News

Published: 21 January 2019

German supermarket giant Aldi has been slammed for pushing political correctness.

In a super PC move, Aldi has painted over the dress on a car parking figure in case it risked offending “gender neutral” persons.

Ema Taylor, who noticed the change at a UK Aldi store, said:

“It's ridiculous. It's gone from being a stick woman to now being a superhero, it's a bit laughable.

“Mums do actually have to give birth to these children so I think I've earned my right to have a picture of me painted in the mother and baby parking space.

“With everything going on in the world who has time to care about a sign on the floor? There's so much more important stuff going on in the world than to be concerned with this kind of thing,”, said Taylor.

Aldi responded to the incident by stating that: “All parent and child car parking spaces at Aldi stores are gender-neutral. This sign was painted incorrectly and will be changed.”

Published: 17 January 2019

Over 250 Dutch pastors and church leaders are being threatened with criminal prosecution for signing a statement.

Their supposed crime? Signing The Nashville Statement, a document which endorses a biblical view of human sexuality and contains comments such as the following:

WE AFFIRM that God has designed marriage to be a covenantal, sexual, procreative, lifelong union of one man and one woman, as husband and wife, and is meant to signify the covenant love between Christ and his bride the church.

Denny Burk, Professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, wrote that:

Even though they simply meant to reaffirm what Christianity has always taught for its entire 2,000-year history, the statement has been met with fierce opposition in the Netherlands.

Over the last several days, the public outcry against these leaders for their Christian convictions has been ferocious. Politicians and celebrities have publicly denounced them. The Hague, which is recognized as the international center for law and justice, flew a rainbow flag in protest of the Nashville Statement. And now, the country’s public prosecution service is “examining the statement to see if there [is] any basis for a criminal investigation,” according to a Dutch news site. The news report cites Article 1 of the Dutch constitution as possible grounds for the investigation, which states that “discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race or sex or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted.”

Cultural Marxists are becoming increasingly hostile towards those who dare to dissent from the LGBT agenda.

It’s important that we make a strong stand in Australia and ensure this doesn’t happen here.

Published: 15 January 2019

By Darryl Budge and Caleb Stephen, FamilyVoice Australia

Proctor and Gamble is under fire for a Gillette ad pushing men to shave their “toxic masculinity”. The ad depicts men getting into fights, standing in front of barbecue grills, and verbally harassing women. The ad, dubbed “We Believe” also heavily features news clips discussing the recent #MeToo movement.

The once popular razor blade maker has hemorrhaged market share in recent years.

A decade ago, Gillette controlled about 70 percent of the U.S. market. However, last year, its market share dropped to below 50 percent, according to Euromonitor.

In an effort to salvage its plunging popularity, Gillette has jumped on board the #MeToo movement. However it makes unproven assumptions about what is going wrong. It assumes men are present and are guiding the lives of young men who commit crimes and who act in a sexist manner.

Today’s men are being raised by the sexist, pro-exploitation porn culture of Hollywood, which, through #MeToo, has tried to virtue signal away its unchanged on-screen ethics.

Many people are finding the ad offensive, as it paints with too broad a brush.

Certainly, when men (or women) do wrong, such behaviour should be called out.

But while it shows some men responding positively to misbehaviour, the ad comes off as a smear against all men, because it blames masculinity itself as toxic rather than asking what selfish men are imitating.

The lack of present or interested fathers, plus male teachers vanishing from schools, produces ever increasing aimlessness of each new generation of men.

Society must also ask itself why so many children are being raised in fatherless households. That is a problem created by men and women – since “it takes two to tango”.

Wider society must re-assert the value of commitment, as it is not only razors which have become disposable. Marriage and family are now routinely trashed.

What does a real man do? God our Father tells those who are courageous enough to humbly listen.

Boys and men need courageous and sacrificial masculinity – what super hero cartoons are based on –  the selfless love of Jesus, God the Son, who gave up His life for a lost humanity. In the New Testament men are instructed to lay down their life for others, especially their wives.

It is not surprising that the ad was ridiculed by disgusted customers who say they will no longer buy Gillette products.

Men must return to the image God made us to be: like Jesus, full of grace and truth, compassion and conviction. We are to be meek with bold strength under self-control, He says in Matthew 5.

Only Jesus can produce that kind of strength in us. We need Him.

Toxic masculinity isn’t the problem. Lack of masculinity is.

Darryl Budge (B.A. Justice Studies) serves as FamilyVoice's Western Australia Director. He has written in Christian media for 14 years, helping God’s church reach out through real life stories.  He also leads the Communications Team developing publications and responses to issues that arise in the nation.

Caleb Stephen manages the Digital Communications department of FamilyVoice Australia. With nearly a decade of experience in grassroots political activism, undercover journalism and news editing, Caleb is passionate about enabling young Christians to be an unashamed voice for change.

Published: 14 January 2019

By Caleb Stephen, FamilyVoice Australia

Each of us has a part to play in changing our culture.  Look inwards to discover yours.

Young people today often find themselves disorientated and confused by the shifting tides of popular opinion to the point where they feel any kind of involvement in positive cultural change is pointless.

The truth is that if you are a member of Generation Y or the “millennials” you exhibit tendencies that can be strong catalysts for changing the culture around you.

Put simply, you are the leaders of tomorrow.

A significant part of the calling of God’s people is to embrace our responsibility to influence culture. This is found in the Great Commission in Mark 16:15-18 to “go into all the world and preach the gospel.”

Part of sharing the message of Jesus’ love and grace to the world is promoting values that are synonymous with the cultural message that the Gospel encompasses.

As Christians, we are given the task of being “salt and light” to the world around us. We read of this in Matthew 5:13-16: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Values determine culture. Culture determines behaviour. Behaviour determines outcomes. The question is: What outcomes do we want to see in our society? Positive or negative? And will you be a part of influencing those outcomes?

Ours is a post-modern, post-truth world in which Christianity is pushed into the realms of irrelevance and silence. Christians are now the underdogs and the name of Christ is dragged through the mud daily in media, politics and pop culture.

But it doesn’t have to be all dark and dismal. No matter how young you are, you have a voice that you can use for good. Don’t be silent! Speak even if your voice shakes.

Even though it seems to be an overwhelming task, Christians can and must make a difference.

Some of the greatest things in this world have been accomplished by young men and women who rose to the occasion, took a leap of faith and courage and made a difference.

And it doesn’t matter how small the difference is. It only takes one small crack to compromise a dam wall with millions of litres of water behind it. It only takes one small spark to start a blazing fire. It only takes one small seed for a towering tree to grow.

Small acts when multiplied by millions of people can make a profound rippling difference. Never despise the value of the small.

It’s all about attitude

You can’t have truth without love, nor love without truth. The two work together hand in hand. Something that we are all guilty of (me included) is preaching at people instead of coming alongside people and lifting them up with grace. We are all broken – just in different ways. And we all are in desperate need of a loving, merciful God who wants us to have a deep, personal relationship with Him.

You are never going to change the world just by rocking “Jesus freak” T-shirts or going to church (as though that somehow makes you a better person than anyone else). The only way we will change this world is by being the hands and feet of Jesus!

When Jesus called us to be a witness for Him, He never intended for His message of light, love and hope to be confined to the four walls of a church. He had every intention of that message to be lived out in daily life, at coffee shops, at work, at uni, at the gym, in the car – with friends, family and strangers alike.

Harnessing the power of social media

We live in a unique time - never before in the history of Western civilisation has there been a greater opportunity for reaching out to millions of people around the globe.

We’ve all seen how a single Twitter hashtag has created awareness among millions about a social or political issue.

Jump on those social networks of yours. Get posting, tweeting and sharing personal thoughts and multimedia content that provoke deep thought and conversation.

Once those conversations get rolling, jump in and engage with more thoughts and questions that are catalysts for challenging well established opinions. Everyone enjoys a good worldview challenge.

Don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions and be prepared to come back with truth-based opinions. Often this is the simplest way to change someone’s view on an issue they have simply adopted by default as opposed to weighing the evidence on all sides and coming to their own conclusion.

Take a collective approach

You don’t have to do this on your own.  In fact, get your youth group involved in culture-changing activities and actively seek opportunities to be involved in making a difference.

Subscribe to FamilyVoice emails to get the latest updates on what’s happening socially and politically. Network with other young people over coffee or lunch to discuss trending cultural trends. Take action collectively as a group. Pray together. Inspire each other.

MP's want to hear from their constituents and what they’re interested in – that’s their job! However, they can’t tackle social issues singlehandedly – what they really want is to know what they can personally do about it.

Write to them, or even ask for a meeting with them, and show them what you as young people think they should be focusing on. The more you collectively make your voice heard, the further your reach goes.

Leading by example

Change starts through the small things. We don’t need to be famous or powerful or rich in order to positively influence the culture that we live in. By being an example of excellence we can set the standard by which our generation looks up to rather than looks down upon.

If you want to make a powerful and lasting impact on the culture, you’ve got to do more than just consume it, critique it, condemn it, or copy it. The only way to truly change the culture is to create something radically new for it – something that will inspire people enough to reshape their world. 

Unleashing your inner creative

God has given each of us unique talents that we can use to serve Him.  Why not use these to further His plan.  Stop looking for someone else to be the change. Look in the mirror. Think about where your strengths lie.

Can you write? Are you a good organizer? Do you have design skills? Are you prepared to get those boots of yours on the ground and start assumption-blasting conversations wherever you go? You've only got to look on the inside to discover your inward hidden potential.

And to the person reading this who may be already doing the above (and perhaps even a whole lot more), I take my hat off to you. Thank you for making a difference. You are truly a part of shaping what tomorrow's world looks like. Keep up the fantastic work!

Caleb Stephen manages the Digital Communications department of FamilyVoice Australia. With nearly a decade of experience in grassroots political activism, undercover journalism and news editing, Caleb is passionate about enabling young Christians to be an unashamed voice for change.