I didn’t know (I never asked) that some Christians once used the Bible to justify slavery and apartheid. Reading that fact in the Telegraph today has made me feel very sad. I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. The Bible has been used to justify all manner of inexcusable crimes over the years.
Sigh . . .
A senior bishop in England has pointed out those facts, and has compared them to the anti-gay attitudes of some current-day Christians.
Reports the Telegraph:
The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, suggested Christians should “rethink” their interpretation of Scripture in light of changing attitudes towards homosexuality in society. In a strongly worded intervention as members of the House of Lords prepare to debate the Government’s draft legislation introducing gay marriage, Bishop Holtam told peers that allowing gay couples to wed would be a “very strong endorsement” of the institution of marriage.
He says Christians need to rethink the Gospels in light of experience:
“For example, before Wilberforce, Christians saw slavery as Biblical and part of the God-given ordering of creation. Similarly in South Africa the Dutch Reformed Church supported Apartheid because it was Biblical and part of the God-given order of creation. No one now supports either slavery or apartheid. The Biblical texts have not changed; our interpretation has.”
He makes good points. Christians who openly oppose same-sex marriage need to do some soul-searching and ask themselves if they would still support slavery and apartheid if their church told them to. Because, you know, the oppression of gay people comes from the same ignorant mindset, the same wellspring of hatred.
Kudos to Rev Nicholas Holtamm for speaking up.
Jillian
Jillian Page 
There is a lot to not like about this. Slavery and same sex marriage have nothing to do with each other. To be told that because we have an opinion that opposes both we have an ignorant mindset of hatred is in itself ignorant and hateful !!
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I think it is OK to be opposed, but to oppress people is another matter. That’s when bigotry takes place. We all have a right to our opinions. But we don’t or shouldn’t have the right to oppress anybody because we disagree with their lifestyles or sexual orientation.
Cheers
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That my dear we can agree on. Just to go a step further, while we may disagree with someone’s life choices, we do not judge them for that, we always leave that for the higher powers. Unfortunately not all are that way.
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Your right, your entitled to do what you want with your life. Although, I should remind you that LGBT are not very oppressed in this province. Actually being a LGBT gives you a better chance of getting a job then me. That gives you even more rights then me, so please enlighten me on how you feel oppressed?
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Hi, Db. I wasn’t actually talking about people in Quebec in this post — I was talking about the situation in Britain, where gays and lesbians still can’t get married and thus don’t have equal rights. So, personally speaking, I don’t feel any more oppressed than any other anglo here.
Cheers
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