Church Sign of the Week 13

Church Sign of the Week 13

If only closed minds came with closed mouths.

I doubt Jim Wallace will read this but if he does I would like to politely ask him to shut up. To paraphrase the great poet Jon Bon Jovi, “You give the Church a bad name.”

If you’re not aware of Mr. Wallace’s wonderful work may I direct you his latest profound and well thought out idea which has been paraphrased in the media as, “Smoking is healthier than gay marriage.” It is important for us not to get to lost in the media hype and to understand what Mr. Wallace actually said. At the end of a debate with Tasmanian Greens leader Christine Milne, Mr. Wallace was answering a question from a student on the relevance of his views, he said health statistics among the gay community were worse than those for smokers.

“I think we’re going to owe smokers a big apology when the homosexual community’s own statistics for its health – which it presents when it wants more money for health – are that is has higher rates of drug-taking, of suicide, it has the life of a male reduced by up to 20 years,” he told the audience. ( Taken from: http://www.smh.com.au/national/smoking-healthier-than-gay-marriage-20120905-25eca.html#ixzz266hJlvu6)

(What if you’re a gay smoker? You are going to die, yesterday!)

So Mr. Wallace and his friends at the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) with one simple, (and I use that word in all its depths) with one simple statement have destroyed months of work churches have done in various communities.

Churches that have been working hard to build up relationships in their local area (churches that have nothing to do with the ACL and do not agree with their ideals) are being tarred with the same brush as the closed minds that spout these so called ‘truths’. These ‘sound bites’ played over the media are taken by the general public as the stance of every church and so every church suffers when ideas such as these are broadcast over the airwaves. The ACL may have been misquoted, Jim Wallace may have been wrongly paraphrased by the sound bite loving media, but that doesn’t change the fact that the initial statement is still ludicrous.

Being in a committed relationship with someone of the same sex should carry a health warning like smoking does. It’s THAT dangerous! Look out! Being gay means you might die 20 years sooner than if you are straight. “I think we’re going to owe smokers a big apology when the homosexual community’s own statistics for its health….has the life of a male reduced by up to 20 years”, or as the media put it “Smoking is healthier than gay marriage.”

What your typical Australian sees (rightly or wrongly) is the headline. They see the Church making stupid statements, they do not see that is isn’t all churches doing this, just a bunch of right wing fanatics with a warped view of God. A typical Aussie sees our Prime Minister refusing to go to a meeting with ‘the Church’. They don’t see that the people who made the statement do not speak for all Christians, they just see Ms. Gillard refusing to go to an ACL meeting (and Julia was right not to) and make the assumption that these people speak for all Christendom.

THEY MOST CERTAINLY DON’T SPEAK FOR ALL CHRISTIANS!

To the people of Australia who are thinking that the ACL and their kind are what Christianity and the Church is all about please understand not all the Christian community in Australia are the unthinking, hate-filled homophobes Mr. Wallace and his chums make us out to be. Many of us (maybe even most of us) are not mindless robots who accept everything that is spoon fed us from the pulpit. Believe it or not most church goers do not think that gay marriage is as dangerous as smoking. I know that not every Christian agrees with the idea of same sex relationships but even if they don’t most would agree that Mr. Wallace and his cronies have the wrong end of a very pointy stick.

Many Christians struggle, think and reason through the problems of our faith and we come to understand that the God we believe in is a loving God who is far bigger than the close minded, right wing Christian lobby would want us to believe. We know that not everyone is perfect (we at Melbourne Welsh Church sure as hell aren’t) but things you have no control over should not be the reason you are not welcome in a church. Next we’ll be banning left handers, people of different skin colours, the poor and women. Oh wait those ideas have all been tried already and thrown out as stupid!

So I return to the wording of our sign, it would make our church’s work and the work of those who are trying to show the love of God to a world in desperate need so much easier…

IF ONLY CLOSED MINDS CAME WITH CLOSED MOUTHS!