As Scotland presses ahead with hate speech legislation which could lead to prosecution for things said at home, England is not be outdone. Sadly, the latest egregious attempt to silence critics of the progressive cultural steamroller comes from within the Church.
Response to Living in Love and Faith
The Revd Alex Clare-Young was registered as female at birth but now identifies as a man. He and his wife, Jo are ministers in the United Reformed Church. The couple was among the transgender, gay and intersex Christians who featured in a video clip of the contentious Living in Love and Faith (LLF) project promoting greater LGBTQ participation within the Church of England. The clip included a message from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby.
The LLF video prompted a response from Ben John of Christian Concern, who posted his own 15-minute video. Neither Mr Clare-Young nor any of the other participants are named in the original clip, or in Ben John’s response. Notwithstanding this, Mr Clare-Young has claimed that he and others felt personally targeted in a way that made them feel unsafe.
The police as theological arbiters?
Mr Clare-Young asked Christian Concern to remove the video; they refused. He claims: ‘I’m not trying to exclude people who identify as conservative evangelicals with a traditional view of scripture. I don’t want anyone to be excluded, but neither do I want anyone to exclude me.’ Pointing out a difference in biblical interpretation is not exclusion, it is disagreement. The progressive Christian, like his secular counterpart, seems to be unable to cope with a difference in understanding and demands conformity, even if it has to be enforced by the police. Are the police to become theological arbiters?
Pointing out a difference in biblical interpretation is not exclusion, it is disagreement.
Mr Clare-Young has now reported the matter to North Yorkshire police. A force spokesman has confirmed that the matter is being investigated as a hate crime. It should be noted that the police has no choice but to investigate when a claim of a hate crime is made.
Change of practice if not doctrine.
In the Christian Concern video, Ben John takes the example of Mr Clare-Young and his wife (without naming them) and says: "In reality if transgenderism is a false ideology, which it is, then what we’re actually seeing here is a lesbian couple. This man isn’t really a man. She’s a woman. So whilst the Church of England might say, yes, we haven’t changed the doctrine of marriage, they have changed the practice."
Whilst Alex Clare-Young may find this statement uncomfortable, even claiming, "it made me feel very unsafe", we must ask whether Ben John expresses hate for the Clare-Youngs? Or does he express a legitimate view which has been the teaching of the mainstream church for 2000 years?
Revisionists in the Church
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern and a member of the Church of England’s General Synod, denied the comments were hateful. “The video does not contain personal attacks and simply calls on the Church of England to uphold its biblical understanding of sex and gender,” she said. “It is, in fact, revisionists in the Church who have resorted to personal attacks by waging a campaign of intimidation to try to silence people in the debate. This is neither edifying nor honest.”
The recent theological changes in mainstream churches arise from weak leadership which has abandoned biblically based faith for a reinterpretation of the Bible more in keeping with the culture of the day. Ben John pointed out: “We have bishops openly promoting homosexual practising relationships, transgenderism and yet we tolerate that. That is not love. It seems to me that Archbishop Justin is implying that there’s all these different views, [and that] we need to listen to one another and accept one another. But the reality is that some views should not be accepted or tolerated. There are some views that we need to condemn.”
Abandoning the discussion
One result of the furore is that LGBT leaders and supporters in the Church of England are threatening a mass walkout from the Living in Love and Faith discussion process unless bishops give an urgent guarantee to support the marriage of same-sex partners in church. Jeremy Timm, a prominent campaigner for full LGBT inclusion in the CofE, sent a letter co-signed by a number of LGBT clergy and supporters to 34 bishops “known to be supporters of LGBTIQ+ people”, among whom are the Archbishop of York and the Bishops of Oxford, Manchester, Leeds, Dover and Liverpool.
The signatories say they will abandon the continuation of the Living in Love and Faith discussions set for next year unless the bishops make a public declaration in support of LGBT equality in the Church. “We need to know whether you are able to express public support for the full equality of LGBTIQ+ people in ministry and relationship in the Church of England,” they write. With progressive Christians, it seems that discussion can proceed only if results favourable to their position are already assured.
The threat of possible police investigation has become a weapon in progressive attempts to silence evangelical Christians by enforced self-censorship.
Silencing evangelicals
The threat of possible police investigation has become a weapon in progressive attempts to silence evangelical Christians by enforced self-censorship. We should not be surprised that it is being employed against Christian Concern and we should expect further actions to take place against other evangelicals.
Ex-evangelicals Steve Chalke and Jayne Ozanne have both threatened their former evangelical compatriots with prosecution. Chalke recently issued a press release warning churches that it was psychological abuse to express pastoral concern or to pray for people with unwanted same-sex attraction. He also declared that teaching the biblical view of sexuality could result in prosecution.
We are rapidly reaching the point where disagreement on a matter of conscience due to personal belief is leading to accusations of hate and police involvement. When we arrive at a situation where even reasoned, respectful theological disagreement is labelled as ‘phobic’ and open to prosecution, the Church is in very real danger.
(First published on the blog A Grain of Sand)