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An afternoon with Lyle Shelton opens discussions, reflections and hopes for a better Australia. 

My first impression of Lyle was, “Wow! He’s so tall!” Mind you, I’m vertically challenged, so many folks are taller than me.

Lyle and his team of faithful warriors attended New Hope Church Caves Beach last Saturday afternoon. He jokingly expressed thanks to Pastor Dan Secomb for hosting “a politically seditious meeting”. Thank God for “seditious” men of God!

One of his key people is Roseanne. Her story is simple: Abortion rights and legislation pushed her too far when Victoria passed abortion up until birth. Now she’s fully committed to standing for life and Christian values, come what may.

Kevin Rudd suggested that climate change was the key issue facing Australia and the world; Lyle begged to differ. Abortion is number one!

Family First Mark 2’s key policies must include courage, vision, and practical steps.

The Gay Lobby

After working for the Australian Christian Lobby for many years, Lyle fought against same-sex marriage. While on holidays in Christmas 2016, Lyle realised that there was a network of globalists pushing the agenda of same-sex marriage.

It was ACL’s Rubicon. Labelled bigots and haters for their stance, ACL was vilified and told there was no place for haters in Australia (as said by Senator Penny Wong).

Lyle received a phone call from Martyn Iles telling him that a bomb had been detonated at ACL’s headquarters in Canberra. Intending it to be a suicide bombing, the perpetrator had hired a van from Canberra airport and loaded 6 x 20 kilogram gas bottles into a truck. He detonated that bomb, and the person survived. He walked five kilometres to the hospital and was interviewed by police about his motivation.

The Australian Federal Police press conference indicated that apparently, no political motivation or malicious ideology had motivated this man; he was charged with arson.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the man was a known same-sex activist. The AFP statement undermined trust in our institutions.

The same-sex marriage campaign in 2017 held many challenges. They needed to politicise the campaign to vote. Lyle had hitched his wagon to Cory Bernardi for three years, and unfortunately, the Australian Conservatives failed.

Rebuilding

Three years ago, the Marshall government in South Australia passed abortion to birth; this was the Liberal government! 

Family First was defunct at that time. Senators Kenyon and Snelling, both Labor men, saw the Liberals bring this bill to fruition and were appalled. It was obvious there was a need to get the Family First party going again. This country needed a strong Christian-based party.

Lyle began to rebuild.

He went to the Victorian election, which he closely contested, and decided to keep going. 

He knew this was not the Australia he grew up in. Don’t we all! The economic crisis continues in the West. Net zero madness is the order of the day.

He poses the question, how can we have so many natural resources in our country, yet be banned from using them? Newcastle coal is a prime example. Why we can sell the world our beautiful black coal, yet be restricted in the use of this resource in our own country?

His opinion is that nuclear power is definitely a key issue here. Climate has become a religious ideology. Pantheism hurts people least able to afford it, struggling with energy, food and housing availability. Our current immigration department pushes so many bad policies. We have plenty of energy, food, and land; scarcity shouldn’t be happening. 

Disintegration

Social crisis, family disintegration, the Sexual Revolution, abortion, fatherlessness, prisons filled with fatherless men, are a sign of spiritual degradation. As Lyle said, “We can’t even define what a woman is anymore.”

He holds to the view that our families must contain a heterosexual mother and father, bringing forth children into the world. Few politicians are brave enough to say out loud that the best interests of children are marriage and monogamy. The redefinition of marriage creates new problems, for example, commercial surrogacy, etc. 

Trans activism was often instrumental in starting the push for the Safe Schools programme. Now, here we are with children being prescribed puberty blockers! These barbaric practices have been decried in England and show no evidence whatsoever in helping children, so they have shut down clinics and held them culpable. This will surely be regarded as the greatest scandal in medical history when we look back up on this horrendous time. 

Pressure on freedom of speech and religious freedom is increasing. Lyle himself has been sued by transgender drag queens in the Queensland Human Rights Commission, where he was accused of discrimination. Although Lyle won this case, it cost him upwards of $300,000 in costs. He is now in the cycle of indefinite appeals by the litigants. 

Eroded Freedoms

He cites a prime example of how ludicrous our system of government and the judiciary have become, when only last week Dave Pellowe has also been ordered to stand before that same Commission answering claims of discrimination, this time racial in nature. 

Of great concern to Lyle is the plight of Christian schools, denied the right to employ same faith-based ethos believers. Thankfully, the backlash from parents has been so strong that Prime Minister Albanese has put off going forward on this at the moment. 

Lyle expresses his disappointment at opportunities lost, namely when Scott Morrison was our Prime Minister. Known as a Christian, Morrison sadly missed the mark when Senator Claire Chandler introduced a Bill to protect women’s sports. 

I got the feeling that when push came to shove, ScoMo caved. Oh, for committment!

As Lyle said, the Greens are fully committed!  They have risen through the ranks from obscurity to a major force in our political scene. We have Christian people working behind the scenes, but being behind the scenes is no longer enough. We need real courage.

Lyle recalls reading the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written by Eric Metaxas. In the early 1930s, Bonhoeffer could see through Hitler’s plans, and he encouraged the Lutheran Church to stand against the “Arian clause”. By 1936, the majority of those who attended the Lutheran National Synod were dressed in brown shirts.

Bonhoeffer was involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; when it failed, he was arrested and finally hung only months before the end of the war. Lyle quotes Bonhoeffer: “Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.”

There is great silence from people who know better. We need to be the solution, not just proffer empty talk. He recalls an episode of the British comedy Yes Minister, where an aide walks into the Prime Minister’s office touting their wonderful new hospital, a state-of-the-art facility, a shining example of what can be achieved — but it didn’t have any patients. His point is that of a Government that looks great on the outside, but so few politicians that reside in its corridors have intestinal fortitude to be of use. 

It recalls the story of Sophie Scholl, a young German girl who stood against the Nazi regime. Sophie used to hand out leaflets, and when she was asked why she was doing so, her answer was, “We have to start somewhere.” Sophie also lost her life at the hands of the barbarous Nazi regime. Fortunately, here in Australia, at least now, we don’t get arrested when we hand out pamphlets and mount a resistance! 

Where Do We Go from Here?

Lyle is optimistic to see fruit in two to three years’ time in state elections, with candidates standing from every walk of life. This will hopefully open an opportunity to stand in a Senate position. It’s a David and Goliath battle, but as Lyle said, neither major party will stand against this evil. Success or failure is in God’s hands, but we must pick up our stones — our prayer — because Goliath can fall. 

It will cost about $200,000 plus to get into a position where a Senate seat is possible. He asks us to consider buying his book, and attend the Gathering conference connections, one being held in Sydney at Chatswood on 7 September. (See website for details) 

He asks us to read his articles on his website and listen to his podcast on ADH TV. 

Lyle is looking for people to stand in Lower House candidate seats. He needs helpers to cover booths, and most importantly he needs our prayers. In fact, he covets them!

In my humble opinion, I hold to the statement that we get the government we deserve; so, if we refuse to enter the arena of culture, keeping our heads in the sand, we end up with ungodly government run by people who are spiritually blind and deaf. As Christians, let’s commit to vote, pray and support Lyle Shelton and Family First.

Can we do any less?