Equality Campaign co-chair and fake theologian Alex Greenwich has accused Christians of misrepresenting the Bible.
In an interview on Sky News, the independent New South Wales MP suggested the biblical command to ‘love thy neighbour’ means Christians ought to abandon sexuality defined by Scripture to embrace LGBTQ+ sexuality.
“The church ethos, or the ethos of Christianity is to love thy neighbour,” Greenwich said. “There is no where in the Bible, or in church teachings that says you should target gay kids and teachers. There’s no where in a religious ethos that says you should legalise bullying against the LGBTI community.
“So it’s time that those who are proposing this actually look back at last year’s result and realise that Australians voted for ‘equality’, they voted against discrimination. And they don’t want to see teachers or school kids being discriminated against because of their gender or sexuality,” he said.
Greenwich is probably thinking of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 22:39, which simply states: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
It’s a popular phrase, but many are surprised to learn it didn’t originate with Jesus. He was quoting from an Old Testament law which said: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
That law is found in Leviticus 19, just several verses after the same author penned the much maligned command in chapter 18 verse 22, which reads: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
Greenwich dishonestly cherry-picks one verse to suggest that in order for Christians to faithfully observe chapter 19, they must first do away with chapter 18.
Does Greenwich really think Leviticus 19:18 was written in order to undermine commands expressed in the previous chapters?
The Bible commands us to love our neighbours, but it doesn’t leave us in the dark as to how we’re supposed to define love. As the Apostle Paul states: “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10).
In other words, God’s laws are an expression of God’s love, and therefore, deviations from God’s law is a deviation from love. In Jesus’ words, “because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”
No, Alex. It’s not Christians who are guilty of misunderstanding and misapplying Christian teachings. It’s you.
WATCH:
.@AlexGreenwich: The church ethos of Christianity is to 'love thy neighbour'. There is nowhere in the bible or in church teachings that say you should target gay teachers and kids.
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— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 15, 2018