March (Web-only) 2003

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Sydney's religious leaders flame new Anglican leader for saying Christ is only way
"Do not be surprised if [the media] hate me," Phillip Jensen said as he was installed as the Anglican Dean of Sydney Friday night. "I am expecting it."

With an invitation like that, it was inevitable that there would be some media backlash to his speech. And indeed there is, mainly focusing on his "attack" against other religions.

"There are many lovely, wonderful Hindus, Muslims, Jews and atheists in our city. Good citizens who have every right to expect to have all the same rights and responsibilities as citizens as anybody else," he said. "But their different religions cannot all be right. Some, or all of them, are wrong, and if wrong are the monstrous lies and deceits of Satan, devised to destroy the life of the believers, to capture them into the cosmic rebellion against God and to destroy the freedom they should have in Christ. Christians in Sydney are being pressured to preach at best a muted message of Christianity. Certainly not one that will ever deny falsehood."

Shortly after the speech, the Sydney Morning Herald asked Jensen (who is the brother of the city's Anglican archbishop and a longtime controversial religious figure in the city) if he thought his speech would "inflame religious intolerance." He said no. "All I'm saying is that both [Christianity and Islam] cannot be right. That's not attacking Islam, that's just saying the truth."

Still, the following day, the Herald quoted plenty of critics who said he was inflaming them. Senior Sydney rabbi Raymond Apple used precisely that word. "The last thing we need at this stage is someone inflaming passions against any religious group," he said.  "Obviously he is entitled to his view ...