Is the Petition to Ban Gay Conversion Therapy a Wake-up Call to the Church? / A.J. Hendry

As the wind whipped around the beehive last week, a 20,000 strong petition to ban gay conversion therapy was presented to parliament. The petition came about after TVNZ Sunday highlighted that Gay conversion therapy was a service being offered by some church groups.

Over the last couple of months public support to ban the practice has been growing.

And as the signatures on the petition have grown, so have the stories of people hurt, dehumanised and abused as a result of this practice. The experience of many within the LGBTQ community, is that these sorts of practices lead to greater risk of suicidality and depression.

Some would go so far as to say that they are responsible for spiritual trauma and abuse. For many Christians in Aotearoa, hearing that statement would horrify them.

There is a common phrase which exists within the church. ‘Love the sinner hate the sin.’ It is a phrase which is repeated often. Yet one which, when placed within the context of the gay community, has serious and deadly consequences. Consequences, that for many of God’s young and vulnerable rainbow children, has led to increased risk of suicidality and depression.

The problem is not the sentiment, the problem is what it communicates. When Christians say that phrase, what they wish to communicate is how they love everyone, regardless of sexual orientation. However, when people within the rainbow community hear those words, they do not hear love. They hear hate.

They hear, ‘there is something utterly depraved and wrong about you.’ They hear, ‘there is something within you that God absolutely hates. Something he loathes and wishes to destroy.’ They hear, ‘you are not welcome, you don’t belong’.

What the church has meant as a way to communicate love, really communicates exclusion.

When I speak with people within the rainbow community, what they tell me is that when I say, ‘God loves the sinner, but hates the sin.’ What they really hear, is ‘God hates them.’

Like it or not, a person’s sexual orientation is tightly bound to an individual's identity.

Growing bodies of research are beginning to indicate that rangatahi from the rainbow community, are at far greater risk of suicide if faith is important to them, then if it is not. One study that compared gay and lesbian youth with straight rangatahi, found that young people from the rainbow community who considered faith an important part of their lives, were 38% more likely to have had recent suicidal thoughts (Lytle, Blosnich, De Luca & Brownson, 2018). This same report revealed that questioning rangatahi, who said religion was important to them, were three times more likely to attempt suicide then their peers for whom religion was less important.

These statistics are horrifying.

And the fact that these studies keep demonstrating that young people within Christian communities are more at risk of suicide then those outside, is a shocking reality for the Christian community to face. This knowledge must force the church to re-evaluate how she serves the Rainbow community. Failure to act, is to abandon the way of Jesus.

Caring means more than saying a prayer. Loving others demands more from us then simple platitudes about ‘speaking truth in love.’ The Church can no longer hold dogmatically to an interpretation of scripture that allows communities of faith to reject and dehumanise those who should be safe within her embrace.

If the church is serious about following the call Jesus has given her to ‘Love thy neighbour,’ then she must ask herself, ‘why is it that the children of the rainbow are not safe within our communities?’

At the centre of Christianity is this beautiful idea that all humans are loved, cherished and valued by God. That no matter nationality, race, gender or sexual orientation we are accepted into his whanau. A message which sings of wonder, which says to the broken and the hurting, there is nothing you can do to earn my love. Come to me, I will give you rest.

It is a message for all.

Sharing this message of inclusion, love and acceptance is the role God has given the Church. Sadly, it is a message she has failed to deliver to our rainbow whanau.

And for this we must beg forgiveness.

The petition to ban gay conversion therapy has now been delivered to parliament. I ask my christian whanau to reflect deeply on how we respond.

We have an opportunity to acknowledge the harm we have caused, to respond in love, approaching our rainbow whanau in a posture of humility, ready to listen.

Instead of continuing to cause harm, the church must take this opportunity to examine herself, to stop seeing the gay community as a problem to fix, and start seeing them as people to love. Instead of seeing this petition as an attempt to take away certain freedoms from the church, the follower of Jesus should see it for what it really is.

This petition is a cry of sorrow and hurt from an excluded community. It is a voice raised in anguish. One which has suffered at the Church’s hands. It is the cry of the persecuted Christ, pleading with his people, ‘why do you persecute me?’

Will we ignore their pain? Or will the Church take seriously the teaching of Jesus? Will She follow the way of Love?

A.J. Hendry

Source: Lytle, M. C., Blosnich, J. R., De Luca S. M. & Brownson, C. (March 14, 2018). Association of religiosity with sexual minority suicide ideation and attempt. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Bit.ly/2qt3gYC