A Wagga church has condemned Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, comparing the politicians to ancient tyrannical and deceptive leaders known for "butchering innocents".
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Last week, the Anglican Church used its noticeboard to compare Mr Abbott to Julius Caesar and Mr Morrison to ancient leader Herod the Great, known for "ignoring the laws of God to suit himself", in response to the government's controversial treatment and continued detention of asylum seekers.
Rector of the parish Reverend Michael Armstrong defended the "Christmas message" saying it was time we remembered the values and compassion of God when creating asylum seeker policy.
"Kids being imprisoned, adults starving themselves for answers and a media blockout so no one fully understands what is going on it's not humane or transparent," Father Armstrong said, adding he considered it the job of the church to take the lead on social justice issues.
"I don't think there is anything wrong with a church being political ... Jesus was political, he just wasn't in government."
However, Member for Riverina Michael McCormack took a hardline and conservative approach to the sign and Coalition asylum seeker policy.
The Advertiser asked Mr McCormack if he thought the Coalition had a moral question to answer in regard to holding children in detention, to which he replied many of the people held in detention were in "better conditions now then they were there (in their own respective countries of citizenship)".
"The church is entitled to have its opinion, but I'm disappointed they've used their Christmas message to play politics," Mr McCormack said.
"The first priority of a government is to protect its borders.
"You have to be cruel to be kind ... maybe the church should think about the amount of drownings a tough government policy has stopped."
On Tuesday, the noticeboard had its message changed to ask the thought-provoking question: "Are you one of the Magi (wise people)?"
"I want the sign to make people stop and think," Father Armstrong said.
A United Nations report on the Nauru detention centre, detailed in the Sydney Morning Herald in November, documented child asylum seekers living in hot, cramped prison conditions with no access to education while their adult counterparts languished, often waiting longer than 12 months before their application for asylum was processed.
