The little-known American indie rock musician, Phoebe Bridgers, was performing at the Margaret Court arena in Melbourne recently when she encouraged the entire stadium to join her in a vile chant at the former tennis champion. According to news.com.au:

Turning to the crowd at one point during the night, Bridgers declared: ‘So, Margaret Court. F*** that stupid***, dumb*** b****. F*** that stupid c***. Change your name!’

She then encouraged the riled-up crowd to chant: ‘F*** Margaret Court!’

If you don’t know who the artist in question is – and it’s really not worth a Google – then you’re not alone. But it’s not difficult to imagine the response if a Christian had acted in a similar way. It would almost definitely result in some kind of civil action for defamation, accusations of hate speech and violence, or just the cancelling of one’s visa.

But without doubt, the strangest component came next when Ms Bridgers went on to justify her outburst by saying:

‘I think hate is undervalued. I think it’s like a f***ing weird, white supremacist idea that hate is bad, or something?

‘You know what I mean? It’s like hate is like what moves things throughout history. I hate that stupid b****! 

‘Hate is like how you protect yourself. What, are you never supposed to be angry, ever?’

So, are public expressions of hate now a good thing? All of a sudden the #LoveIsLove brigade are showing their true colours. It would be fair to conclude that parts of the LGBTQ+ movement are not about tolerance, respect, or most of all love, but the total endorsement of their own particular lifestyle.

Significantly, Margaret Court has never returned serve (pun intended) in kind. As a professing Christian, Ms Court has consistently demonstrated a loving attitude not just to those in the LGBTQ+ community, but especially to those who abuse her publicly.

In a sign of just how much things have changed culturally since the redefinition of marriage, there has been hardly any media reporting on the incident, let alone political or social outrage. Sadly, the response of most people at the event was to laugh, enthusiastically join in, and even applaud. George Orwell hit the nail on the head when, near the end of his dystopian classic, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston is told: ‘You must love Big Brother. It is not enough to obey him: you must love him.’

Or, as Spectator Australia Editor Rowan Dean has rightly observed on Sky News Australia, ‘So, this is the state of our culture right now? Where it’s cool to just abuse and swear about someone, on the court named in their honour?’ May God truly help us.