Religious Left

A SENIOR minister of a Sydney Anglican parish has made an extraordinary attack on the High Court judge Michael Kirby, warning he would face the wrath of God if he remained unrepentant as a gay man. The rector of St Stephen's Church in Bellevue Hill, the Reverend Richard Lane, denounced the judge for calling himself a Christian Anglican while living in an openly gay relationship and warned as a "messenger, watchman and steward of the Lord in the Anglican Church of Australia", he faced God's judgment. Mr Lane proposed circulating the written exchange with fellow clergy to ask the question: "Am I wrong?" Justice Kirby has agreed to this. In reply he argued Mr Lane's interpretation of biblical injunctions against homosexuality was not a universal one, and the biblical quotations used were unreliable mid-19th century translations. Mr Lane appeared to have turned a blind eye to the "central loving message of Jesus of the gospels". "To defy moder...

High Court Justice Michael Kirby says gay people deserve an apology for past sodomy laws. The man last year voted Australia’s most influential homosexual also revealed he had received “nasty letters” from Sydney Anglican clergy calling on him to leave his partner, seek ex-gay therapy and stop calling himself an Anglican because he doesn’t abide by Leviticus. Kirby said the prospect of facing charges under the then NSW sodomy laws was never a concern for him. “It was only criminal if you did anything about it. We knew nobody would get prosecuted unless, as a result of blackmail, it came to public attention,” he said. “My own view is, it’s a bit like saying Nelson Mandela didn’t have his pass, and that was a very serious criminal offence, so why doesn’t he apologise? Well people should be apologising to me for oppressing me and others who were being oppressed by these silly laws.” full article