Viewers slam ABC as “abhorrent” for ridiculing Scott Morrison’s faith
<p>Australia’s Prime Minister has held the top position for less than a week, and there are already controversies surrounding his beliefs.</p>
<p>Scott Morrison, who is known to be deeply devoted to his <em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/inside-the-church-new-pm-scomo-calls-home" target="_blank">Christian faith</a></em> has caused concern amongst his Liberal MPs as they’re afraid the PM won’t be able to separate his faith from his policies.</p>
<p>But it was ABC’s satirical show <em>Tonightly,<span> </span></em><em>which<span> </span></em>aired on Monday night, that has caused a furious backlash.</p>
<p>The comic program – which was recently cancelled by the ABC – questioned Mr Morrison over his religious beliefs and his policies regarding refugees and immigration.</p>
<p>Host Tom Ballard used Mr Morrisons Pentecostal faith, where worshippers become so overwhelmed with emotion they start to speak in tongues, to point him out as a hypocrite.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb">
<p dir="ltr">Hey kids check out this AWESOME cool Christian band who play at <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@scottmorrisonMP</a>'s church all the time to get the low down on the whole Jesus/refugee thing, yeah? Sweet <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tonightly?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tonightly</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RefuJesus?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RefuJesus</a> <a href="https://t.co/XJUGxdSn39">pic.twitter.com/XJUGxdSn39</a></p>
— Tom Ballard (@TomCBallard) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomCBallard/status/1034264300741742592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">28 August 2018</a></blockquote>
<p>“To show us how our new PM’s faith fits in with his politics, we’ve actually managed to get some Christian rock musicians who regularly perform at Morrison’s church.”</p>
<p>Featuring comedians Bridie Connell and Wyatt Nixon-Lloyd, the pair claimed they were “The Shadow Ministers” and began by saying “Scott Morrison could not be more Christian, right? Every act he does is so Christian.”</p>
<p>The duo then begins to sing: “Jesus made the animals like kangaroos, and he also said to lock the kids up on Nauru.</p>
<p>“I am Jesus’s son and I’m Jesus’ daughter and there’s nothing more Christian than closing the borders.</p>
<p>“We love Jesus, Jesus, but not refugees-us, if you wanna’ win votes then you gotta’ stop boats.</p>
<p>“To do what pleases Jesus deny them all visas – and you can’t get more Christian than that.”</p>
<p>The song also says: “ScoMo is under the spell of Jesus’s charm, and the kids are on safety watch for self-harm.</p>
<p>“If Jesus was a refugee, we’d say, ‘f*** off, we’re full.’”</p>
<p>Causing an uproar on Twitter, one user responded saying “would you leave the Prime Ministers’ Faith alone please..? Do we still live in a Country that believes in Freedom..?”</p>
<p>Others accused the ABC of disrespecting the Prime Minister’s faith, with one user saying that the broadcaster should “hang its head in absolute shame.”</p>
<p>On the other end, some users claimed that the video has clearly “hit a nerve” with a few Liberal voters.</p>
<p>With thousands of shares on Facebook, the video has been viewed by many, with one person commenting: “This song is so irreverent. I’m sad that so many people have seen it.”</p>
<p>Facebook user Jared Archer called it “abhorrent” and “garbage” that was “completely disrespecting the views of many Australians and faith”.</p>
<p>The video is a satirical response to Mr Morrisons infamous policies as former Immigration Minister, where he campaigned to “stop the boats” and to send refugees back to the country where they fled from.</p>
<p>The Prime Minister mentioned in his maiden speech that his “personal faith in Jesus Christ is not a political agenda.”</p>
<p>Speaking to the <em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/" target="_blank">Daily Telegraph</a></em>, an ABC spokesman said that skit was not meant to attack Mr Morrison's faith, but was “a satirical way of examining the relationship between such beliefs and government policies on asylum seekers.”</p>
<p>Mr Morrison responded this morning, saying he didn’t watch the musical segment but labelled ABC comedians’ “numpties”.</p>
<p>“The ABC can be numpties every now and then, but my faith teaches me to love each other and to turn the other cheek,” he said.</p>
<p>“I’m the Prime Minister and I work for all Australians everyday — I’m on their side. I’m about bringing Australians together, not about creating differences and pushing them apart.”</p>