One of the three authors of a new book, The Gender Revolution, Presbyterian Minister Kamal Weerakoon, was asked at the book launch why write a book on transgender, a difficult, complicated subject. Kamal Weerakoon replied that for all three of them, it was compassion for young people: He’s used to “Watching them grow and watching them build, construct, discover an identity in Christ and in their families and so on. It’s such a tragedy that now they’re being told, taught, that it is cool to be queer, to be in a way that is not connected with their biological reality of themselves, connected wit ..read more

A working group tasked with developing an apology by the Uniting Church (UCA) to LGBTQIA+ people has advised against the national assembly of the church making a formal apology at their 2024 meeting. A draft working document by the “Apology to LGBTQIA+ Australians Task Group” has led to the “firm conclusion that offering the words of a formal apology is hollow at best and likely to cause further harm including re-traumatising already abused individuals.” The task group’s perspective is that change in the Uniting Church, despite becoming the first major Australian denomination to adopt a rite f ..read more

A possible future for the progressive wing of Christianity is the subject of an extensive report by Real Clear Investigations, part of the Real Clear Politics website that is noted for linking to opinions ranging from left to right, and well-regarded opinion poll averaging. “Queering Jesus: How It’s Going Mainstream at Progressive Churches and Top Divinity Schools” pulls together current developments from “mainline” progressive churches in the US, from Presbyterian,, Methodist revealing the world of Queer theology. It serves to show the direction of travel – and as far as this reader can tell ..read more

Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, which argued that belief in a non-existent personal god amounts to a delusion, now has something in common with conservative Christians. He has been cancelled. Dawkins was a keynote speaker at the Global Atheist Conference in Melbourne in 2012 and crossed swords with Cardinal George Pell on QandA. Richard Dawkins was unafraid to take on the “gotcha” question “what is a Woman” for The New Statesman, a venerable UK magazine that;’s somewhat of a house organ for the British Labour Party. Drawing on his background as an evolutionary ..read more

Conservative Christians debate whether experiencing same-sex attraction is sinful. Some, like the Presbyterian Church in America, argue that being same-sex attracted is sinful. Others, while living as celibate singles or married to opposite-sex spouses, simply resist their same-sex attraction without regarding themselves as sinful simply for experiencing it. An example of a celibate gay Christian is David Bennett, author and theologian. Two speakers at the recent Undeceptions conference, Rebecca McLaughlin and Rachel Gilson, are same-sex attracted and married to men. The Sydney [Anglican] Dioc ..read more

The Church of Uganda, a member province of the Anglican Communion has expressed its gratitude for the Anti Homosexuality Act 2023 now assented to by the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni. The new act strengthens existing penalties and adds the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” which includes rape and sex by someone previously convicted for homosexuality. The bill as introduced made “purporting to enter a same sex marriage” punishable by ten years jail, and “promotion of homosexuality” subject to a five year term of imprisonment, later amended to 20 years. During the debate in the ..read more

A discussion of how NSW/ACT Baptists can enforce a policy against same-gender marriage and gay and lesbian ministers rumbles on online. The Baptists adopted a “position statement” against “sexual intimacy outside” a “lifelong faithful union of one man and one woman” in late 2022, but this year their Assembly Council did not bring forward in principle motions requiring affirmation of position statements – that would have forced some churches that affirm same-gender marriage out of the Baptist Association. “We have not yet discerned the mind of Christ,”, the Baptist AssemblyCouncil said, and a m ..read more

You’ll know what I mean when I tell you about it: pick a social issue from mental health to agriculture. the ABC will have tackled the issue by finding an individual case study and telling the story through their voice. It’s an entirely legitimate form of journalism, essentially a tabloid technique, but it is being overused by the national broadcaster. Take a topic away from the political process, scan the stories on the ABC website, and you’ll find heaps of them. It is too late for a spoiler alert. Now that I have sensitised you to the overused trope, you will run the risk of getting as irri ..read more

David Bennett, whose journey from gay student activist to a celibate follower of Jesus is chronicled in his book A War of Loves, has called on the conservative Anglican movement Gafcon (Global Anglican Futures Conference) to dissociate itself from new Ugandan laws that increase jail sentences and introduce the death penalty for homosexuality. As a Side B / Gay celibate Christian I am calling on @gafconference to repent and call out the Ugandan Anglican Church of its support for this law. It’s a make or break situation for me that I would break communion over. — Dr. David Bennett (@DavidACBe ..read more