This grieves me…been there done that myself…so much prayer and alter calls etc…so so sad for those people going through similar things…I am praying for the Truth to come out…..as Anthony says…ignorance is the enemy…so so sad as I said:-(

One of the most damaging things we can do is to make the church’s views of homosexuality as our view of ourselves.

This can lead to intense self hatred and loathing as well as much internatised homophobia. This can take many years to repair. The psychological damage these groups can cause is horrendous. This can also lead to very serious general health problems. (I know).

Asking them to come forward also has a very insidious agenda of identifying them individually in order to target them for MORE abuse.

The worst part of this is that they LIE from scripture to do it.

Justice would be for these people to be jailed for life and there ought to be laws to enable us to do that and protect these young people. Churches should NOT be exempt from anti-discrimination legislation as they are now. That exemption needs to be removed now as a first step. I am not over-reacting when I say this. I firmly believe this is what needs to happen. This sort of abuse has gone on far too long and it needs to stop.

Hi davidt and forestgrey

Going on from your comments above, I don’t believe the preacher’s intent was to do harm. I actually felt it was a loving church but seriously misguided and as a result, causing harm. I know that doesn’t excuse their actions and agree there needs to be steps taken to prevent this kind of thing.. davidt, I think your idea of anti-discrimination laws applying to religion is a necessary change and well overdue. At the moment however I think it would be difficult to prosecute unless it can be proven that the preacher’s intention was for evil. From my own experience, I’ve seen Christians and others who are a lot worse than this guy. They have been not only misguided but hateful while pretending to be loving. And to me that’s unforgivable. At the end of the day, God looks at each of our hearts and sometmes our actions belie what’s underneath. I remember being misguided but having a good heart while at other times being intolerant of another and then learning a valuable lesson, realising the other was a gift to me. So I pray that something good can come out of the above altar call for all involved.

Blessings,

Ann Maree

This is hideous! Does this guy know what he’s doing? How many of those young people are going to hate themselves in the coming weeks?

It makes me feel sick inside to see what happened here. No doubt this kind of thing happens in other places too.

I just wanted to rescue them, and hug them, and say its okay – you’re okay. God loves and accepts you just as you are.

I’m also angry. And I want so badly to put a stop to this treatment of vulnerable people. Grrrrr J)

God – let something be done. Please.

Hi Raul

I need to clarify something from your statement above. I never said the pastor’s actions amounted to a jailable offence because I don’t think they do. If anything I feel sorry for this particular pastor because I see a misguided individual rather than a hateful one. I do agree with davidt however that some changes in law would be helpful in terms of reducing homophobia in our wider society and also in churches. Of course the pastor would no doubt argue that his behaviours and intent were not homophobic and so some education would be needed to help him see otherwise. It’s tricky though isn’t it.. I take your point about allowing freedom of speech and not stifling others who rub us up the wrong way. However I think it’s important to draw the line between allowing freedom of speech while taking a stand against the emotional abuse of people that may come with such speech. It’s a complicated issue though when you consider peoples’ intents, beliefs, values, culture etc.

I do agree with you that freedom of speech facilitates great learning even when others express hurtful things. I had a very painful experience recently with someone and my immediate response was one of wanting to protect others from that person. After reflection though, I realised that he was an important messenger in my life, shining a light on an area I needed to work on. Without the experience I wouldn’t have learnt what I did. So as much as I wish I never had to be hurt, sometimes these trials turn out to be gifts. Again I’m not justifying wrongdoing or this pastor’s actions. Rather, I’m recognising the learning that can come from painful experiences.

What you say about letting people do what they do, even if venomous, reminds me of the biblical analogy of light shining brighter in a darkened world. It’s true that without bad things, we perhaps would find it more difficult to recognise good. Something to think about anyway..

Blessings,

Ann Maree