believes in divine providence. Put simply, this is the belief that God has “got the whole world in his hands”. For Morrison, all history is in the control of God — from the creation of the world to its end. Therefore climate change and the destruction of the world as a consequence does not seem to have any intellectual purchase with him.
If the end of the world through climate change is part of God’s providential plan, there is precious little that we need to, can do, or should do about it. And if the end of the world through climate change is not part of the divine providence, there is nothing that we need to do about it.
Economics
In keeping with Pentecostal theology, Morrison appears to see himself as chosen by God to lead us all to his version of the promised land. This means that “if you have a go, you get a go”.
This “have a go” philosophy sits squarely within Pentecostal prosperity theology. This is the view that belief in God is rewarded by God with material wealth. Eternal salvation too has a connection with material wealth. Jesus saves those who save.
So wealth is a sign of having been chosen by God. The godly become wealthy and the wealthy are godly. The ungodly, on the other hand, stay poor.
All this aligns perfectly with the neoliberal economic views espoused by Morrison. The consequence is that it becomes a God-given task for those chosen by God to do his work to liberate people from reliance on the welfare state. On this account, rich men do find it easier to pass through the eyes of needles and enter the kingdom of heaven than the poor and the oppressed. God helps those who pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
Social equity
Don’t expect a sophisticated theology from Morrison. In Pentecostalism, faith trumps reason every time. It is light on doctrine and heavy on a direct personal relationship to God. Faith is focused upwards to God and not outwards to the world. Thus social equity and social justice are on the back-burner. So you don’t expect (and you don’t get) from a Pentecostalist like Morrison any progressive views on abortion, women’s rights, LGBTQI issues, immigration, the environment, same-sex marriage and so on.
And Pentecostalism generally holds to a social conservatism reinforced by an uncritical approach to the Bible in matters of ethics, science, and history. It would be difficult, for example, for a Pentecostalist to reject the biblical teaching that homosexuals were bound for hell. Morrison did so on May 14, 2019, but only after first evading the question and then only through very gritted teeth.
Gender equity
Pentecostalists, like many conservative Christians, would accept that God made men and women equal. As a Pentecostalist, Morrison would endorse this view, but with the standard qualification — equal but different. Pentecostalism is more committed in principle than many other Christian traditions to the equality of men and women. But in practice, in the church and in the home, patriarchy rules.
Morrison’s own married life reflects the belief that, as obedient wives and mothers, women are fulfilling God’s intentions for them. That said, on issues around domestic/family/sexual matters, women are accorded a particular sphere of wisdom way beyond that of men (“I may need to ask Jenny!”).
Immigration
More liberal versions of the Christian tradition endorse the words of Jesus: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25.35). More conservative traditions like Pentecostalism privilege Jesus’ division of people into the eternally saved and the eternally damned (Matthew 25.46).
On this conservative account, only born-again Christians will gain salvation. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists are all doomed to spend eternity in separation from God. As the website of the Pentecostal Australian Christian Churches puts it: “We believe that our eternal destination of either heaven or hell is determined by our response to Jesus Christ.”
Morrison takes pride in his government’s harsh treatment of asylum seekers, virtually none of whom are Christians. His immigration policies seem far more motivated by the Christian division of the world into the saved and the damned than by a Christian vision of compassion towards the stranger at the gate.
Next — The Morrison government, the ALP and Christianity
Something I don’t understand, why do Christians need to lie, and why does Morrison do it all the time, even when there is no need too ?
It doesn’t make sense, I their god controls everything, then what is the need.
Because he is in a constant state of cognitive dissonance. If he said what he truly believed, that god is directing it all, he would be sacked or voted out. He can’t say, I am doing nothing about climate change because god will fix it all when his son comes back.
The cognitive dissonance is spread through nearly everything he touches, he literally has to be brought kicking and screaming to do anything.
Morrison ignores the Two Great Commandments given directly by Jesus Christ.
“Love your neighbour” is fundamental to Christianity.
How can any Christian lock up refugees?
He loves all ‘eternally saved’ neighbours.
Too bad that the other one is “Suffer the little children to come…” – which means ‘allow’.
Matthew 19:14
The thing I cannot reconcile is if he (or anyone) fundamentally believes this, why bother to get out of bed in the morning? Why bother becoming PM any try steer things?
He likes the pay. He would find it very difficult to believe what he believes if he was poor and dumped on by Pentecostalists.
You have jumbled, and somewhat confused, the New Testament text here: “rich men do find it easier to pass through the eyes of needles and enter the kingdom of heaven than the poor and the oppressed.”, or were you using a bit of journalistic licence? The text is that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.
In any case, it’s hard to see how prosperity theology is consistent with these words of Christ.
Easy he sees these people as the eternally damned to hell.
It is a theory that by Scott Morrison’s own belief system, he would understand himself to be, by his own actions, an agent of Satan. Of course the Great Deceiver would disguise himself as a pious man, and camouflage himself among the flock, would he not? And to walk into the corridors of power brandishing and glorifying a flammable rock from the bowels of the earth? What would Jesus do?
Where the bloody hell did Scomo come from? 🙂
The scarey thing is that there plenty more who are in the parliaments of Australia but run a much lower profile.