Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

With antisemitism on the rise, Mark Leach from Never Again is Now explains why Australian Christians must stand against it. The alternative is too dark to comprehend.

For Anglican pastor Mark Leach, life has taken an unexpected turn. In addition to his normal pastoral responsibilities, he now finds himself a public leader of Never Again is Now.

The organisation is calling for a stop to increasing antisemitism in Australia. It aims to highlight this growing anti-Jewish racism by holding events across Australia.

Recently, Mark sat down with the Daily Declaration to explain how his journey has unfolded – but more importantly, what this all means for the Church in particular and Australia in general. The results are incredibly informative and personally invigorating.

Fear for Jewish Identity

Mark himself is Jewish. His mother fled Germany in 1938 and, as a result, escaped the Holocaust.

Sadly, he’s no stranger to Jewish jokes about money – and other ones grossly distasteful about having a shower in a gas chamber.

Antisemitism is ongoing in Australia and has been for some time. Jewish schools and synagogues require security measures simply for being Jewish. Synagogues, for example, spend an average of $100,000 a year on security.

But since 7 October 2023, antisemitism has risen to alarming proportions, eerily echoing the atmosphere in 1930s Germany. Not only was October 7 the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust — it has also emboldened antisemitism to rise to levels resembling pre-World War II.

Countless examples abound. But this one will suffice. Senator Mehreen Faruqi (Greens) posted (and then deleted) this photo to her social media with a poster about ‘keeping the world clean’ from Jews.

The ‘far left’ and ‘far right’ are singing from the same hymn sheet.

Inaction and Appeasement Lead Us Nowhere

This calls for a response. But a temptation might be – as it was in the 1930s – to ignore the problem or simply hope it goes away.

Perhaps if “we treat everyone nicely and if we keep our heads down, sing our songs, record our worship albums, listen to our preachers and get on with our daily lives, everything will be fine.”

But Mark replies that this is ignorant wishful thinking. “That’s not how the world works. Unfortunately, there is evil in the world.”

And this evil won’t be overcome by inaction or appeasement. But as Paul would say, by “doing good” (Rom 12:21). Overcoming evil requires action.

Australia has achieved remarkable social cohesion by world standards. But as we have seen since 7 October, social cohesion can be quickly eroded.

We have the responsibility to respond and “to act to build the kind of society we want our kids and grandkids to inherit one day.”

Antisemitism: A Litmus Test for Our Souls

The biblical worldview is clear that all are equally made in the image of God (Gen 1:27). Therefore, each individual is equal in value, dignity and worth.

This fundamental equality at the individual level means racism is both ridiculous (intellectually bankrupt) and abhorrent (a grave moral evil).

Now that this equality is being challenged – with Jewish people being viewed as “lesser thans” – how will we respond? Our actions from here will be more than revealing.

Leach pointedly states, “Our attitude towards the Jewish people is a litmus test for the state of our souls – and it shows what we really value. We can all say we believe in love, peace and cohesion, but those words are meaningless if we stand by [and do nothing].”

Mark concludes, “Our ideals are so Christian and so biblical, and we have to enact those and defend those and live those out in the public square.”

Why? Because as history has demonstrated time and time again, when Judeo-Christian ideals are consistently enacted, it brings a great blessing to everyone (regardless of their faith). Australia didn’t become the ‘lucky country’ by fluking it. It became so because of our Judeo-Christian heritage.

But this is now on the line, with Australia at great risk of becoming consistently ‘un-Australian’.

What If We Don’t Respond?

Perhaps most telling – and revealing – of all, was Mark’s response to this question: What if we do nothing?

After pausing for a few moments, the thoughtful response came. To do nothing risks enabling the “slow pulling apart of the fabric of our society. A decline into tribalism and all the attendant evil that happens when people treat each other as inherently different and other on the basis of tribal identity.”

The results of this won’t be pretty.

“We’ll see a fragmented and fractured society that eats itself from within and ends up vulnerable to attack from without.”

“We’ll see ourselves as a society that hates life – where we aren’t safe from each other, and we can’t all flourish.”

Civil Responsibility

Jesus left no room for doubt that His followers do have a civic responsibility. When His disciples live out His values, they produce a preserving and uplifting influence on the culture (Matt 5:13–14).

Mark powerfully put our civil responsibility like this: “This standing against hatred in this way, is part of a broader agenda to renew our culture.”

“To push back hatred against a jihadist extremist version of Islam. But also, we’re pushing back against the radical left that also seeks to undermine and destroy the foundations of our society. So, we need to work hard to do that.”

“And it’s an act of love for Christians to do this because, at one level, it’s not about us. It’s about the good of everybody. The powerless and the voiceless. Our kids and our grandkids.”

Indeed, we are not here for ourselves. Our primary calling is to first love God, and then love others as we love ourselves (Matt 22:35–36).

Across Australia, Never Again is Now events are one way of putting this into practice and living our ideals “out in the public square”. The first event is in Sydney this Sunday, 18 February, and the second is in Adelaide on 3 March. (Dates for other cities are yet to be announced.) Register here.

Mark lays down the challenge this way: “If anyone wants to come for the Jewish people here in Australia, they need to come through the body of Christ.”

The Church in Australia must act in stark contrast to that in Germany in the 1930s – or it risks a repeat of dark and evil times.

Will it learn the lessons of history? And join with movements like Never Again is Now?

That is for us all to decide.