Abuse in the Church

In my last post, I examined the way inner psychological wounds manifest themselves in the behaviour of male church leaders. This operates generally in a worship of power, and abusive dominance, especially towards females.

As I re-read it, however, I realised it could be taken the wrong way. I was trying to understand some of the causes of such abuse, but let me make it clear: to understand is not to condone, or excuse. We need to combine an understanding mindset, with robust policies, procedures, and penalties, towards transgressions, by leaders. 

Conversion Therapy

The British Government is planning legislation to make Conversion Therapy (CT) illegal; although a coalition of LGBTQ groups is pressuring them to proceed quicker. CT refers to a collection of psychological techniques, designed to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Once widely practised, CT is now seen as an infraction of people’s human rights. Moreover, most of the testimonies about change have been revealed to be short-lived, or mere wish-fulfilment.

CT includes a variety of approaches. At one extreme, is Aversion Therapy, a crude manifestation of behaviourism, in which for example a person is subjected to electric shocks, when shown pictures of naked members of the same sex. Besides being ineffective in longterm change, it is also highly abusive. 

Exclusive-Inclusive Church

What does it mean to be an ‘inclusive church’? Are there really any ‘inclusive churches’ at all? In practice, the term is deployed to refer to those so-called ‘progressive’ churches, which want to ‘include’ LGBT+ people in their fellowships, in conditions of full acceptance and affirmation of their sexual orientation and practice. So, are such churches actually ‘inclusive’, for real?

LGBTQ+ Only Connect

I recently met with a local LGTQ+ leader; to see how he viewed Christianity, and build bridges across the cultural divide. His main gripe was, understandably, the mental illness among gay people, including the amount of self-harm, plus the discrimination and violence they experience. Conservative Christians, he thought, contribute to this anti-gay feeling in society; so he wondered if we could change our theology, and accept same-sex marriage?

At a recent Street Level Theology session (our monthly theology class at KCBC), on same-sex relationships, someone asked: although we have this conservative theology, can we avoid exacerbating the prejudice and problems faced by gay people? It requires, I think, intentional, concrete, actions, rather than well-meaning, but vague, sentiments of sympathy.