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"Is our freedom of religion under threat?" asks Andrew Selley, senior pastor of Joshua Generation and founder and director of cleverly named 'Freedom of Religion South Africa', or, (and this is the clever bit,) 'FOR SA'.
In a video posted to Youtube, Selley makes an appeal to fellow Christians to unite and fight against what he believes is a Governmental focus on human rights that is threatening religious rights.
It started last year, when a complaint about Joshua Generation Church was brought to the South African Human Rights Commission because of the church's belief in a parent's duty to bring up their children with a, (and I quote Selley here,) "loving use of spanking".
"What shocked us is we have found numbers of churches and numbers of Christians who are fighting human rights cases," Selley explains, going on to claim the Government is passing laws that are "outlawing portions" of the Bible.
He doesn't list each case, but he does mention how the Christian belief that the husband is the head of the home as Christ is the head of the church was threatened by the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality draft bill.
In the video, the camera rolls over the bill, showing sections no doubt chosen to reveal how this bill threatens religious freedom.
In the below screenshot, the phrase "religious freedom" is highlighted in a paragraph that reads, "RECOGNIZING that certain practices, including cultural, patriarchal, traditional, customary and religious practices may impair the dignity of women and undermine equality between women and men."
In this screenshot, the offending highlighted section reads, "Thus a change in the traditional role of men, as well as the role of women in society and in the family, is needed to achieve complete equality between men and women, and that this should be an integral part of the moral fibre of our society."
This is not the first appeal for unity from Selley. When the complaint against Joshua Generation Church was first made, Selley published a post on his blog, asking for help. In this post, he mentions another one of the issues he believes threatened by Government policy: the church's position on homosexuality.
To summarize so far, Selley is concerned that at least the following three Christian values are being threatened by the Government:
1. The belief that corporal punishment as a form of discipline is not only defensible but morally right, and therefore something parents should be encouraged to use.
2. The belief that a man is the head of the home in the same way that Christ is the head of the church, and that, therefore, women need to submit to their husbands in the same way that the church needs to submit to God.
3. The belief that homosexuality is morally reprehensible and that homosexual couples should not be allowed to marry.
At the very least, these beliefs are highly questionable:
1. Corporal punishment
It's all very well for Selley to describe spanking as "loving", but even if you believe the spanking method of discipline can, under certain circumstances, be non-abusive, is it right to actively encourage parents to use it?
Not one, but several children have been beaten to death in America by parents who were said to have followed Michael and Debi Pear's book "To Train Up a Child", a book that takes the Bible's encouragement of using a rod to discipline literally and encourages parents to do the same.
While it would be beyond sensationalist to claim all parents who decide to spank as a result of the Bible's instructions wind up killing their children, these incidents at the least should call into question the claimed irrefutable truth the verses most of these arguments for corporal punishment are based on:
"Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. Punish them with the rod and save them from death." Proverbs 23:13-14
2. Man is the head of the home
The expectation of women to submit to their husbands in the same way that the church is supposed to submit to God carries with it the potential for dangerously abusive relationships. After all,
The church (a wife) is expected to obey God (her husband) without question. God is considered perfect. The church is not permitted to question God. The relationship is not one of equals. God is obviously considered better than the church and due more respect than the church.
In a world where gender equality is a constant battle, and a country that is more patriarchal than many, sexist teachings such as this can only be damaging to the cause of women.
3. Homosexuality is a sin
The belief that homosexuality is morally reprehensible remains horrifically damaging to sexual equality worldwide, with homosexuals bearing the greatest burden imposed by this bigotry. Homosexuals have to fight constantly for basic human rights, from the right to exist without fear for their lives to the right to marry.
There does seem to be a conflict between human and religious rights
As Andrew Selley says himself, human rights threaten religious "rights". Therefore, perhaps religious moral values are a threat to human rights.
In often tax-exempt institutions nationwide, never-mind worldwide, these troubling opinions that may threaten the human rights of children, women and homosexuals are being taught as part of a belief system that claims moral superiority.
(It should be noted that, in South Africa, churches lost their automatic tax-exempt status in 2001. They now need to be registered as PBO’s, just like non-churches, which comes with qualifying and reporting requirements.)
Churches are big business. They make a lot of money, and they use a lot of that money to spread their beliefs in the name of mission and charity work. As we see in Uganda, many of these beliefs are downright harmful.
While this might seem like blasphemy to some, it is not unreasonable to expect churches to update their views.
Historically, many Christian "values" are now recognizably both oppressive and impractical
It should be noted that certain religious groups have, at the very least historically, actively taught values that are certainly offensive and damaging enough to warrant wide-spread condemnation. An example is known as the "Curse of Ham".
Genesis 9 speaks of an incident where Noah, angry with his son Ham, curses Ham's son Canaan.
"He said, 'Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.' He also said, 'Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.'" Genesis 9: 25-27
As all of humanity was believed to be descended from Noah's three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and as Africans were believed to be descended from Ham, some took this as a justification for the slave trade.
It should also be noted that most modern churches do not teach every lesson and law found in the Bible. For example, it would be hard to find a church that teaches,
1. Disobedient children should be put to death.
"If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid." Deuteronomy 21: 18-21
2. Death penalty for women who lose their virginity before marriage:
"If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you." Deuteronomy 22: 20-21
Conclusion
While of course it would be unfair to accuse all churches and Christians of holding onto these offensive and sometimes alarming beliefs, at the least we should be able to agree that, sometimes, there is good reason to question moral lessons being taught by churches.
Even those Christians who defend their beliefs with scriptural literalism have, at some point, accepted liberal thought. Modern Christians have adopted a higher moral standard than the Bible, whether they're willing to admit it or not, as they have left so many practices behind for no real reason other than a basic general knowledge that it's simply not right to, for example, force rape survivors to marry their rapists.
Therefore it does not seem unreasonable to expect even the most fundamentalist of Christians to begin to consider rethinking their position on other matters, particularly when their teachings and beliefs are in danger of threatening the human rights of others.
Follow Laura on Twitter.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
In a video posted to Youtube, Selley makes an appeal to fellow Christians to unite and fight against what he believes is a Governmental focus on human rights that is threatening religious rights.
It started last year, when a complaint about Joshua Generation Church was brought to the South African Human Rights Commission because of the church's belief in a parent's duty to bring up their children with a, (and I quote Selley here,) "loving use of spanking".
"What shocked us is we have found numbers of churches and numbers of Christians who are fighting human rights cases," Selley explains, going on to claim the Government is passing laws that are "outlawing portions" of the Bible.
He doesn't list each case, but he does mention how the Christian belief that the husband is the head of the home as Christ is the head of the church was threatened by the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality draft bill.
In the video, the camera rolls over the bill, showing sections no doubt chosen to reveal how this bill threatens religious freedom.
In the below screenshot, the phrase "religious freedom" is highlighted in a paragraph that reads, "RECOGNIZING that certain practices, including cultural, patriarchal, traditional, customary and religious practices may impair the dignity of women and undermine equality between women and men."
In this screenshot, the offending highlighted section reads, "Thus a change in the traditional role of men, as well as the role of women in society and in the family, is needed to achieve complete equality between men and women, and that this should be an integral part of the moral fibre of our society."
This is not the first appeal for unity from Selley. When the complaint against Joshua Generation Church was first made, Selley published a post on his blog, asking for help. In this post, he mentions another one of the issues he believes threatened by Government policy: the church's position on homosexuality.
To summarize so far, Selley is concerned that at least the following three Christian values are being threatened by the Government:
1. The belief that corporal punishment as a form of discipline is not only defensible but morally right, and therefore something parents should be encouraged to use.
2. The belief that a man is the head of the home in the same way that Christ is the head of the church, and that, therefore, women need to submit to their husbands in the same way that the church needs to submit to God.
3. The belief that homosexuality is morally reprehensible and that homosexual couples should not be allowed to marry.
At the very least, these beliefs are highly questionable:
1. Corporal punishment
It's all very well for Selley to describe spanking as "loving", but even if you believe the spanking method of discipline can, under certain circumstances, be non-abusive, is it right to actively encourage parents to use it?
Not one, but several children have been beaten to death in America by parents who were said to have followed Michael and Debi Pear's book "To Train Up a Child", a book that takes the Bible's encouragement of using a rod to discipline literally and encourages parents to do the same.
While it would be beyond sensationalist to claim all parents who decide to spank as a result of the Bible's instructions wind up killing their children, these incidents at the least should call into question the claimed irrefutable truth the verses most of these arguments for corporal punishment are based on:
"Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. Punish them with the rod and save them from death." Proverbs 23:13-14
2. Man is the head of the home
The expectation of women to submit to their husbands in the same way that the church is supposed to submit to God carries with it the potential for dangerously abusive relationships. After all,
The church (a wife) is expected to obey God (her husband) without question. God is considered perfect. The church is not permitted to question God. The relationship is not one of equals. God is obviously considered better than the church and due more respect than the church.
In a world where gender equality is a constant battle, and a country that is more patriarchal than many, sexist teachings such as this can only be damaging to the cause of women.
3. Homosexuality is a sin
The belief that homosexuality is morally reprehensible remains horrifically damaging to sexual equality worldwide, with homosexuals bearing the greatest burden imposed by this bigotry. Homosexuals have to fight constantly for basic human rights, from the right to exist without fear for their lives to the right to marry.
There does seem to be a conflict between human and religious rights
As Andrew Selley says himself, human rights threaten religious "rights". Therefore, perhaps religious moral values are a threat to human rights.
In often tax-exempt institutions nationwide, never-mind worldwide, these troubling opinions that may threaten the human rights of children, women and homosexuals are being taught as part of a belief system that claims moral superiority.
(It should be noted that, in South Africa, churches lost their automatic tax-exempt status in 2001. They now need to be registered as PBO’s, just like non-churches, which comes with qualifying and reporting requirements.)
Churches are big business. They make a lot of money, and they use a lot of that money to spread their beliefs in the name of mission and charity work. As we see in Uganda, many of these beliefs are downright harmful.
While this might seem like blasphemy to some, it is not unreasonable to expect churches to update their views.
Historically, many Christian "values" are now recognizably both oppressive and impractical
It should be noted that certain religious groups have, at the very least historically, actively taught values that are certainly offensive and damaging enough to warrant wide-spread condemnation. An example is known as the "Curse of Ham".
Genesis 9 speaks of an incident where Noah, angry with his son Ham, curses Ham's son Canaan.
"He said, 'Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.' He also said, 'Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.'" Genesis 9: 25-27
As all of humanity was believed to be descended from Noah's three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and as Africans were believed to be descended from Ham, some took this as a justification for the slave trade.
It should also be noted that most modern churches do not teach every lesson and law found in the Bible. For example, it would be hard to find a church that teaches,
1. Disobedient children should be put to death.
"If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid." Deuteronomy 21: 18-21
2. Death penalty for women who lose their virginity before marriage:
"If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you." Deuteronomy 22: 20-21
Conclusion
While of course it would be unfair to accuse all churches and Christians of holding onto these offensive and sometimes alarming beliefs, at the least we should be able to agree that, sometimes, there is good reason to question moral lessons being taught by churches.
Even those Christians who defend their beliefs with scriptural literalism have, at some point, accepted liberal thought. Modern Christians have adopted a higher moral standard than the Bible, whether they're willing to admit it or not, as they have left so many practices behind for no real reason other than a basic general knowledge that it's simply not right to, for example, force rape survivors to marry their rapists.
Therefore it does not seem unreasonable to expect even the most fundamentalist of Christians to begin to consider rethinking their position on other matters, particularly when their teachings and beliefs are in danger of threatening the human rights of others.
Follow Laura on Twitter.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
