A prominent pastor and academic has launched an appeal to Church leaders in Australia to prepare faithful Christians for a rising tide of hostility and persecution. Writing for The Gospel Coalition, Campbell Markham said that in Australia right now freedom of religion, conscience, and assembly are considered natural rights, but if the Government “grants” religious freedom, then “natural rights will be transmogrified into state rights.” He then predicted that such state-granted rights will be steadily restricted and repealed over time.

“I expect, within the remainder of my lifetime, that Christians will be legally restricted in their ability to speak out and live out their faith in the public sphere.  Abortion centre “exclusion zones” and recent anti-discrimination actions are the thin end of the wedge here.

”I expect, within the remainder of my lifetime, that Christians will be forbidden to educate their children the way they want to. . . . I expect, within the remainder of my lifetime, that professing Christians will begin to be barred from such professions as law, education, healthcare, the academy, and the civil service.”

He then addressed a plea to directly to Church leaders, parents and anyone with influence over Christian young people: “Prepare them for hardship and persecution.”

https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/australian-church-leaders-prepare-people-persecution/