Sadly, the world in which Apostle Duncan (Divine Encounter Fellowship Ministries International) and his members live and that of so many Protestant pastors and their congregations is fast becoming a lonely, isolated and solipsistic place of existence. Christianity with its massive international institutions, churches, denominations, independent ministries, missions, and companies is living to see the day when respect for God, the Bible, and Christianity is at an all-time low. The Bible is taking a thrashing from a new and emerging ultra-modern and better educated society with many hell-bent on relegating the Bible to the thrash piles of history.
People have lost their fear of God and have begun picking the Bible apart in order to rid it of what they see as doctrinal fossils, one of which they claim is to be found in Leviticus 18:22 which states "thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." Be that as it may, I take serious issue with Apostle Duncan's approach ("Homophobia really a red herring," June 6) to this very critical and sensitive issue. I will outline my concerns in point format.
• The goodly Apostle described the Ugandan Government as level-headed for its stand against homosexuality. Well, I would like to inform the Apostle that the anti-homosexuality bill laid in the Ugandan parliament, if it is indeed enacted and I pray to God it isn't, would not only further criminalise homosexuality but it would introduce the death penalty for people who have prior convictions of homosexuality, HIV positive folks, and those who engage in acts of homosexuality. The bill also provides for Ugandans living abroad and involved in homosexual activity to be extradited back to Uganda for punishment. I therefore advise the Apostle that passion and emotions leave very little room for reason and as pastors we cannot endorse norms found in extremist Islam's Sharia law in order to uphold what we interpret as the law of God. Uganda was the worst example the Apostle could have chosen and I wonder if he also endorses the death penalty for gays, HIV positive people, and all found in acts of homosexuality.
• The Christian church has been weighed in the balance and found wanting, guilty of having double standards, for it is the same church that speaks out so vehemently against homosexuality that has been discovered to be the greatest purveyor of acts of indecency between those of the same sex. All over the world pedophile priests have been convicted of acts of indecency against boys and the church has done little to stem the terrible tide. The church has to be extremely careful in casting its first stone as it might well have lost its moral voice, especially in the realm of homosexuality.
• All blame cannot be laid at the feet of the Roman church as Anglicans have now unanimously voted to support gay priests and gay marriages. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the church, 10,900 out of 11,000 Presbyterian churches in the US voted in support of gay clergy and gay marriages. Gay clergy and gay marriage have gone viral in the body of Christ and the voice of Apostle Duncan is but the voice of one crying in the wilderness, singing sad songs when its the choir alone which is listening.
While I do admire the courage of my colleague, his latest ranting is further evidence that the church and its leaders are fast losing their capacity to steer the world in a moral direction that is not informed by archaic and obsolete Jewish Old Testament conversations.
• Pastors cannot blame it all on the Catholic priests as a pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, came out of the closet and admitted to a homosexual relationship with a man whom he paid to have sex with him. The experience of a bishop in the US should be a word of caution to all pastors, especially those who speak out publicly against gays. The bishop was known for his anti-gay marches and as it turned out four young men made accusations of homosexuality against him, which he never denied to his congregation as it resulted in a settlement with the accusers.
• Truth be told, the Bible (especially the Old Testament) is filled to overflowing with alleged God-endorsed racism, bigotry, violence, rape, murder, xenophobia, homophobia, and misogyny. From the biblical admonition that a woman must keep silence in the church to stoning homosexuals to death, to raping women and girls after war, to killing all the men and young boys during tribal raids, to a man poisoning his wife if he finds her with a vaginal infection, to giving spoiled meat to neighbours of a different race, to marrying only within one's race and religion, to stoning a woman to death if she attends the sanctuary during her monthly cycle, the list of alleged God-endorsed atrocities never ends in the holy book.
The question is, was it God speaking back then, or was it Moses speaking, or was it Moses claiming that he was God's mouthpiece when in fact he was not, or could it be that we would never know the difference between what God actually said and what Moses alleged he said. A prominent attorney and my former lecturer at law school insists that the Ten Commandments Moses produced to the children of Israel as being written with the very finger of God are hearsay as no one but God and Moses were in that mountain which was wrapped in a cloud. One thing I do know (and the Apostle should take note here) is that when Jesus showed up he had a completely different tone and attitude to the God of the Old Testament of whom Christianity claims Jesus was an avatar. When addressing things said in the Old Testament, Jesus was known for stating "Moses said to you" but "I say unto you."
Karl Barth, seen by many as the father of neo-orthodoxy and modern liberal theology, provides great reading on the craft of ancient near-eastern/Mediterranean/Mesopotamian scribes using the "transcendental signifier" or "and the Lord said" as a preamble to what really were the words of the human king/deity. In closing, I wish to state categorically that the attitude of Apostle Duncan to homosexuals and homosexuality is just that, his attitude, and does not reflect the thinking of all pastors.
I do not share the view that homosexuals should be denied any of the rights to which others have access because of their sexual orientation. While I do not endorse their marriage or their lifestyle, I will not use my office as a pastor to condemn any man. Only God can truly judge men. Jesus on the other hand invites all to come to him and be accepted and he admonishes us to love all men (no pun intended) regardless of our differences.
Dave Mckenzie
Pastor/founder
Final Hour Christian Ministries