BRISBANE, Australia, Sept. 4, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – When Australian pastor and Christian broadcaster Matt Prater responded to an email from the Australian Broadcasting Commission's Q&A programme, little did he know that his question to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd would be echoed in news bulletins both nationally and internationally. As the defining moment of the entire show, the official YouTube clip of his question has already eclipsed 375,000 views.
Q&A is a discussion panel show that gives the public an opportunity to put questions to influential figures such as politicians. Conservatives are usually a minority on the panels and pundits argue that half the audience is people watching to see if their tweets are put to air. In this episode Kevin Rudd was the sole occupant of the panel, taking all questions.
Knowing in advance that he was going to be able to ask a question, Prater put a number of options to the audience of his breakfast show on the Christian Vision Radio network in the form of a Facebook poll. The question on Rudd's changed stance on gay 'marriage' was the clear winner.
Prater had previously interviewed Rudd in 2008 for his History Makers programme.
His question was on the basis of his listeners' collective opinion that Rudd was chopping and changing what he believed on issues such as marriage in order to gain a popular vote. Therefore, why should these disillusioned Christians vote for him? Rudd then defended his change of mind on “marriage equality,” as the campaign in Australia for the legalisation of same sex 'marriage' has been termed.
Rudd stated that he had reconsidered the issue with an “informed (and) Christian conscience,” that people are born with a particular sexuality and therefore the notion of homosexuality as an abnormal condition is wrong. On accepting that homosexuality is normal, it then followed that those relationships should have legal recognition in order to achieve 'marriage equality'.
The moderator then turned the attention back to Prater to clarify on “what it is that you believe Christians in particular are upset about.” Prater explained that pastors like himself performed marriages between a man and a woman. He quoted the words of Jesus in that “a man shall leave his father and mother” and hence the biblical definition for marriage, and stated, “I'm curious for you Kevin. If you call yourself a Christian, why don't you believe the words of Jesus in the Bible?”
Rudd answered that “the Bible also says that slavery is a natural condition,” earning enthusiastic applause from the studio audience.
Prater told LifeSiteNews that when he was asking his question, he was thinking, “Is this going to be a hostile crowd?” Then the whole crowd applauded Rudd's response.
“As we were walking out, I was thinking 'oh no' and that someone was going to be unhappy with me. And then a young girl came up to me (who works for the ABC) and said ‘Hi Pastor. Good on you for standing up for Jesus.’ And I thought she might have been an angel.”
While initial media reports called Rudd's response a smackdown, there was a full morning of positive calls to Matt Prater's breakfast show the next day. Also waiting for him were hundreds of “well done” comments from Christians on Facebook in addition to hundreds of new followers on Twitter. There were also attacks calling him a bigot and a homophobe.
What really surprised Prater was the extent to which his question was picked up by the news media. He had already completed five radio interviews by noon with more to follow, and the story was on all major television news bulletins that night. “Certainly got people talking,” he said.
Religious leaders had previously supported Rudd when he courted the Christian vote in 2007. They have now come to the aid of the pastor.
Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Glenn Davies, quickly pointed out that it was Aristotle that Rudd had quoted rather than the Bible when stating that “slavery is a natural condition.” The Archbishop also affirmed the clarity of the Bible on slavery and same sex relationships.
Pastor Brian Robertson from Australian Christian Values pointed out, “There is no reputable scientific evidence to prove that people are ‘born gay’. In fact, there is no identifiable ‘gay gene’ that pre-determines an individual’s sexual choices.”
Other candidates from Prime Minister Rudd's Labor party have admitted that the PM's support for same-sex 'marriage' is making it harder for them to win votes in their electorate. Despite recruited celebrity endorsement, polls on “marriage equality” from only weeks ago show that “even people who agree with the policy say it won't influence their vote.”
During the 'marriage equality' campaign to date, politicians in favour of same-sex 'marriage' have resisted calls to take the issue to a referendum as they know that the Australian public does not support the issue.
Polls for Labor show that the descending support for Labor is now worse than when Prime Minister Rudd was first replaced by his MPs with Julia Gillard in 2010 in an effort to stave off certain electoral disaster. Rudd is now in danger of losing his own seat.
Australian pro-life and family groups have tracked the voting history and intentions of candidates and have published voting guides.
Australian Christian Lobby (with iPhone app)