Yesterday I went up Mt Ainslie to see the result of Danny Nalliah’s call to an “offensive spiritual warfare attack” against the witches who are having an influence over federal parliament.
It was an interesting experience, and a confronting one also, with my emotions being dragged all over the place. I went up the mountain praying for protection, because I didn’t know what was going to happen there. Danny and his team were mounting a spiritual attack against witches’ covens, so to me it was a possibility that that could cause some spiritual retaliation. So I went up being aware of this, but knowing I had to discover more about what Danny is doing and what’s behind it. (As an aside, an interesting situation with Christians mounting the spiritual attack – where are we called to go looking for trouble?).
When I got up there I found a large group of people gathered together at the highest point of the mountain. There were flags waving, horns blowing, drums sounding, and people praising, yelling in tongues and shouting words from the Bible.
There were also many people who were there to spectate (like me) or protest. Protesters were flying gay pride flags and banners, and in some cases trying to speak back in tongues to Danny and his team. Later on there was almost nudity, and they were laughing, watching, wondering and talking, but most of all they were enjoying it – this was their Saturday afternoon entertainment, watching the Christians make a fool of themselves.
At this point I started to get angry. The cause that I have given my life for was being turned into a show – into a ritual, a laughing stock. What was going through the minds of the spectators and protesters? “If this is what God does to people, I don’t want a bar of it, but it’s certainly quite amusing!”
Is this our response to a loving and just God, who put his Son through hell just so he could be with us for eternity? Is he calling us to make Him look like a fool so that those who don’t know Him – those who he created in his image, loves deeply, and desperately wants to be in communion with – decide they don’t want a bar of Him?
As Francis Chan puts it, “it’s crazy if you think about it. The God of the universe – the creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and e-minor – loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.”
Francis continues, this from the blurb of his book Crazy Love: “Whether we’ve verbalised it yet or not… we all know something’s wrong.”
As teachers and leaders we are called to higher account (James 3:1) and that is why I’m not simply going to avoid speaking out about Danny directly. Danny’s supporters have said to me that they don’t like it how so many church leaders are against him. But when misinformation is being spread, and when people like Danny (who should know better) are encouraging Christians (who are leaving their brains at the door and blindly following anyone who is available), there needs to be speaking out against him.
People have said to me “Yeah, I heard about the Mt Ainslie prayer – what do you think about it?”. That is why I write this post. To give a public view on the issue. The people who asked me that were probably looking for an opinion to latch on to. Don’t do that, please. Take what I’ve said, take what others are saying, and use your brain to figure out what the answer is.
I spoke to Jason Golden, Danny’s right-hand-man, to find out whether what they were doing up there was considered successful. After hearing him talk, I think his heart is true. He honestly wants to see salvation come to people who don’t realise it’s there for them. He honestly wants to tell the world about the joy he has found since being saved from his own background of drinking, parties, drugs and sex.
But the problem is, although his heart may be in the right place, his head isn’t. And it’s a problem that many Christians have. It’s the “leaving the brain at the door of the church” syndrome. We’re happy to separate the physical from the spiritual, and elevate spiritual things to a whole new level because we believe it will stand up for itself there. Thoughts like “it’s spiritual warfare”, “we’re doing God’s work”, “the Holy Spirit will save them”, etc. etc. make the “head” part of the outpouring of our hearts completely redundant. We leave our brains and expect God to do the work.
Jason yells words from the Bible through a micro-megaphone and prays loudly in tongues for the salvation of the people protesting around him. I think he does deeply love these people and long for them to see the truth he proclaims. What Jason is doing seems ok to him because he knows where his heart is.
But let’s switch the camera angle around to these other people for a moment – the people Jason is praying for. The people holding up signs saying ‘keep religion out of politics’ and ‘I love my gay sister’. Their view of Jason is slightly different to his view of himself. To them, he looks like a crazy religious lunatic, drunk on the power that he gets from being closely associated with Danny and being allowed to use Danny’s micro-megaphone. He yells words from an out-of-date book that simply don’t make sense here and now. He’s talking about Israel, about it being God’s chosen land, yet here we are in Australia – never haven being to Israel and knowing only about the modern day turmoil there through the media.
Jason yells out babble – “la la la, uh la la la, ooh la” – which doesn’t mean a thing to these people. He’s crazy, he’s deluded, he doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing and they’re having an entertaining afternoon watching him. At the same time though, they’re saying to each other “what I just don’t get, is how he honestly believes he’s right – it just doesn’t make sense”. They’re still questioning. Not dismissing completely, but certainly not anywhere near thinking that these people are normal.
Unfortunately, there are still Christians who are blindly following Danny, Jason and their team. I saw five Christians who I know personally on top of the mountain yesterday, and they were loyal followers uninterested in considering any other options.
Although I haven’t been able to confirm this on the Internet, a source which I consider credible tells me that Danny Nalliah is no longer a pastor – he has been kicked out of the AOG church and is now simply a self proclaimed pastor and nothing else. There were other things about Danny that this source couldn’t tell me – apart from urging me to be very careful about him. Why are so many following him without asking questions?
I spoke to a pagan, some atheists and an agnostic on top of the mountain. They were especially friendly people – in fact all of them had approached me just to say hi or ask what I was doing with my camera and voice recorder. They weren’t trying to “convert” me, but simply wanted to enjoy a good chat. They said that they feel they know the Bible better than most Christians (and unfortunately, I agree with them). After introducing myself to Dave Garland, president of the Pagan Awareness Network and explaining that although I was a Christian, I don’t follow Danny Nalliah, he said “well, I’m from the other side, but you and I agree about Danny Nalliah!”. I felt more comfortable with the ‘other side’ up there than those who I am supposedly on the same side as!
Now, don’t get me wrong: I am a Christian, I love Jesus, I believe that I am a sinner and having accepted His sacrificial gift of salvation I know I am not going to be eternally punished for everything I have done wrong. I accept God’s grace and want desperately to love and live like Jesus lived. I want to see God’s Kingdom brought to Earth in all ways that it can and see people all over the world – including pagans, atheists and agnostics – explore the claims of Jesus, become aware of the presence of God, understand his story of the world, and ultimately have the courage to put their faith in Christ.
But I know that to achieve that, Christ followers have to actually be a bunch worth being a part of. We have to accept other people, and be willing to be their friend. Not to “convert” them, but because we genuinely want to be in community and friendship with those around us.
I’d encourage Christians to look into this more. Go to the next pagan full moon ritual. It’s on November 3. I’ll be there. These people are friendly and welcoming. They’re people, just like you and me, and I want to know more about them. Not because I want to believe what they believe, but because they’re people made in God’s image who God loves and in who I may well find great friends. Through relationship with them, and deep conversing over our views of the world, if they come to agree with who I say Jesus is – then fantastic.
Remember, don’t let your devotion to Christianity make you too different from the world [edit]unaware of what’s going on in the world around you[/edit]. Don’t let it blind you into being so weird that people don’t want to know you. Love others, and spend your time on things that are worthwhile – that bring change and good to the world, not that divide it.
What others are saying:
- Canberra Times journo Louis Andrews, who was walking around with his notepad throughout yesterday afternoon, describes the scene at the mountain as “stranger than fiction”: Culture Clash, Canberra Times, 18/10/2009
- Canberra pastor Brian Medway writes about why yesterday’s meeting was a waste of time: Witches Covens on Mt Ainslie, Grace Canberra, 06/09/2009
- Pagan Awareness Network president David Garland says that modern witchcraft doesn’t involve animal sacrifices: Danny Nalliah’s witch hunt is off the mark, Pagan Awareness Network, 15/10/2009
- Canberrans triumph in the battle for Mount Ainslie – RiotACT, 17/10/2009
This girl (Katie, presumably) is well aware that some Christians aren’t using their brains
Photo: Ella Wilkes – Source: Facebook
Edited the post slightly to clarify what I said in my last paragraph. As Christians we are going to be different, and what I was meaning to say was to not let being a Christian make you unaware of what’s going on in the world around you.
Thanks Cynthia for pointing that out.
Btw, the notion of being different from the world generally comes from Romans 12:2. I think this verse is often taken out of context and Christians read it as ‘Don’t do drugs, don’t swear, don’t get drunk’ etc., or even ‘Don’t hang out with non-Christians because you might fall into sin’. That’s not it at all. It means so much more than that – if you put it into the cultural context, Paul’s words exploded into Roman culture telling them that there was meaning to life, that they didn’t need to conform any longer to the normal way they had looked at their individual lives in the world but rather than they could now consider God’s loving plan for mankind. A very different meaning. I might blog about that sometime.
“…Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible..”
Ephesians 5:10-14
I was expecting to see Danny Nalliah’s take on the whole thing on his blog by now…but it’s not there. I can only conclude that it’s hard work spinning that disgraceful fiasco to his advantage.
Tim, nice to see an enlightened, considered and tolerant view of faith! It’s a deep contrast to the likes of Danny Nalliah and his ilk.
While, as an avowed atheist I find it incredibly difficult to understand how or why anyone can believe in a greater power of any sort – it seems incredibly strange to me – I certainly feel it’s very much a personal choice.
As you’ve observed, from the outside, overt displays of the things that go along with faith of a certain kind – loud opinion giving (which comes across as pushy and blinded), speaking in tongues (which simply comes across as incredibly fake and unbelievable), and a spectrum of hate and closed-mindedness against those whose beliefs and behaviors are different from yours (not Tim’s, but whoever “you” are) whether they be gay, straight, pagan, atheist, agnostic, a drinker, someone who works in the sex industry, or simply someone who just isn’t like you (again, where that “you” is whomever) – are certainly not conducive to making friends and building understanding.
Believe what you will, so long as you are happy and you make no attempt to impose your beliefs on me nor anyone else. As for peddling hate against minorities, which Nalliah and his do, especially the GLBTQ communities and those for whom choices about life and pregnancy aren’t yours (that particular “you” again) are nothing more than the basis of a society that is founded on segregation and difference rather than inclusion. Hardly the building blocks you’d expect and all-loving greater power to be expecting from the faithful.
Nalliah and his flock, they are deluded at best and giving enlightened people of faith a very bad name. We need to hear more of what you have to say, Tim.
Hi Tim. Refreshing to read your take on this event. I could’nt make it up the mountain (I had to work combating real physical evil that afternoon) though I wanted to. My particular issue with the Dannys of this world is that they are happy to load bullets and have their (often damaged) flock fire them. They throw around words like ‘warfare’ and other emotive terms, then step back and disavow any responsibility when some doctor at a womens health center gets shot, or some gay kid gets beaten up.
But what really annoyed me was his peddling tales of ‘blood on an alter’. After reading his account of it, his information comes from someone who told him something that someone else had said etc etc. Reading the comments of his followers, this Chinese whisper then translated to people having ‘dreams and visions’ of children being abused and babies killed for Satan etc. Danny says absolutely nothing to reign these people in or quote the ‘false witness’ commandment. He has a vested political interest in hysteria.
Tim I have spent most of my adult life dealing with criminl child abusers. I have met one (1) pagan offender. On the other hand, I have lost count of the number of christian clergy (of various branches) that I have locked up. The talkers of this world spread misinformation and it just makes it harder for the actual do-ers.
(Eg those who fight bushfires rather than use them)
ps: Congrats on your marriage. A peace filled life to you both!
A sensible post. I’m glad you haven’t condemned your fellow Christians though.
As a Christian, I would have felt more at home at the pub than flag waving and horn blowing.
Relationship building is far more important than event holding. The people looking on would have indeed thought ‘what a pack of fruitloops’.
I agree with the Brian Medway post about it. Biblical precedence is important. Biblical knowledge is important. Read the bible people. If you believe it is the power of God, give it some time.
I read the prophesies section on ‘Catch the Fire Ministries’ website. Visions of Danny sailing a boat in rough waters…please. It could well be from God, but I just can’t take it seriously.
Nice post Tim. I do agree with what you say, I think its a shame when I see Christians wasting their efforts or perhaps having negative affect. Of course they probably would argue that they are being faithful to their God and the opinion of others is not so important of something.
A a pagan it is nice to see that after the years I have known you, that you had a very positive experience. It is very true when stated that “…some pagans know more about the bible than some Christaians” because the unfortunate case is that we have been put in this position of defending ourselves again Christians like this “Danny”. I cannot believe that the intolerance that this Danny espouses is what God would have wanted for his followers.. and Christians like you help to stop that, create tolerance, and work toward a more unified spiritual world.
I should have written this reply much earlier – and I apologise for not responding directly to the many comments I’ve received on this post – both here, on Facebook, and by e-mail.
Thank you for your comments, and I especially appreciate those from the ‘non-Christian’ world – all of who have responded in love and appreciation for what was termed a ‘considered view’. Thanks too to those Christians who appreciated what I wrote.
I got negative responses from some Christians, who believed I shouldn’t have been questioning anything that was happening up there on the mountain. While it is disappointing that some Christians believe God doesn’t want us to ask questions, I can only make a parallel from that to the responses of the Pharisees to Jesus when he was caught doing such things as eating with sinners.
To those Christians who have trouble with these views – I encourage you to look closely at the life of Jesus (not just in the words in your Bible, but in the commentary by people who have explored the culture of the time as well). Jesus told the truth about sin, but he met with the people where their lives and culture were at. He didn’t come in with his own way of doing things and stand there looking like an idiot. He was kind and compassionate, would have been a great friend to have, and taught all he knew to people who wanted to listen. The people who hated him were those who believed in man-made religious tradition – without caring about the state of their hearts (eg. Mark 3:1-6).