Katharine Murphy says she can’t fathom FauxMo’s embassy plans. She writes a long article trying to find an explanation and completely misses the bleeding obvious – FauxMo’s Pentecostal faith.

She says “Morrison, for the record, has said his view on the Jerusalem question is not influenced by his faith.”

FauxMo is not renowned for telling the truth, whenever he opens his mouth he lies, so why would we believe him on this? He just blurts out whatever he thinks will get him out of yet another self-inflicted crisis. He lies constantly. Not very Christian of him, but then he’s not a real Christian at all, just a member of a cargo cult church that preaches a dodgy prosperity gospel.

For FauxMo and his religious mentors and advisers it is religious doctrine to regard Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel. Pentecostal churches usually include prayers for peace in Jerusalem and the advancement of Israel in their Sunday services. I’ve never been to Horizon Church so I can’t say it’s done there, but I’d bet it is. It’s part of their belief that the Bible is the literal truth, they believe Jesus will soon return and reign in Jerusalem for a thousand years. For that prophecy to come about there needs to be an end to the strife in the Middle East and Jerusalem needs to be established as the accepted capital of Israel.

FauxMo is following his church’s beliefs with his loopy decision. The Wentworth by-election campaign allowed him to push forward his own religious beliefs dressed up as government policy. That particular belief, he thought, would go down well with Wentworth’s many Jewish voters (who are mostly rusted-on Liberal voters anyway) so his timing, to him, was clever. He forgot an important part of that particular prophesy involves the conversion of the Jews to Christianity. He, like his church and all other Christian churches, assumes that will be OK with them. Jews today see this doctrine as anti-Semitism and some regard it as something akin to the Holocaust. To this nation it looked like a desperate last-minute attempt to win a few more votes, which it was, in part. It may well have lost him some votes of former rusted-on Jews. Now not only is he in a very difficult place politically, he’s also in a very bad place with the leaders of his cult.

If he backs down then politically he makes a fool of himself and risks being accused by his enemies in the Liberal Party of allowing foreign powers to dictate Australia’s foreign policy. He will also anger his cult leaders, who have been crowing about his rise to PM as “God’s will” and rejoicing over having the first (and hopefully last) Pentecostal PM. Some have even gone as far as predicting doom and gloom descending on this country if FauxMo is not re-elected. You might remember this –
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/07/darkness-coming-if-scott-morrison-not-re-elected-pentecostal-leader-claims

If he sticks with his decision he delays the signing of the FTA with Indonesia until, most likely, after the next election, when Labor will do it and claim all the credit, and he risks angering not only Indonesia but Malaysia as well. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has already warned our government that moving the embassy would increase the threat of terrorism in this region. Even worse, he destroys Australia’s international reputation, already running downhill fast because of the way we treat refugees and asylum seekers, and because of this government’s refusal to accept the science of climate change and reduce our emissions. Insisting the embassy be moved will cause a major international diplomatic crisis, something no-one in this government is capable of handling successfully.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/15/malaysian-pm-warns-australia-moving-israel-embassy-would-add-to-terror-threat

Murpharoo tells us Pyne, Abetz and others have tried to explain FauxMo’s plan as part of a two-state solution, a plan to end up with two embassies, one in Jerusalem, one in Palestine. Sorry, Katharine, but FauxMo is nowhere near smart enough to have ever thought of that explanation, he’s just following the dictates of his church, his mentors and the RWNJs in his government.

Don’t forget, when FauxMo became PM he was immediately given a “wish list” of items that had been rejected by Turnbull and his ministry-

Soon after Scott Morrison became Prime Minister, he was presented with a policy wish list by Liberal senator Eric Abetz and other conservatives who had helped dynamite Malcolm Turnbull.

It included abandoning the Paris climate change commitments and moving Australia’s Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

https://outline.com/je5XDM

https://outline.com/tzRXVJ

If he wants to stay as PM he has to follow up these demands. Liberal PMs and leaders who do not do as they are told by the RWNJs are disposed of. Just ask Turnbull – it happened to him twice.

So, does FauxMo back down, save an FTA and avoid a diplomatic crisis or does he do what he always does, stick to his decision no matter what, causing a breakdown in relations with two (at least) important trading partners but staying in the good books of his church mentors and the extreme right wing of his own government? It’s a dilemma all of his own making.