FROM THE BOUNDARY: New things

Jesus touched the leper and healed him. St Francis kissed a leper on his hand. John Bradburne lived with lepers at Mutemwa in (now) Zimbabwe, and gave his life rather than leave them. Lepers: unclean, ostracized, cursed by God. At the virtual Intimate Conviction Conference, based here last November, in which I was privileged to be the host pastor, many speakers, from across the world, told us that LGBTQ people are typically referred to as ‘animals’ to be ostracized and rubbished. It suddenly occurred to me that many Christians, even here in “beautiful Barbados”, treat them as lepers: unclean, ostracized, cursed by God.

The movement for change, recognition, respect becomes increasingly insistent, increasingly welcomed for LGBTQ people. Yet the stars remain in their courses and the world hasn’t caved in. Book texts won’t stop it. The Life within all life allows and comforts it. If Gamaliel was right, God must approve it. Why then do some Christian heterosexual people, given consent and adulthood, worry themselves obsessionally about the sexual orientation of others? When will they stop playing God by judging people? The Gospel of love is there for all of us, isn’t it?

Well, since our November Intimate Conviction Conference the Divine voice has spoken again, and again. It’s now been reported that the Inter-American Commis-sion on Human Rights has called upon the Jamaican Government to repeal its buggery law immediately. Angola has decriminalized it. Its new law provides for a two-year prison term for discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Then the Welsh bishops, bless them. In December, the bishops of the Church in Wales published proposals to authorize church blessings of those in same-sex partnerships and civil marriages. The proposals have been circulated to the Church’s Governing Body for debate in April. There shouldn’t be a problem because in 2015 the Governing Body voted in favour of allowing same-sex weddings in church, though this wasn’t binding.

“With new social, scientific and psycho-logical understandings of sexuality in the last one and a half centuries, we believe that same-sex relationships can be understood in a radically different way, and that the teaching of Scripture should be re-interrogated”, the bishops affirmed.

The draft liturgy in the legislation will include the renewal of marriage vows and exchange of rings. The service of blessing won’t be a thinly veiled marriage, but rather a declaration that the “loving and faithful commitment” the couple has made is “worthy of acceptance by the Church by asking God’s blessing” on it. The service, from which a priest may opt out, would signal repentance of the Church’s pitiful history of persecuting LGBT people, the bishops declared. ‘We love each other. Please bless us.’ ‘Yes, of course. To refuse blessing you would amount to a curse. God forbid.’

Now let’s go global. Begin with a simple precept – that all life is sacred, that love and compassion for ALL people are the essential outcomes of religious faith.  Without those, what’s the point? It’s not about earning brownie points for Heaven, right? Right. There’s now a Global Declaration, backed by the British Government, which calls on the international community to end criminalization of LGBTQ people and support a world-wide ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy’, that’s to say attempts to change, suppress or erase a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity.

More than 370 religious leaders, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, from 35 countries have signed the Declaration. A host of Christian bishops and cathedral deans have signed. Other signatories include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, David Rosen – oh yes, and me. Of conversion therapy, Boris Johnson has undertaken to ban it in Britain. It’s “absolutely abhorrent”, he says. The Declaration acknowledges that “certain religious teachings have created….oppressive systems that fuel intolerance, perpetuate injustice and result in violence.” Of course: we’ve witnessed the intolerance of the Christian ayatollahs here.

It’s a wonderful initiative. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll all be able to “walk together” one day.

Go safely, then – until the next time.

Wising up, from the boundary:   “Forget the former things….see, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Is. 43: 18-19)