An Anglican minister has trolled critics of Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied by putting her controversial Anzac Day message on his church’s billboard.
Father Rod Bower provocatively put, ‘Lest we forget (Manus and Nauru)’ outside the front of his Gosford church, on the New South Wales Central Coast, after the Sudanese-born former ABC presenter called on people to tweet her controversial Anzac Day post from 2017.
The 55-year-old Anglican Archdeacon said his Anzac Day message outside the parish, north of Sydney, was ‘the most meaningful way to honour their sacrifice’.
An Anglican minister has trolled critics of Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied by putting her controversial Anzac Day tweet on a billboard
Father Rod Bower provocatively put, ‘Lest we forget (Manus and Nauru)’ outside the front of his Gosford church, on the New South Wales Central Coast, to hail Yassmin Abdel-Magied
He tweeted that his message about asylum seekers on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and Nauru was his way of opposing ‘tyranny in all its forms and expressions’, using the hashtag, #lestweforgetManus’ to express social media solidarity with Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
However several critics accused Father Bower of politicising Anzac Day, as the Central Coast Archdeacon of the Anglican Church’s socially-liberal Newcastle Diocese.
‘Disgusted that you would choose to cheapen the sacrifice of our diggers in this way for your political agenda Fr Bower,’ one man tweeted to him.
Another man questioned his timing.
The Anglican archdeacon used the hashtag ‘#lestweforgetManus’ to echo Yassmin Abdel-Magied
The 55-year-old Anglican archdeacon said his Anzac Day message outside the church, north of Sydney, was ‘the most meaningful way to honour their sacrifice’ after Yassmin Abdel-Magied (pictured) called on people to tweet her 2017 Anzac Day tweet
Father Bower’s billboard stunt came a year after Yassmin Abdel-Magied equated the sacrifice of diggers with the plight of asylum seekers and the Palestinians
‘Today is NOT the day for that,’ he said.
Another accused him of seeking publicity.
‘Well that should get you some publicity. You don’t represent the Anglican Church, you’re more like a front for Satan,’ one man said.
‘Certainly you’re un-Australian, you have no respect for the sacrifices of our Diggers and lives lost to give you undeserved freedom.’
Father Bower’s billboard stunt came a year after Yassmin Abdel-Magied tweeted then apologised for equating the sacrifice of diggers with the plight of asylum seekers and Palestinian refugees.
‘Lest. We. Forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine),’ Ms Abdel-Magied said in 2017.
Last week, the Sudanese-born former ABC presenter, 27, called on her supporters to tweet ‘#lestweforgetManus’.
Her call was heeded by a legion of left-wing activists on social media, including Father Bower.
Father Rod Bower (pictured) has been accused of trivialising the sacrifice of diggers to express social media solidarity with Yassmin Abdel-Magied
Several critics accused Father Bower of politicising Anzac Day as the Central Coast Archdeacon of the Anglican Church’s socially-liberal Newcastle Diocese
One man took issue with Father Bower for using the sacrifice of diggers to push a political agenda
Another accused him of seeking publicity on the national day to honour those who served in war