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The Australian Christian Freedom Index (ACFI) is now at the forefront of essential reading.

As Michelle Pearse declared in a June 30 newsletter, the groundbreaking report’s “results confirm what many of us quietly sensed.”

“This is more than a feeling,” the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) CEO and ACFI co-author added.

“Over the past 25 years, 74 separate laws narrowing Christian freedom have passed through our parliaments.”

Significantly, 61 of those laws which limit livelihoods and civil liberties were passed by the Australian Labor Party (see here).

“Law by law,” Pearce wrote, “the room to live and speak as a Christian is shrinking.”

Not Just Perception

Today, 92% of Christians consider it less safe to share their faith, with education and healthcare providers feeling the push to self-censor the hardest.

Pearse’s newsletter reasserted the contents of a June interview with Herald Sun columnist and Sky News host Andrew Bolt just after ACFI’s release.

“It’s not just a perception that it’s riskier to be a Christian, it’s actually a fact,” she explained.

Almost half of the 74 laws mentioned above have been enacted by Federal and State Labor Governments in the last five years.

A prime example is Victoria’s aggressive ‘conversion therapy’ ban, which outlawed pastors from praying for people, even with consent regarding concerns about sexuality.

“The laws being passed in the states,” Pearse warned, “have a chilling effect on Christian freedom.”

Speaking further about the erosion of Christian freedom, Pearse’s June 30 ACL e-newsletter unpacked ACFI’s significance, asserting that “a faith that stays quiet long enough stops being heard.”

To this Pearse added, “On a recognised international scale, persecution runs through eight stages, from ridicule to martyrdom.”

“Australia has reached the fifth in a single generation.”

Withdrawing from Society

“The gravest three we have not seen here yet. But you don’t need the worst laws to silence people. The fear of them is already doing it. “

Referring to Matthew 5, Pearse said, “Jesus did not call his Church to retreat into silence.”

“Yet that is the world your children and grandchildren may inherit: free to believe, so long as they keep it out of sight.”

“The report is clear: backing down has only cost us more freedom.”

So, Pearce declared, “we refuse to retreat.”

Citing ACL’s important work and the value of investing in it, she added, “A church free to speak is a church free to serve — the shelters, the foster homes, the bedside of the dying.”

“The world may be teaching us to make ourselves smaller. By God’s grace, and with your help, we will keep doing the opposite.”

Fearlessly Proclaiming the Gospel

To this the CEO, wife and mother affirmed: “What we need is a nation where every Christian is free to profess their faith without fear.”

“And we do not write to you afraid.”

“The Church was born under an empire that wanted it gone, and outlived it — Paul advanced the gospel further from a prison cell than many manage from a pulpit.”

Remarking on the potential positive impact of the Australian Christian Freedom Index, Pearce said,

“The survey findings are sobering, but pressure has always met its match in a Church that refuses to hide its light.”

Pearce also said in a press release published by ACL on June 5, “Perhaps the [ACFI’s] most significant finding is not that Christians are facing challenges.”

“Jesus told us to expect opposition. Rather, it is that many believers are quietly withdrawing from public life.”

“That should concern us all. Freedom of religion is not a special privilege for Christians. It is a fundamental freedom.”

Therefore, she concluded, ACFI’s findings “should be a wake-up call for every Christian in Australia.”

“I encourage you to read the report, share it with others, and help start conversations in your church, community and workplace.”

“Change does not happen when people remain silent.”

Illustrating just how far the Australian Christian Freedom Index has reached, Billy Graham’s Decision magazine also highlighted the report upon its release.

Quoting from the report, Decision said the ACFI uncovers a “growing antagonism toward Christianity Down Under.”

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Image via screenshot of the Sky News and the ACFI .