Tim Dieppe comments on Theresa May's evasion of a question about the marginalisation of Christians.
One wouldn't expect a largely secular culture to be very concerned about what is or isn't a sin. Our sex-obsessed culture, however, delights in bullying anyone who dares to object to certain sexual practices. Well, perhaps not anyone, but those claiming to be Christians in particular.
Sin redefined
Tim Farron, having held out for some time by avoiding the question, obviously felt compelled to comply with current moral orthodoxy by categorically denying that gay sex is a sin. Shortly afterwards, Isle of White MP Andrew Turner stepped down after a social media storm following his alleged statements to A-level students that "homosexuality is wrong" and "dangerous to society."
Theresa May, having watched these events, had a clear and unequivocal answer ready when asked whether gay sex is a sin by Andrew Marr: "No." She wasn’t asked how she arrived at that conclusion, or how she defines sin. This 'no' was accepted without challenge. We can be very sure that any other answer would have been challenged.
The question she dodged
It was the next question that she wasn't prepared for:
"Do you think that, looking at what happened to Tim Farron, … that there is an aggressively judgemental mood being imposed on Christians in this country that other groups don’t have to face?"
Theresa May dodged this question and denied the premise by saying that party leaders should expect to be asked questions about all sorts of subjects. However, the premise behind the question she dodged is correct.
Christians bullied and harassed
Tim Farron isn’t the only Christian to have been bullied and harassed over his views on homosexuality. Just last week, Felix Ngole was in court, having been expelled from university for expressing his biblical views on sexuality on Facebook. Pentecostal preacher Barry Trayhorn, was also in court last week after being forced out of his job for quoting the Bible on homosexuality in a prison chapel service.
These cases aren’t isolated, they are just the most recent. They display an extreme intolerance of Christians in particular. I am unaware of Jews, Muslims, or any others being bullied for expressing such views. Andrew Marr is correct to describe the treatment of Christians as 'aggressively judgemental', and not faced by other groups. The moral indignation expressed on social media that anyone should be able to even think that gay sex is a sin, let alone express it, is striking, but seemingly reserved only for Christians.
Sin hasn't changed
The Bible hasn’t changed for the last 2,000 years, and neither has the teaching of the church. Jews, Christians, and others have long taught and believed that sexual expression is reserved for marriage between a man and a woman, and that any expression of sex outside of this context is rebelling against God's laws and design, and therefore sinful. This doesn't make all Christians bigoted or homophobic. Christians know that we are all sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. As Paul says, in reference to homosexuality, amongst other sinful practices: "that is what some of you were" (1 Cor 6:11).
One should also note, that gay sex is not singled out by the Bible as the very worst of sins. In fact, Paul makes clear in relation to various sins including homosexuality, that approval is worse than practice (Rom 1:32). This means that Tim Farron, and Theresa May are greater sinners in their approval of homosexual practice, than those they seek the approval of.
What happened to tolerance?
Our society has moved to a new level of intolerance in the area of sexuality. Christians are losing their jobs, or opportunity to study, or being barred from certain careers, for disagreeing with the prevailing sexual libertarianism. We need to make our voices heard on this issue and be very clear that Christians with orthodox moral views are being bullied and harassed out of the public sphere.
A backlash coming
At some point there will be a backlash against this onslaught of bullying and oppression. Will it be this generation or the next? Will it be after a generation of children have grown up with confusion about their sexuality, depression, abuse, boys winning all the girls' sports events, regretted 'sex-reassignments', or before?
Write to Theresa May and your local candidates to express your concern at the intolerance of society towards orthodox Christians. They need to know that there are people who care and who are being discriminated against for caring.
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