Greens leader Cassy O'Connor has rejected a claim she is anti-Christian after she said Prime Minister Scott Morrison was part of a death cult due to his Pentecostal faith.
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Ms O'Connor (pictured) made the statement in relation to a Pentecostal belief in the rapture during a motion in Parliament to declare a climate emergency due to findings from a recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Braddon Liberal MHA Felix Ellis during an adjournment speech a week later linked the comment to what he believed was a growing anti-Christian sentiment in the country.
"I believe it is a sad reflection of a creeping, hateful, anti-Christian intolerance," he said.
"Sadly I think it is becoming a badge of honour for some people in our society.
"It's an intolerance that seems to not apply to other religions."
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Mr Ellis said attacks on Pentecostal seemed to be based on a deliberate misunderstanding of the religion's beliefs.
"There's 500 million people around the world who believe in that particular branch of Christianity and through their hands so much great work is done," he said.
Ms O'Connor left the chamber during Mr Ellis's speech, accusing him of making misleading comments and pandering to the far right of the Liberal Party.
Ms O'Connor on Friday said she was offended to be characterised as anti-Christian.
"Its important to make a distinction between Pentecostal fundamentalism and Christianity more broadly," she said.
"As a Catholic school educated MP with a deep respect for the good work of churches, and many connections in to faith communities, I reject Mr Ellis's claim I am anti-Christian.
"The Prime Ministers Pentecostal belief in an imminent end of the world is, I believe, part of why he's refusing to take action on climate.
"Scott Morrisons evangelist beliefs allow him to use public money to subsidise the mining and burning of fossil fuels that are responsible for the climate crisis life on Earth is facing."
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Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
Political reporter for Australian Community Media, based in Hobart.
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