Explosive news out of Australia: in an interview with LGBT journalists Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon, a senior Salvation Army official said that non-celibate LGBT people should be put to death.
The official, Major Andrew Craibe, is the Salvation Army’s Territorial Media Relations Director for the Southern Territory in Victoria. Australian pop star Darren Hayes, the openly gay former lead singer of Savage Garden, recently called for a boycott of the Salvation Army because of the church’s anti-gay beliefs (just as Bilerico founder Bil Browning did here in the States). Hayes’s comments caused quite the firestorm, so Major Craibe appeared on Ryan and Dillon’s radio show, Salt and Pepper, to discuss the Salvation Army’s official position on homosexuality and whether it’s evolved over time.
Below is the interview with Salvation Army Major Andrew Craibe in full:
Ryan told Craibe that she prepared for the interview by reading all 170 pages of Salvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine, a manual published by the group’s international headquarters in London and available online. She asked him if that text was still being used to coach Salvation Army soldiers and people preparing to enter church membership. When Craibe replied in the affirmative, Ryan proceeded to point out several chapters that she found particularly troubling, including a section called “The problem of evil” (page 28) which cites Romans 1:18-32, the section of the Bible containing an infamous and violent condemnation of homosexuality:
For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. . .
They know God’s decree, that those who practise such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practise them.
Ryan expressed incredulity that the official Salvation Army handbook cites a scriptural passage which calls for the execution of LGBT people, and asked Craibe how he would respond to a hypothetical LGBT person receiving guidance from the Salvation Army who discovers the homophobic citation (around the 7:00 mark).
RYAN: . . . that says, according to the Salvation Army, that [they] deserve death. How do you respond to that, as part of your doctrine?
CRAIBE: Well, that’s a part of our belief system.
RYAN (cutting in): So we should die.
CRAIBE: You know, we have an alignment to the Scriptures, but that’s our belief.
RYAN: Wow. So we should die.
They then discussed the handbook’s section on sin (pages 61-63), which cites the same passage from Romans.
RYAN: It’s going into Romans again . . . I accept that you’re out there wanting to help people . . . I don’t accept that this sexuality that is part of my DNA is a choice. I also don’t accept the support of any religion in a financial sense, and this is what the gay community is up in arms about: that you’re proposing in your religious doctrine and the way that you train — this is part of your training of your soldiers — that because we’re gay, that — we must die. If you go to Romans, book 1, 18-32, it’s all there, mate. I mean, how can you stand by that? How is that Christian?
CRAIBE: Well, well, because that is part of our Christian doctrine –
RYAN (interrupting): But how is that Christian? Shouldn’t it be about love?
CRAIBE: — that’s our understanding of that. Well, the love that we would show is about that: consideration for all human beings to come to know salvation –
RYAN: Or die. . .
CRAIBE: Well, yes.
Later on, Ryan pressed Craibe again on his statement that LGBT people deserve death, asking at 10:23:
RYAN: Honestly, Andrew, tell me — as a human being, how can you qualify that?
CRAIBE: Well, I qualify by way of, that’s where my belief system is structured, you know? It’s what it comes to, that salvation story, and that we can be redeemed from that. That’s my belief.
Check out the interview in full; it’s pretty unbelievable. Some other highlights: Ryan and Dillon (left) asking Craibe to explain just how the Salvation Army polices its members to ensure they aren’t “practicing” homosexuality and questioning him about allegations that the group refused assistance to a person in need who wouldn’t agree to participate in an “ex-gay” program; Major Craibe claiming that homosexuality is a choice that, like consuming alcohol, needs to be “resisted” (Ryan and Dillon shoot that one down right away); his defense that the Salvation Army’s anti-gay statements only apply to its members – as though that somehow absolves the group of any responsibility for its bigoted views — and Craibe asserting that people disturbed by the radical homophobia of the Salvation Army should still contribute financially to the group.
I am a Salvasionist in the UK. I have friends who are gay and lesbians and treat them the same as any other friends. In todays society the rules and doctrines of the SA may seem archaic but they are the rules and those rules were written by Christian leaders following scripture. Major Craibe was simply agreeing with the questions being put to him. The questioning comes across a bit hostile and Craibe understandably gets flustered. I agree the church needs to move with the times but that does not mean the SA are homophobic. There seem to be a lot of chips on shoulders about this. I still don’t understand how a group of people so obviously proud of who they are still prefer to act the victim? We kive you. Get over it. X
[...] Truth Wins Out) __spr_config = { pid: '4ee3c49a396cef7934000177', title: 'Salvation Army Media Relations [...]
“Major Craibe was simply agreeing with the questions being put to him.”
Translation: Yes. I agree that people whom I don’t like or whom my religion doesn’t like should be put to death. I don’t really have ot think about what I’m saying ‘caue it’s god’s word and all.
HONEY, OF COURSE IT MEANS THE S.A. IS HOMOPHOBIC.
And this: “I still don’t understand how a group of people so obviously proud of who they are still prefer to act the victim?”
We have political campaigns that wish to deny us full participation in society. We have relgious campaigns which seek to protray us as satanic. We have fmaily values campaigns that seek bto portray us as threats to marriage, fmaily, children, freedom, and goddam western civilization– such as it is. We have personal campaigns that result in gay kids killing themselves, or people getting atatcked by gands of thugs for having the temerity to walk down the street.
You have it exactly backwards. We are proud, and that pride is what’s telling you and the SA that we no longer intend to be your victims.
If the passage is quoted as above in the handbook, it completely distorts the scriptural passage, which actually reads after “..error…”: “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious towards parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless”
THEN says: “They know God’s decree, that those who practise such things deserve to die…”
So effectively, if this passage is to be followed, anyone who is guilty of any of the vices listed should be put to death…which would leave fairly few people alive.
It also ignores the point of the whole letter of Romans, which is that, according to Paul, whilst those guilty of such vices “deserve to die”, faith in Jesus Christ brings justification and righteousness, freeing people from any kind of condemnation.
Ignorant quoting of Scripture out of context is a pervasive and inherent problem in many churches and causes a lot of unnecessary hatred, dispute and bigotry!
[...] June 25, 2012 by McBrolloks LGBT People Should Be Put to Death, Says Aussie Salvation Army Major [...]
Suzanne Carbone covered this article in today’s Age. http://www.theage.com.au
“…how is that Christian? Shouldn’t it be about love?”
Saying Christianity is about love is like saying that cricket is all about hitting balls with a bat. It’s a very simplistic way to look at it. Sure, that is the selling point of the religion and even a lot of its followers even believe that it’s all about the love, but there is a hell of a lot more to it. It’s unconditional love, a long as you see things their way. Homosexuality is regarded as a sin and God will love you as long as you seek salvation (pray the gay away), otherwise you deserve to die and will face judgement. It’s in several passages in both the old and new testaments. Of course, homophobia is only one of countless atrocities in the bible. The whole idea about Christianity being all about love is for the people who think that Christmas is all about giving presents and Easter is about chocolate eggs. The reality is much darker, and those who take it seriously are prone to patterns of though like that expressed here by Craibe. It is dogmatic hatred brought about by fear of the almighty. The sooner that people wake up to the reality and stop making apologetics for the bible, the sooner we can put this bronze aged bigotry behind us and move on.
PS: Please excuse me for being inarticulate. I just woke up and my sleeping medication hasn’t worn off yet.
James said “The whole idea about Christianity being all about love is for the people who think that Christmas is all about giving presents and Easter is about chocolate eggs.”.
I agree that christianity isn’t all about love (far from it) but christmas IS all about giving presents and easter IS all about chocolate eggs – word.
Don’t let those christians pretend the holidays they’ve tried to co-opt are theirs’.
The Salvation Army at yesterday’s Pride Parade in Chicago, with free refreshments and an open apology: http://bit.ly/NEIonN
Offensive column: Never was true of the american organization (and yes, the salvation army started in America). In actuality this “fake” firestorm prompted the office to put out the following statment Yesterday….
Alexandria, Virginia (June 25, 2012) – The Salvation Army in the United States fully and emphatically rejects the statements made by the media director of The Salvation Army Australia Southern Territory regarding the LGBT community. The Salvation Army opposes any discrimination, marginalization or persecution of any person. There is no scriptural support for demeaning or mistreating anyone for any reason including his or her sexual orientation. We stand firmly upon our mission to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
The Salvation Army in Australia has also rejected the opinions stated and provided additional information which you can view here.
We deeply apologize for the hurt that these statements have caused.
MAYBE THIS TRUTH SHOULD WIN OUT…
>”The Salvation Army opposes any discrimination, marginalization or persecution of any person”
Hahahahahahahaha. Nonsense. Then why have they campaigned and lobbied against anti-discrimination laws and other gay rights legislation in several countries? All that crap you quote is just PR. They don’t mean ANY of it.
What a total piece of human f*****g garbage.
What amazes me in this whole thing is that we forget that chapter and verse markings were a later addition to the Bible and intended only as a means to locating a particular comment. To that end, 1:18-32 is only part of Paul’s remarks. That same sermon is continued in Chapter 2 where Paul makes it clear that ALL have sinned, yes, even those in he Jewish faith. Romans 1 must not be taken out of context!!
Sad that people still hold these feelings as doctrines and policy for a church membership and even polity for keeping gays and lesbians out of ministry when in fact they are perhaps the most compassionate of all people.
Dishonest, contemptible, trolling journalism, and interview of similar quality. I’m surprised that so few readers recognise this.
Your headline is fraudulent. You should go to jail.
I am Christian and that man is very very sad. He needs to leave the Army “Smartly”
I cannot believe how broken and un- Christ like he is….
:(
This is very misleading. I am not a Christian, but I understood what the guy was talking about. He isn’t talking about PUTTING anyone to death. He was talking about spiritual death. He was talking about the belief that homosexuality leads to alienation from God, which means death as opposed to eternal life.
It doesn’t help your cause with people like me when you have to lie and misrepresent the other side’s beliefs.
[...] Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon on their Salt and Pepper radio show (audio below which was picked up by Truth Wins Out's John Becker), Major Andrew Craibe, a media relations director for one of the organization's Australian [...]
@Brian (comment 318): He was speaking in both senses of death simultaneously. This is consistent with Christian teaching, i.e.”spiritual” (or metaphorical) death amounts to physical death. According to the Christian interpretation of the Genesis myth, this “alienation from God” had its consequences in the physical suffering and death that we are all prone to. Personally, I don’t believe this because there is no evidence to verify it as true, but you are wrong to insist he is only talking about spiritual death. Craibe was actually being very honest, as were the compilers of the Salvationist Handbook. The fact that this is so shocking to liberal Christians is very encouraging and proves that most Christians really don’t know their Bible. It should be shocking! But don’t make the mistake of thinking that Craibe was misrepresenting Christian scripture.
If this is in fact the case, then they commit the serious sin of putting conditions on the Blood of Christ and worst of all making Salvation conditional.
What he says in the interview is that salvation is not possible for homosexuals, directly refuting 1 John 1 vv 7-9 which states the Blood of Christ cleanses from ALL sin.
As a religious leader Craibe will only quote official Salvo doctrine as will any religious leader or representative. They have been caught out, exposed and are now trying to back out, however the doctrine itself will not change.
Also by extension of Craibe`s words it can be clearly ascertained that certain types of people cannot join the Salvos, even if they have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour and been washed clean by His Blood. ???
@RainbowPhoenix & @OldBaldGuy sure you can take a militant approach, but the reality is most people will simply tune out.
Extremists exist in all sections of society, they yell, scream and lash out at all who disagree with them. They believe they speak for the majority and only focus on their agenda which is the only ‘right one’.
These people are the most dangerous because they operate out of emotion not rationality.
I have had people spit at me and kick me out of their home only now to be able to call them some of my closest friends and family.
I have been chased down the street by a car full of drunken teens only to stop and confront them about what they really thought they were doing.
I’ve been rejected from promotions because of obvious bigotry only to try again and ultimately earn their respect and the role.
I have spent the last 25 years working hard within my circle of influence having meaningful dialogues which I can proudly say has caused people to question, learn and come to understand my point of view and are now accepting and supportive.
Over time this has spread beyond my own circle through colleagues, friends and their families as well as my own.
Choose your battles wisely; the institution of religion is not going anywhere, doctrine won’t change as that would fundamentally alter the Church.
Why waste your energy there when it can be put to so much more use.
I am proud of what I have achieved, my influence and my beliefs. I will always support my community in a way I feel demonstrates inclusion rather than alienation.
Anyone can become angry — that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way — this is not easy. Attributed to Aristotle
I am from a small city in upstate New York that has been devastated by flooding twice in five years. An LGBT couple that are friends, lost their home and everything in it. They went to the local Salvation Army for help and were turned away, even being refused water, so I can attest to the hateful, decidedly un-Christian attitude and actions of the Salvation Army. I used to respect and support this organization. Now I know better and tell everyone I know just how vile they are.
Ben you’ve completely misrepresented what we’ve been saying. I have never called someone a bigot just for being religious. People are called bigots because they actively work to harm us. Religion is just an excuse. Your perputuation of the asinine myth that keeping people from attacking is somehow an attack on their religion only keep us from reasoning with people who actually are capable of it. I very much doubt you’ve achieved anything other than directing the bigots around you toward the “love the sinner hate the sin” BS so many of them love to trot around so much. There is no excuse for attacking a group of people unprovoked and it’s time for apologists like you to stop providing cover.
I am appalled by the opinions of this member of the Salvation Army. I was an evangelical Christian and anti-gay, and at the time probably had no idea (just as this man) how far away from the unconditional love as shown in Jesus these abhorrent views are. Being gay is NOT a choice. Would you choose to be on the receiving end of discrimination, hatred, and ostracism? Don’t be so stupid, please! God loves me as a gay man. I have already made my mind up, not to listen to any critical or judgemental viewpoints. Not because I do not respect them. It is simply because those who condemn homosexuality and homosexuals do not realize they may be deaf to the voice of God, Who made us in His image and loves us. Period!
[...] by Alan • June 26, 2012, 10:55 AMET • Comments TweetMajor Andrew Craibe says that is their belief (via AddictingInfo)Australian pop star Darren Hayes, the openly gay former lead singer of Savage [...]
LOL I love how he stutters and beats around the bush! He cant even cough up a logical answer. Maybe I need to invent a religion where if one promotes hate he or she shall be put to death.
[...] Truth Wins Out blogger John Becker and The Atlantic are just two of the media outlets reporting that Major Andrew Craibe, a media relations director for one of the Salvation Army’s Australian branches, had the following exchange with Aussie journalists Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon: Ryan: According to the Salvation Army, [gay people] deserve death. How do you respond to that, as part of your doctrine?Read More… More on Civil Rights [...]
[...] Truth Wins Out blogger John Becker and The Atlantic are just two of the media outlets reporting that Major Andrew Craibe, a media relations director for one of the Salvation Army’s Australian branches, had the following exchange with Aussie journalists Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon: Ryan: According to the Salvation Army, [gay people] deserve death. How do you respond to that, as part of your doctrine?Read More… More on Civil Rights [...]
Simply Major is just a “frustrated homosexual man”, with a compassionless souls!
If there is any misrepresentation RainbowPhoenix it has only come from your texts. I have not represented you in any of my arguments, only responded to yours and others posts.
I have tried to demonstrate that anger can be used appropriately and highlight that your approach can and does cause more people to ignore you rather than listen.
Your doubts are your own, I know the truth of what I can, have and will achieve.
Be careful your intolerance of others doesn’t turn into bigotry, especially with those in your own community.
Ben, name one time when I’ve ever accused someone of being a bigot just for being religious like you’ve accused me of doing. At this point you are deliberately perpetuating the myth that we are hostile to religion per se. Doing that only makes everything harder for us, which is why I’m increasingly suspicious about your claims that you’re even on are side in the first place. It’s looking more and more likely that you’re just a concern troll.
The only thing you’ve demonstrated is how to make people think they’re entitled to walk all over us. You haven’t even attempted to address my points about where being “civil” doesn’t help.
Do the people around you still call you sinful? Do they try to claim that they “love” you but just hate your “sin”? Do they still preach and work against any sort of legal protections for us? If they do any of those thing than the only thing you’ve accomplished is in convincing them to put a prettier spin on their bigotry.
How is defending myself against the unprovoked attacks of bigots hiding behind religion anything like the attacks I’m defending myself from? How is it “intolerance” or “bigotry” to tell a church to mind its own damn business instead of dictating my life? Attitudes like yours are why there has been so little headway in the bullying epidemic. It’s why the bigots feeled justified in screaming persecution when we call them out on their hatred instead of rolling over and taking it like good little inferiors. As long as you are attacking us for defending ourselves and trying to paint it as equivalent to the attacks against our lives and families than you are part of the problem and your only “achievement” is holding us back so the bigots you’re defending can continue their efforts to exterminate us.
RainbowPhoenix, please refer to your dictionary on what is bigotry. As a simple example your singular approach to me is by definition bigotry.
Also where have I accused you of calling someone a bigot just for being religious? Get a grip please!
I don’t need to justify myself to you, I am simply pointing out that confronting and antagonistic attitudes alienate and does not promote open dialogue.
Your posts are an attempt to shut people down and you make broad based assumptions on who they are and claim hidden agendas.
Shutting down the dialogue will not solve the issue, it creates more issues with subversive behaviour.
I have never said in any way not to stand up and fight against injustice and the need for change. Indeed what I am saying is to do the opposite, I just propose a different tact.
Perhaps you should get off your soap box and actually listen to others with a differing approach but the same goal.
But then maybe you have been changing ‘bigots’ minds simply by your retorts.
No Ben, my aproach to you has been based on your apologism toward bigots and your criticism of anyone who isn’t sufficiantly deferential to the people attacking us. Criticism based on actions is not bigotry which is why I have not actually called you a bigot, merely pointing out that you are supporting them.
You’ve repeatedly brought up the bigots’ religious beliefs and portrayed it as the only reason we’re criticizing them, with no consideration for what those religious doctrines actually entail or what the bigots are actually saying and doing. This does nothing other than attempt to imply that being religious is the only reason the bigots are being criticized.
In other words, you can’t actually describe what you claim to have accomplished by being “civil”. You also clearly do feel the need to justify yourself since you take such offense at anyone who’s not “nice” enough in how they handle being beaten. You’re also demonstrating that not confronting bigotry where it’s seen and being “nice” to people who want to destroy you only encourages them to think they have the right to attack you.
There is no dialogue to shut down. You can’t honestly think that someone who believes we should be executed has any desire to talk to us or see our point of view. “Dialouging” didn’t work with the Nazis and there is no reason to think it will work with the people who want to continue their plans. That is not an “assumption”. That is a critical analysis of the bigots’ own words.
So now I’m being “subversive” by demanding to be treated with basic human dignancy and the things I’m promised by our countries highest law instead of asking the wannabe elite to give it to me out of the goodness of their hearts? That sounds suspiciously like the bigots’ rantings about the “gay agenda”.
You’ve done nothing but criticize people for fighting in any way that’s not sufficiantly “civil” to the people trying to destroy us. Your “tact” involves asking our abusers “nicely” to stop beating us. You’re no different from every teacher I had who just told me to “ignore them and they’ll stop being mean to you.” It never solved anything. I didn’t have a choice about putting up with it then but I do now and I’m done tolerating such patronization.
Maybe you should pull your head out of your nether regions and actually listen to what the bigots are saying. But maybe if you just keep trying and begging they’ll magically change their minds and stop trying to kill you.
Unfortunately, the majority of people have fallen for what has always been the totalitarian’s wet dream. Critical thinking is discouraged. But “faith,” unquestioned acceptance of what we are supposed to believe regardless of how insane it is on its face is considered to be a virtue.
Some of these people are just hateful ignorant bigots. They hate anyone who doesn’t fit into their pathetic little box.
But there are others who would not hate gays, or blacks, or witches, or Mormons if they did not believe God (through a certain book) told them to.
They don’t believe the book was written by God for any rational reason. Almost none of them know anything about where the book came from or who actually wrote it. But as long as they cling to the book, pointing out the contradictions of proclaiming love while consigning people to ever burning hellfire will have no affect on them.
These arguments must be made – but not with the goal of changing these foolish people who have “the truth.” Nothing can help them.
There are thinking people who identify themselves as Christians but have not bought into the hatred and superstition that comes from blindly accepting what some anonymous writer believed in the distant past. They may consider these things and try to change the system from within. But they will more than likely be shut down.
The value in this discourse is that it may help people who are struggling with these issues to understand that they are not alone. There is intelligence somewhere in the universe.
[...] surprising if this was just a case of regret. Claiming gays should be put to death is not a new or unexpected thing coming from Christian homophobes. Posted in Uncategorized Tags: Christian behavior, [...]
[...] now verges on hate speech. In a radio interview with queer journalists Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon, Craibe asserted that non-celibate homosexuals should be put to death for their actions, citing a Biblical passage still included in a training handbook used by the [...]
They hate gays? Comes as no surprise. My long-felt problem with them is, when the starving seek food, they have to eat the sermon before the meal.
The interview with Major Craibe is just a small indication of where this world is going. Christians are going to continue being attacked for standing up for what God thinks is right and proper.
We should not be surprised that the interviewers got upset for feeling themselves attacked based on their believes that homosexuality is a choice, which is not, because we choose to fall into that sin or not. If homosexuality were not a sin than how can God condemn it? If it were not a sin then it is like us saying that God condemns a person for being born with one arm because he did not have a choice, he was born that way. A sin is as sin it does not matter which one you lean towards more to follow or be a slave to.
God is very clear in His word and every sinner gets offended by it at one point or another because it comes with the truth.
God loves us all regardless of our sexual orientation or sin we may be deeply involved but he does not leave you there and he is going to show the real you.
if you have not yet received Jesus in you heart or if you have not yet tried God’s love then, whether you are a homosexual or not, you can not talk about God’s love yet or blame God for telling the truth.
Congratulations sebastian, you described why sexual orientation can not, by definition, be sin.
While rambling about how it is. That’s quite a feat.
Sebastian. I was a christian for 40 years until my deconversion in November of 2009. I can talk about “God’s love”. It is imaginary. The god described in the pages of your holy babble is capricious, vengeful and partisan. Exactly the kind of god bronze-age goatherds would invent to explain their origins and justify their tribalism. I challenge you to provide verifiable, replicable evidence that your Yahweh war god exists. Even if a god were to exist, there is no evidence that the particular god you have chosen is the real one. You are an atheist about the hindu god, the muslim god, the mormon god and the greek pantheon. I am an atheist about one more: yours. Provide evidence (not personal testimony or anecdotes, but real evidence: the kind of evidence that we demand of apothecaries before we will take their drugs) and I will happily change my mind. But until you can come up with something other than your invented batshit theology about god’s love and judgement , etc., please STFU.
Peace.
salvation army (eastern Australia territory) 2011 revenue $334.58 mill, surplus $33.6 mil, gov’t funding ~ $152 mil. Believe non celibate gays must die!
http://salvos.org.au/about-us/annual-report-and-funding/documents/TSA-AR11-DOC61web.pdf
Sebastian gayness harms no one and is thus by definition not a wrongdoing. If your god condemns gayness your god is an immoral monster.
This is so wrong on every level…Hypocrisy, prejudism, and Ignorance must come to an end…People have got to stop using religion as an excuse for their Ignorance and hate…We are who we are…As long as we live in harmony without doing harm to others how the hell can they say being gay or interracial marriage is a sin when the reality is the way they think and speak is the root of the sin of which they speak…I’m proud to say my son is free and able to stand tall and proud about his sexuality for it is not a sin he is who he is and I’m so happy he can be free to express this
I have to say that this one person does NOT represent most or all people in the Salvation Army. I’ve met more than one LGBT-supportive person in the Salvation Army, but many people in this denomination/organization, like in so many other fundamentalist and/or conservative evangelical contexts, are frightened into staying silent. The Salvation Army is entitled to have its own doctrine and practices as a Christian denomination and as a religious organization. HOWEVER, with all of that said, unless the Salvation Army discounts the inflammatory and spiritually violent remarks of this particular major and disciplines this member for his remarks, I fully endorse an all-out boycott of the AUSTRAILIAN branch on the Salvation Army, for there are plenty of NON-biased organizations out there that meet the needs of the poor these days. And there is NO room for violence or hate in ANY Christian organization. Human and Civil Liberties Advocate & Activist, Writer, Speaker: http://www.facebook.com/StandingTogetherForTheRightsOfAllPeople
[...] of controversy. One of the Salvo’s PR guys did an interview on Joy FM in Melbourne. You can read about the controversy here, as well as listen to the interview in [...]
I’m a Salvation Army Officer in the UK and I offer the LGBT community a personal, unconditional apology. Sending some inclusive Christian love and peace. Best wishes, John.
I’ve already commented above, but I would especially draw your attention to 199. Thanks.
[...] Here’s some text from the interview: Ryan expressed incredulity that the official Salvation Army handbook cites a scriptural passage which calls for the execution of LGBT people, and asked Craibe how he would respond to a hypothetical LGBT person receiving guidance from the Salvation Army who discovers the homophobic citation (around the 7:00 mark). [...]
It looks like it was an error on Major Craib’s behalf.
Please take a look at the official standing point of the Salvation Army’s views of homosexuals.
http://salvos.org.au/about-us/media-centre/documents/ResponseJOYFMqusFINAL.pdf