Three religious leaders who have lost all morality

There are many examples of religious people dictating to us what and how we should believe. Margaret Court, a Christian Minister of Margaret Court Ministries said she will refuse to fly Qantas due to CEO Alan Joyce's backing of marriage equality.

"I believe in marriage as a union between a man and a woman as stated in the Bible," Court said in a letter to The West Australian newspaper at the time..

There have been many like her. Israel Folau is another . Both Court and Folau are at odds with the majority of the Australian people, 62% of whom voted to approve gay marriage .

Then there are the churches that have ignored the Covid-19 lockdown.

Are the three senior religious figures just like Court and Folau? Ramming their views down our throats, with no alternate views to be considered? This writer believes that it is just another example of their exercise of power. Malcolm Turnbull, the recently deposed Prime Minister, in an interview on his book A Bigger Picture by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, described those who pulled him down as succumbing to "the aphrodisiac of power". The three clerics are similar – exercising their power over us.

The French philosopher Michel Foucault, the only person to have written extensively on power, describes it as universal – affecting relationships in schools, prisons,in many aspects of our daily life. He has thought extensively on ''life'' in its various guises, and how it has been controlled and ordered by power.

This examination of power is exemplified by the three churches of which the dignitaries have been spokesmen. Each church started off together, as the early Christian Church, but then broke apart as their leaders struggled against each other for power, and for control over our thinking.

The early church started with Jesus Christ who died about 30 AD.The early Christian church shared converts to Christianity with the Eastern Orthodox Church until the East–West Schism in 1054, disputing particularly the authority of the pope.In 1054 AD a formal split occurred when Pope Leo IX (leader of the Western branch) excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius (leader of the Eastern branch), who in turn condemned the pope in a mutual excommunication. Before the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, the Church of the East also shared in this communion, as did the Oriental Orthodox churches before the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451; all separated primarily over differences in Christianbeliefs. Pius IX during the First Vatican Council, in 1868, Anthony Fisher's Catholic Church proclaimed papal supremacy as a dogma.

But the early Christian church had started to dictate how we believe long before even 431AD. One of the earliest "heretics", Arian, who defined Jesus Christ as a minor god, was denounced as a heretic by the Council of Nicaea (325 AD).We were told that we had to believe in the Trinity - God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. This , the Church fathers told us, we had to believe, even there is next to no mention made of the Holy Ghost , or Holy Spirit, in the gospels – Mathew , Mark, Luke or John. The teachings of Jesus, in short, make no mention of the Holy Spirit, yet we were told by the church fathers then, and still are today, that we must believe.

Also we are repeatedly told that we have to believe in a series of miracles- the virgin birth, the raising of people from the dead, transubstantiation, etc. Miracles that modern science tells us are not possible.

In the 16th century, the Reformation led to Protestantism also breaking away,with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Martin Luther in 1517. Protestants reject the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy and the sacraments. Anglican Archbishop Glenn Davies may consider Henry VIII's founding of the Church of England in 1534 as the starting date of his church, which again was a battle for power. The overall lesson is the same – Those of us who are protestants now have a new series of beliefs which the church fathers tell us we must follow.

These questions raise the issue of whether the three churchmen are only demonstrating their power over us. An equally strong reason on why we should ignore them is the several expert opinions that say they are wrong. But over and above the reasons set out in this article, is the fact that evangelists in the United States beat them to it. Back in early June they raised their objections to this Covid 10 vaccination

So Australia's religious leaders obviously decided that they needed to hop on this bandwagon, even though it was triggered by US evangelists advising a President long known for his lack of veracity , and whose support base is fundamental Christianity. Trump's faith advisory council is a veritable who's who of right-wing evangelists.

One evangelical Trump advisor even recommended skipping anti-flu shots: "Inoculate yourself with the word of God," she tells us.

Our three heroes would be well advised to think through the advantages to the nation, and the entire world, if we were vaccinated, no matter what the source of that vaccine. Which would be the greater good, a workable vaccine for the pandemic, or the orders of three morally questionable prelates?