My Take

Saturday, 19 January, 2013, 12:00am

Christians are wrong, but not bigoted

BIO

Alex Lo is a deputy news editor at the South China Morning Post. He also writes the daily “My Take” column on page 2 and edits the weekly science and technology page in Sunday Morning Post.

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Boy, I have never seen so many Christians in one place in my life, at least not in Hong Kong. But the gathering outside the government headquarters of mainly Protestant groups last Sunday united against granting gays and lesbians equal legal rights was an impressive and depressing sight. The Catholic Church has expressed similar opposition but did not appear to field many followers that day.

And the Christians won - big time! The chief executive said in his policy address there would not even be a public consultation after credible reports claimed such laws would be considered by the government. If you are gay, the government's message is clear. Shut up and don't let anybody know, certainly not your boss or teacher. Who knows what religious congregation he might belong to?

The Christian protesters' fear that an anti-discrimination law would create "reverse discrimination" is absurd and exaggerated. But this is how our society operates today: Distort an issue, provoke public fear and anger, and then the government will surely back down.

And it was not just Hong Kong's Christians. The protest was designed to coincide with the massive rally of hundreds of thousands - a mix of Catholics, conservatives, Muslims and evangelicals - at the Eiffel Tower against French President Francois Hollande's plan to legalise gay marriage and adoption. Whatever you think about our local Christians, they were part of a global anti-gay response.

Let me be clear. I support equal rights for gays and lesbians. But I think it's also wrong for "liberals" to denounce those Christians as simply bigoted. For being Christian entails subscribing to certain core beliefs and values. And believing marriage is a union of opposite sexes and that gay sex is unnatural has to be understood as part of their belief system. Who are we to tell them what to believe?

I was once a Catholic but not any more because I no longer share their beliefs. Surely it would be absurd for me to insist on their following my new and non-Christian beliefs just so I could remain a Christian.

If you are gay, it is unnecessary for you to denounce Christians. But you do need to fight fire with fire, and force with greater force; you need to stage bigger rallies to demand equal rights by law.

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This article is now closed to comments

yellow_lynx_cat Jan 23rd 2013
5:04pm

I was there holding up a placard protesting to the Christians. It's certainly bigotry, and more the hypocrisy was just sickening. They invited a former singer/actress, wife of Ceci Chao, mother of Gigi Chao to give a teary "testimonial" - she could tolerate her husband to be a playboy and womanizer and sleeping with many women, but could not allow her own daughter to have a committed life long relationship with her true love - one woman. This double standard is just sickening.

babyhenry Jan 22nd 2013
6:17pm

I am sorry for I have sinned and choose to continue to sin because I find all kinds of Religion Full of BS stories cater to the weak minded whom is unable to stand on their own feets and think properly. After thousand years of lies & wars, religion like Islam and Christian can still hold their gound, I find them much more dangerous than than around 1 century old CCP and their god Chairman Mao. Whenever I see North Korea in TV and hear stories of RED China during Cultural Rev, I see can imagine what life will be like when collective fools are grouped together to praise and defend a greater fool or a fictional character.

forwhatitsworth Jan 22nd 2013
11:21am

I'm sorry Alex, but religion should not be an excuse for intolerance and should not be used as a veil to be a bigot.
If I created a religion called "Chinese People Do Not Deserve Equal Rights", where we congregate every Sunday to discuss how everything about you is a sin, and we worship a mythical deity who hates everything about you, does this suddenly absolve me from being a bigot?
The problem with religion is that they believe everyone should be tolerant of their beliefs while at the same time being intolerant of other people's beliefs.
People should be given the right to believe what they want, and everyone should be given basic human rights regardless of sexual orientation or what they believe in. Simple as that.

johnrai7 Jan 22nd 2013
3:38am

Christians today have realized that the God is all about Love and Hope. The purpose of Christ was to reconcile the relationship with God that man had broken by Adam, the first man.He was meant to be crucified!
Christians respect and love the **** brothers or sisters, however its a concern that the limit is not crossed such as same **** marriage and more freedoms. Once this becomes the culture there can be many problems socially. Its just a wrong right.

Snake Eyes Jan 21st 2013
4:28pm

Yes it is bigoted. There is nothing wrong with having your own religious belief. The bigotry comes when believing others who do not share your fairy tales must also live by it. And if you are a Christian and you don't like gayness, don't be gay.
China had homosexuals before it had Christians. It's an open question which one should be kicked out. Gayness isn't a choice. Christianity is.

raglan Jan 21st 2013
11:51am

Oh the ignorance..... people need to start educating themselves in science and genetics to realise homosexuality is due to genetics and is perfectly normal. 500 years ago, Christians beileved that the world was flat and centre of the universe, I wondering whether how many of these Christians still believe the world is flat, and only several thousand years old as dictated by the Bible?
And people are complaining about brainwashing! I don't think anything is more powerful than religious dogma.

mercedes2233 Jan 21st 2013
8:46am

Very sad day. If I were a Christian, I would renounce the association in shame. Of course they are wrong AND bigoted.

fink Jan 21st 2013
8:05am

"Believing marriage is a union of opposite sexes and that gay **** is unnatural has to be understood as part of their belief system. Who are we to tell them what to believe?"
No, no, no. That's simply not true. Many Christians are homosexual and there's not one word of Jesus's teachings that even addresses this issue. This is not a question of beliefs. It's simply bigotry.
If marriage was so important to Jesus, why didn't he say anything about it? Why wasn't he married himself? Do we even know that Jesus was straight?

johndoe Jan 20th 2013
8:15pm

To all of those screaming "bigots", what do you tell to non-Christians who do not support "equal rights" (i.e. collectivist rights) legislation?
The protesters (no matter who they are) are fully justified to resent government force that would prevent them from speaking out if they disagree that all sexual preferences are equally good.
If those supporting "equal rights" are so tolerant, they should stop turning to the government to enforce their views by legal decree. Those "gay rights" advocates can instead promote their ideas in an open debate and try convince others. Apparently they have failed and are now kicking and screaming because they can't get the government to play ball.

Snake Eyes Jan 21st 2013
4:26pm

I note you call it sexual "preference". If you really believe that then what you are saying it that you could equally easily change YOUR preference to fancy your own gender. That seems more than a little gay to me, because I know I could not.