I wonder if churches would be less refugee friendly if there were more of these events.
NEWS: A far-right nationalist group that links itself to Pauline Hanson stormed a church service on Sunday dressed in mock Muslim attire and chanting anti-Islamic slogans, leaving some members of the congregation “deeply traumatised”.
The incident, on the NSW Central Coast, reflects the emboldened attitudes of anti-Islamic groups following the political rise of the One Nation leader, and has triggered calls for the new Parliament to retain the full strength of racial discrimination laws amid a new push for the repeal of section 18c.
About 10 Party for Freedom members on Sunday disrupted the morning sermon at the Gosford Anglican Church, which is widely known for its embrace of multiculturalism, and refugees and asylum-seekers.
Party for Freedom is an anti-Islam, anti-immigration party whose Facebook page features Senator Hanson as its profile picture.
The church is nationally renowned for a sign out the front that often bears messages critical of Australia’s hardline border protection policies, such as “Hell exists, and it’s on Nauru”.
Father Rod Bower said halfway through his sermon at around 9.30am, members of Party for Freedom, dressed in mock Muslim attire, burst into the church.
“Using a loud speaker starting to abuse me in particular for the work we do … they violated our sacred space,” Father Bower said.
“It was typical rhetoric from the extreme right, vilifying Muslims and multiculturalism as a whole.
