A UNITING CHURCH parish and its minister in Sydney’s north have been trolled online after inviting the Grand Mufti of Australia and other Muslims to attend the church’s Interfaith Month service.
Reverend Michael Barnes found his Gordon Uniting Church Facebook page had been spammed by hate mail and anti-Islamic comments over the event last Sunday.
“Allowing the evil moslems (sic) into the house of god shows you are not in contact with god,” one Facebook poster wrote.
When the Gordon Uniting Church shared a picture of the Gosford Anglican Church’s “Muslim Lives Matter” signboard, the response was equally venomous.
“No they don’t you filthy community. Your (sic) all for causing destruction on this country. F**k Islam,” one person wrote.
Reverend Barnes said that he was saddened but not surprised by the response.
“The hate mail just makes us more determined to continue welcoming, building bridges, and supporting our Muslim neighbours,” he told the North Shore Times.
Mr Barnes said that the congregation was “swamped with love and friendship” on Sunday, a reference to Senator Pauline Hanson’s maiden speech, in which she said Australia was “in danger of being swamped by Muslims”.
“In my little reflection on Sunday morning I referred to her speech but reframed it. I said I was delighted to be swamped by Muslims. Bring it on,” Reverend Barnes said, adding that interfaith dialogues were necessary to combat the hate.
“I think it’s fear that’s driving all this hate. I think it’s lack of engagement with human people who are Muslim. It’s fear of those who are different. And the tragedy is that it’s completely unnecessary. More than that, it’s hurtful and it impacts on the lives of Muslims in particular.”
“We think we’ve got something important to contribute. You can engage people like this and what you discover is not that you need to afraid but you can benefit and enjoy friendship.”
Most of the hate comments on Facebook targeted the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, who was a guest speaker at the Gordon Uniting Church last Sunday.
Dr Ibrahim spoke on the theme “How does each religion welcome and embrace the outsider?”
“It makes me very happy to be in gatherings like this where we share, because we are all children of the one God and therefore our message is unified,” Dr Ibrahim told the congregation before going on to quote the Prophet Muhammad: “You shall not enter paradise unless you truly love one another.”
Dr Ibrahim spoke alongside Muslim Youth Counsellor Mona Abdelraheem, who spoke on behalf of young Muslims.
The Gordon Uniting Church holds interfaith services every Sunday throughout September, which they designate as Interfaith Month.
This year, they had speakers from Muslim, Jewish, Aboriginal, and Baha’i faiths.
Last month, the Gosford Anglican Church was stormed by anti-Islamic protesters from the far-right Party for Freedom.
Gosford Anglican Church’s priest Father Rod Bower is renowned for embracing all faiths as well as supporting the LGBTI community.