Rob Yallop

Parish delegates at the Presbyterian General Assembly voted yesterday 65 per cent to 35 per cent (230 votes to 124) to confirm the 2004 exclusion of gay and non-married heterosexual couples from the ministry or eldership. Homosexuals appointed before the 2004 vote are excluded from the ban, but people in de facto relationships are not.

I'm not religious myself but, as most of the World's leaders are, and as most of the World's conflict is about religion, it's a subject that effects us all. Unfortunately, some New Zealand Christians are still hanging on to their 2,000 year-old discriminatory beliefs such as that 'gay people are not equal under God'. We Europeans used to think the same about African people when keeping them as slaves was all part of God's plan. I think the problem, other than basic human nature which is to distrust anyone not like you, is that the Bible was written by many different men over a long period of time so it's hardly surprising that it's full of inconsistency and contradiction. Nevertheless, my understanding is that the Bible says that God gave the Ten Commandments directly to Moses (via satellite phone?) so I would have thought that they would carry a lot of weight. Furthermore, it's difficult to argue that the commandments are open to interpretation. Of course God presumably spoke to Moses in Hebrew but the translation ought to accurate enough. Take for example: Thou shall not kill Seems clear enough but it doesn't stop the good Christian Right of the USA supporting the death penalty and invading other countries. Then there is: Judge not least thee be judged Again, it seems clear enough but the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand doesn't seem to grasp it. To them I would ask, if gay people are not good enough to be church elders, why does God make so many of them? Or are they the work of the devil? If the second is true, who put such hatred in your minds? The devil perhaps? On the positive side, about a third of the 500-odd Presbyterian congregations nationwide are expected to "dissociate" from the ruling. You could no doubt make exactly the same points about Islam and Judaism. We're told the Koran promotes peace and tolerance towards other religions, not violence. If you suggest otherwise, some of their leaders will want to kill you. Makes sense to me... -----