Prime Minister Gillard’s announcement that she would speak to the Australian Christian Lobby convention spread like wildfire through social media channels eliciting comments of shock and horror.
Today the Atheist Foundation of Australia applauds and congratulates the Prime Minister’s decision to decline this engagement with her statement that “To compare the health effects of smoking cigarettes with the many struggles gay and lesbian Australians endure in contemporary society is heartless and wrong.”
David Nicholls, president of the Atheist Foundation of Australia said, “The leader of our nation should not be supporting the American-style bigotry that emanates ad nauseam from Jim Wallace’s words, but instead, should be condemning them. The ‘smoking’ incident is but the tip of the iceberg regarding copious amounts of inanity and bigotry emanating from the ACL.”
He went on to say, “If it is good enough for the Christian Barack Obama to endorse same-sex marriage in the religiously bamboozled country of the USA then Ms Gillard, leading a more progressive and secular society must now follow suit if she wishes to regain credibility. Fixing mistakes is far preferable than letting them unnecessarily fester.”
The Atheist Foundation of Australia feels guardedly confident that this small but important step by Ms Gillard will result in greater recognition of the harm created by Church and State not being totally separated.
Media Contact:
David Nicholls
President
Atheist Foundation of Australia
Phone: (08) 8835 2269
email: [email protected]
By thank-you-julian