See also follow-up article on the Australian Christian Lobby here: Defending the Indefensible
No matter how much Brigadier Jim Wallace, CEO of the Australian Christian Lobby, may deny his organization’s theocratic ambitions; no matter how much money the ACL pays a PR company to ‘position’ it in the market-place as ‘moderate’; the undercurrent of extremism keeps shining through brighter than a 60 watt halo on a plastic statue of the resurrected Christ.
Today, ANZAC Day, Brigadier Wallace has chosen to tweet the following message:
Just hope that as we remember Servicemen and women today we remember the Australia they fought for – wasn’t gay marriage and Islamic!
56 minutes ago via TweetDeck
I’m not even going to dignify this with a comment. I’ll just let the public speak for itself:
@JimWallaceACL You’re a right tool. Turning today into another platform for your bigotry? I don’t think the ANZACs fought for that, either.
purserj10:56am via TweetDeckjohnnycau10:56am via web
@JimWallaceACL You are a dill
janek8510:56am via TweetDeckRT @s_bridges: It’s a well-known fact that the Battle of Fromelles pitted Strayans against the evil forces of Islamic gay marriage. (@JimWallaceACL)
jakobein10:56am via Twitter for iPhoneRT @JaneTribune: So @JimWallaceACL wins cocksnap of the day without even breaking a sweat. Go you good thang!
Greybeard310:56am via TweetDeck@JimWallaceACL What a snide, pathetic, mean-minded little jab. So, not one gay serviceman has ever fought (and died) for Australia?
JBAdel10:56am via Twitter for iPhone@JimWallaceACL Congratulations for tweeting the most offensive thing I’ve read in a while. Don’t use ANZAC day to promote bigotry. Vile.
dreadpiratemick10:55am via web@JimWallaceACL There are gay and Muslim soldiers fighting for Australia right now, you prat.
GrogsGamut10:55am via HootSuiteRT @canberrajames: +1 RT @macleanbrendan: Best We Forget about @JimWallaceACL and the Australian Christian Lobby.
mjberryman10:55am via Twitter for Mac@JimWallaceACL Just hope you spare a thought for all the atheists who’ve fought & died so you have the right to spout your bigotry & hatred
RT @elldeelosang: @JimWallaceACL Perhaps you need to remember that many gay servicemen and women also fought and died for Australia.
eithniu10:55am via TweetDeckRT @tiffanyff: no @JimWallaceACL, it wasn’t. They fought for freedom, for everyone no matter their sexuality, race or religion
RT @JacobLeigh: We all laugh at the big turd that is @JimWallaceACL but remember our PM thinks appeasing him is more important than meeting gay families.
TheDestroia10:55am via Mobile WebPlease make sure you tell @JimWallaceACL how atrocious his view is. Truly UnAustralian. Total Bigoteithniu10:55am via EchofonRT @jasonjordan: Please let @JimWallaceACL know what you think of his extremist views. This is the 1st time I have ever called someone UnAustralian.
Deanrizzetti10:55am via webI’m pretty sure @JimWallaceACL has said made the most offensive statement of the year. ACL should sack him#wallacegate
canberrajames10:55am via HootSuite+1 RT @macleanbrendan: Best We Forget about @JimWallaceACL and the Australian Christian Lobby.
sandraom10:55am via EchofonI can’t bring myself to RT it but people should look at what @jimwallaceACL has to say. an appropriate influence on public policy?
@JimWallaceACL For a Christian, what an incredibly unChristian thing to say 🙂 #racism #discrimination
thepatrick10:54am via Twitter for Mac@JimWallaceACL I hope you remember that they fought for an Australia that wasn’t just defined by you.@JimWallaceACL u and ur christian faith makes me sick 2 the stomach! Dont tell me what my grandparents fought 4. u dont have a fucking clue
eithniu10:54am via web@jimwallaceACL if the Christians in the ACL represent real Christianity you will soon be ex-Managing Dir. ACLpopebrentus10:54am via webThis is the disgusting tweet, FYI. RT @JimWallaceACL we remember the Australia they fought for – wasn’t gay marriage and Islamic!
Pretty sure that the Anzacs didn’t fight for trolling lobby groups with more pwer than they really should have. @jimwallaceacl
Thanks to @JimWallaceACL for reminding us the real meaning of ANZAC day. Forget the human cost of war: hate on fags and muslims #douchecanoe
drunkslag10:52am via Twitter for Mac@macleanbrendan does @jimwallaceacl realise that it was also an Australia with a White Australia policy, stolen generations etc.?
@JimWallaceACL I know what my grandmother fought for because she told me: “To keep that totalitarian bullshit in Europe where it belongs.”
no @JimWallaceACL, it wasn’t. They fought for freedom, for everyone no matter their sexuality, race or religion
_Spock10:52am via Twitter for iPhoneRT @benpobjie: thank god for @JimWallaceACL, who reminds us that even on this most solemn of days we can always make time to spread a bit of bigotry
SeanBMcMahon10:52am via Twitter for iPhone@TheDestroia Holy crap. I had to reread twice. Couldn’t believe you’d retweeted it til I saw your tweet before. Shameful @JimWallaceACL
Drive2WorkWeek10:52am via Twitter for iPhone@JimWallaceACL my family fought since the great war against fanatics and bigots like you. I garantee they didnt fight for you! Religeon?!
RT @elldeelosang: @JimWallaceACL Perhaps you need to remember that many gay servicemen and women also fought and died for Australia.
@JimWallaceACL So you didn’t fight for the constitutionhttp://t.co/EU74LkM nor for freedom http://t.co/fCG6C3F? What a tragedy.
popebrentus10:51am via webP.S. @JimWallaceACL Your entire ‘Christian’ organisation sickens me. You do not speak for me & you never, ever will.
darkdirk10:50am via Tweetbot for iPhone@JimWallaceACL You really are a fucking arsehole. Jesus said love everyone, dipshit. I guess you preferred the Pharisees
beyondbeeton10:50am via twidroydReally, @JimWallaceACL? My grandfather was shot fighting for freedom, even for bigots like you.
iamjomcmahon10:50am via webRT @amoir: @JimWallaceACL My Gallipoli Grandad didn’t fight for wowserism or for a turd like you to ransack his ghost & imply he was anti-gay & racistDrive2WorkWeek10:50am via Twitter for iPhone@JimWallaceACL they also didnt fight for the opressive christian views of PC fuckwits like u. BTW God doesnt exist u devisive piece of shitCan_do_Campbell10:49am via webRT @amoir: @JimWallaceACL My Gallipoli Grandad didn’t fight for wowserism or for a turd like you to ransack his ghost & imply he was anti-gay & racist
@JimWallaceACL What they fought for was freedom from prejudice and persecution. For all Australians! #lestweforget
bastardsheep10:47am via TweetDeckRT @koosli: Clearly @JimWallaceACL doesn’t know a thing about the culture of respect btw ANZACs & Turks (ie “Islamics”) at Gallipoli.elldeelosang10:47am via web@JimWallaceACL Perhaps you need to remember that many gay servicemen and women also fought and died for Australia.and I’m sorry @JimWallaceACL but being a pompous old windbag is not winning you any friends. Go show some love for your fellow man.
canberrajames10:46am via HootSuite@JimWallaceACL wow. just wow. I didn’t you could be more of an idiot: you proved me wrong.Fuck You @JimWallaceACL you ignorant prick – The Australia they fought for was for EVERYONE. That’s what makes our nation great. Turd.
SeeArePe10:46am via Echofonplease, feel free to join us in the 21st century. Or just fuck off and die @JimWallaceACL
@_jaytalking unfortunately people like @JimWallaceACL exist.
@JimWallaceACL My father didn’t fight in N Guinea for wowserism or for a turd like you to ransack his ghost & imply he was anti-gay & racist
amoir10:45am via web. @JimWallaceACL Anzac Day: people gave their blood and sanity in those wars so you can be indulgently, hatefully irrelevant.
Can_do_Campbell10:44am via Twitter for iPadits people like you @JimWallaceACL who hijack an event like Anzac Day for your own particular whacko theories, that do damage to religion.
@JimWallaceACL Christians like you give the rest of us a bad name. So much for those silly commandments Jesus gave us – love one another.
GibbotMOL10:44am via web@JimWallaceACL must be looking for his own unique definition of dickwad. I’m sure some nice Muslim man will help him find it.
RT @weezmgk: Unlike bigoted hater @JimWallaceACL, I’m accepting & generous. I would even give him a crowbar to help him get his head out of his ass.
RT @s_bridges: Obviously @JimWallaceACL is a man of God because he loves all of God’s creatures, except for the poofs and the Moooooslems.
RT @erinnish: Wow. @JimWallaceACL So many fought and died so we wouldn’t have to live under fascism. Well done for missing that salient point completely.
And I would suggest @JimWallaceACL that they didn’t fight for ignorant, bigoted, racist, irrelevant, old men like you.
Trisha_Jha10:39am via Twitter for iPhoneRT @benpobjie: thank god for @JimWallaceACL, who reminds us that even on this most solemn of days we can always make time to spread a bit of bigotryCan_do_Campbell10:39am via Twitter for iPadCan we pls remind @JimWallaceACL that the diggers didn’t choose who they fought for. They fought for every Australian. Man. Women. Child.
Dawkinsb10:39am via webThese people have influence?MT @JimWallaceACL as we remember Servicemen and women today… they fought for -wasn’t gay marriage and Islamic!Will the Prime Minister speak out against this? Will the ACL do the Christian thing and send this homophobic old bigot into early retirement? Will the Australian Army strip him of any honours for his bigotry towards serving men and women in the ADFS? Don’t hold your breath.
Chrys Stevenson
Post Script
Faced with this onslaught of negative publicity Jim tweeted about an hour later:
“Ok you are right my apologies this was the wrong context to raise these issues. ANZACs mean too much to me to demean this day, not intended.”
Well, of course it was intended! ANZACS obviously didn’t mean enough to him to stop him from using them to make a cheapshot at homosexuals and Muslim Australians. Not good enough Jim and the apology is an abysmal fail.
And then, in what is becoming Jim’s typical response to plead ‘victimisation’ when he is the aggressor he says: he expected people to take “advantage” of his comments on Twitter to “score a point”…
No Jim, it was YOU trying to score points by exploiting dead soldiers and presenting a warped, divisive and bigoted view of what they fought for. The public just responded to this self-serving assault on our national day of remembrance. Shame.
And as the day wore on the spin from our friend Jim would have put Warnie to shame. Now, apparently, Jim is the victim and he was simply ‘misrepresented’. Keep digging Jim, you’ll soon be in China.
Related Links
I have posted a follow-up article on the historical lineage of the Australian Christian Lobby’s ‘Christian values’ here: Defending the Indefensible
Jimbo’s bigotry makes the news and blogs:
From 2005 and oldie but a goodie: A bunch of theocrats: Brig. Jim Wallace and the Australian Christian Lobby – Bruce Baxter
Wallace and ANZAC Day 2011 – Bruce Llama
Jim Wallace and foot in mouth disease strikes the Antipodes on Anzac Day – Loon Pond
Lest we forget – Anzac day’s not for politics – Conscience Vote
Gladly, the Cross-Eyed Bear 
Funny that you’ve only published the negative responses to his comment when there were considerable amounts that were supporting him.
Considering the high percentage of ANZACs that were Christian I imagine his comments were probably pretty accurate as well, do you have evidence to dispute it?
To add to your collection here’s some of the comments from this herald sun article that support him:
Article:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/make-big-match-a-grand-final-replay/comments-fn7x8me2-1226044458549
Comments:
Anon like the rest of EWE of Emerald Posted at 12:55 PM Today
You did not offend me Sir, your views are shared by MANY.
Comment 1 of 25
pcaman2003 of Geelong Posted at 12:56 PM Today
Don’t worry too much Jim,I believe most Aussie diggers feel the same way your father does. Not only diggers, but a lot of the population as well .Today’s Australia , unfortunately,is a far cry from the one I enjoyed and grew up in .
Comment 2 of 25
neil of country Posted at 12:58 PM Today
Don’t apologise Wallace, because you are not alone with your thoughts on these issues.
Comment 5 of 25
Jim,dont appologise for what you believe and for what most australians believe is wrong. If nobody stands up and voices there anger then I feel very sorry for the future of this country and our children
Comment 6 of 25
Scott Forbes of Melbourne Posted at 1:04 PM Today
At the time they probably didnt and even now they wouldnt bother fighting for them.
Comment 7 of 25
Father of 4 Posted at 1:04 PM Today
The average Aussie knew what he meant…..and would agree whole heartedly….nothing to apologise for…..a nation that was founded on christian values….fought for christian values and the moral high ground….now the christain values are being suppressed so we don’t offend the islamics that come into our great nation….where they are given preferential treatment…..that same religion that if we went into their countries that there would be no religous tolerence for christianity…..only suppression…
Comment 8 of 25
Vinnie Barbarino of melbourne Posted at 1:08 PM Today
Why is he apologizing? How about we ask the surviving ANZAC’s what they think and get the truth? I thought this was the country of free speech, everyone is entitled to their opinion, or should that be everyone is entitled to their own opinion as long as you don’t offend anyone, or as long as it was everyone else thinks?
Comment 10 of 25
oh I may have just posted 7 of the first 10 comments of that article and they were all on his side… I guess there’s a lot that agree with him hey??
As a matter of fact I posted directly from the @JimWallaceACL twitter stream and there were no supportive comments. I am also watching @JimWallaceACL as a trending topic and all the comments coming through are negative. I don’t doubt there are many idiots out there who agree with him. The point is that he is an utter disgrace and the Prime Minister should not be consulting at any level with such a divisive and homophobic bigot who stands for everything that most Australians – Christian, Muslim, non-Christian and non-religious – do not.
The Hun moderates comments. There is no way to know if every comment published is every comment posted or a sampling of the comments that suit the agenda of the Hun. A Twitter stream provides a much better statistical sampling of public opinion as it is not moderated.
So, Mr. Wallace* lacks the courage of his convictions. Perhaps courage is not one of those Australian values Christianity had so much a part in forming.
This is naught but obfuscation. It may well be that there was no intention to offend, but he one may reasonably presume that he knew such a comment would result in some people feeling offence.
If one is incorrect in such a presumption, then one must conclude he is but a fool, and to display such rank ignorance of the consequences of such commentary demonstrates his utter lack of qualification to hold any position of leadership or of spokesman.
* I refuse to grant the retired Mr. Wallace the dignity of using the title of his final rank during his commissions in the Australian Army, for to grant such a dignity would be an indignity to others both currently in or retired from their commissions.
Setting aside what the ANZACS really fought for (since the only people who really know this are the people themselves) if we are to buy into the modern mythology of the ANZACS they fought for liberal democracy (in some form, at the time a constitutional monarchy).
The problem with this idea is it holds two opposing ideas (as any constitutional monarchy does). These are special privelage for a few (the royalty and their ‘kind’ e.g. class, religion, enthicity, etc) and constitutional rights and freedoms for all (or most). Today, in Australia we view values of equality, equity and fairness as integral to our national character.
These values simply don’t work if they are only afforded to some, such has been the progression of extending them to women, children and minorities. I for one can easily think of a few more areas progress is still needed.
No surprise Wallace’s father doesn’t recognise Australia anymore (as he commented in The Age article), when he was born women were relatively new to the vote, Aboriginals were not recognised as Australians and the nation was veraciously pursuing anti-asian immigration policies. We also hadn’t adopted the metric system and hadn’t designed our own independent currency.
If you go to war for liberal democracy, for values of equality and fairness but only for some, you’re doing it wrong. Wallace is free to publicly display his bigotry but we are free to petition him to correct his views. Such is the modern value of the sacrifices made by our predecessors.
For too long the ACL and Wallace have pretended to represent a majority of Australians, with their growing profile it is becoming clear the ACL are far from representative of modern Australia. I for one welcome Wallace’s speech, I welcome his public capacity to spout his poorly considered and narrow-minded views.
Dear AJ,
Your grasp of logic is what polite company would euphemistically refer to as “not very good”, while the less refined of us would simply point and laugh.
You trot out arguments of biblical-level stupidity (pun fully intended) which are, in places, nearly indistinguishable from those used to “prove” the existence of god.
To cite just one of your many dribbling mouth-shits:
“YOU CAN’T PROVE SOME ANZACS WEREN’T RACIST HOMOPHOBES” is so closely related to “YOU CAN’T PROVE GOD DOESN’T EXIST” they might as well be joined at the hip.
Still, we don’t expect much in the way of formal logic from people who get behind people like Jimmy Jim Wallace; honestly, the only people who would support this homophobic bigot are _other_ homophobic bigots.
It seems that at the top of Wallace’s agenda is to have as many rational, respectable people dislike him as possible. Looks like he’s well on the way to a huge success. If only he was relegated to the closeted ranks of talkback radio loonies, instead of in a position of influence.
Jim Wallace ought to think twice before he calls my Grandfathers both racist and homophobic, not to mention my grandmothers’ long association with veterans affairs and the RSL as one of working towrad white, christian, heterosexual supremacy. It’s utterly unfounded, and I reserve the right to ‘take advantage’ of his comments as much as I damn well want to make sure this is understood.
One other thing – nothing annoys me more than reading the comments of an article like this and coming across the inevitable ‘What ever happened to free speech??’ brigade. For goodness sake, this is not hard to grasp: Jim Wallace is free to say whatever he likes, and in turn, we are free to respond however we like. It grates on me unENDINGLY that everytime people start exercising their right to free speech, a brigade of spineless, cowardly fools who cannot bear to have their opinions criticised will default to ‘I can say whatever I want! Shut up! Free speech!’. Free speech is a boxing ring, not a shooting gallery. Take the blows or get out.
When I said ‘an article like this’, I was referring to the Herald Sun article. Not this blog post, naturally.
AJ writes:
Considering the high percentage of ANZACs that were Christian I imagine his comments were probably pretty accurate as well, do you have evidence to dispute it?
Considering the great diversity of opinion on a great many matters by those claiming their religion as Christian (not least of which being this matter of discussion) pray tell, dear AJ, what evidence thou might possess in support of such contention.
AJ writes:
oh I may have just posted 7 of the first 10 comments of that article and they were all on his side… I guess there’s a lot that agree with him hey??
Last I saw, the comments are above 160. And poor sod that I am, I counted for and against (since thou be so fond of tallies), and found the result to be 64 supporting Mr. Wallace and 87 opposing him. Oh, dear! I guess there are lot who disagree with him.
Though a veteran of the US Army, the video available here is apropos this discussion.
Personally, I’m always grateful when people like Wallace accidentally tell us what they really think.
Nice of you to out yourself again, Jim. Even the Christians won’t want to know you if you keep this up…and you’ll be left with no-one but the homophobic bigots for company.
See also a follow up article I just posted here.
I have posted a follow-up article: Defending the Indefensible here:
https://thatsmyphilosophy.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/defending-the-indefensible-the-historical-lineage-of-the-australian-christian-lobby%E2%80%99s-christian-%E2%80%98values%E2%80%99/
Jim, you forget that our soldiers sailors and airmen were the ones sacrificing themselves against an evil and repressive regime that promoted religious intolerance and hatred of homosexuals.
It was our soldiers who were on the side fighting for freedoms and human rights against those who thought the world was only fit for people who were like them.
Our soldiers did not fight for people like you, they fought against people like you to protect the minorities who would be oppressed if they were not defended.
Often outnumbered and often putting their own lives at risk they made their sacrifice for the freedom of the world not mindless narrow bigots.
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Bigots like Jim Wallace represent the kind of society we have become. His ideology and views are no different to a terrorist hiding in a cave except he wears a blue suit and moves around amongst us.
The likes of Alan Jones, Jim Wallace, Pauline Hanson. Piers Akermans, Jim Bolt and their fan club are a disease of our civilised society.
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