Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously today is National Flag Day. How good is that? St George's cross, St Andrew's cross, St Patrick's cross and of course the almighty Southern Cross—four crosses.

But that's not what my speech is about. It's about something else.

Atheists are safe in Australia—safe, of course, because atheists live in a country founded on Christian values. Atheists get to say, 'There is no God,' and the worst that happens in this country is that somebody rolls their eyes and everyone just moves on. But try denying the existence of God in Iran or in Saudi Arabia and see how you go—or in any other nation that hasn't been marinated in Christian values for the last few centuries.

Few people realise that a person's right to reject Christianity itself is a Christian idea. Free will is a Christian idea. So, too, are freedom of speech and association and the rule of law. None of the things that protect atheists from being imprisoned for being atheists happened in a vacuum. They came from a world view that said, 'Humans are made in the image of God and therefore have value.' Even the separation of church from state is a Christian idea.

Atheists may like to try and portray themselves as rebels or as thinkers, but they are neither of those things. They are people doing no more than challenging the system that literally gave them absolutely everything they have and that continues to sustain them. Atheists can deny God and roll their eyes at Christianity all they like, just as long as they keep in mind that the only reason they can do that is that the faith they mock is too gracious to silence or persecute them.