Songs of Praise is to remain Christian despite calls for it to be turned it into a multifaith programme, the BBC’s first Muslim head of religion has pledged. Aaqil Ahmed said that it was vital that religious programming promoted “diversity” but insisted that Songs of Praise would always remain Christian.
Chris Bryant: The Church Of England Needs To Forget Its Silliness About Homosexuality
16th January 2012
Chris Bryant | The Independent
Anyone who has ever heard Jeffrey John preach, read his poetry or met him knows that he is a man of immense spirituality who should have been made a bishop years ago.
Sadly, the Church of England has got its cassocks so firmly in a twist that it seems completely incapable of coming to the same conclusion, purely and simply because he's gay.
In the old days it was all very simple. Homosexuality was a deliberate choice, a perversion, a sin.
Gay men were skipping along the rose-pink path to the everlasting bonfire and gay clergy who were caught in the act were dismissed, disgraced and defrocked.
But nobody seriously believes that anymore. Most church leaders know your sexuality is not something you choose, but something you discover. So you could even argue that God has made some people gay, which is why the Church of England no longer condemns anyone for just being gay. Indeed, it even teaches that homophobia is immoral.
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A multifaith Songs of Praise? Not on my watch says BBC religion chief
Songs of Praise is to remain Christian despite calls for it to be turned it into a multifaith programme, the BBC’s first Muslim head of religion has pledged. Aaqil Ahmed said that it was vital that religious programming promoted “diversity” but insisted that Songs of Praise would always remain Christian.
Media Monitoring
Chris Bryant: The Church Of England Needs To Forget Its Silliness About Homosexuality
16th January 2012
Chris Bryant | The Independent
Anyone who has ever heard Jeffrey John preach, read his poetry or met him knows that he is a man of immense spirituality who should have been made a bishop years ago.
Sadly, the Church of England has got its cassocks so firmly in a twist that it seems completely incapable of coming to the same conclusion, purely and simply because he's gay.
In the old days it was all very simple. Homosexuality was a deliberate choice, a perversion, a sin.
Gay men were skipping along the rose-pink path to the everlasting bonfire and gay clergy who were caught in the act were dismissed, disgraced and defrocked.
But nobody seriously believes that anymore. Most church leaders know your sexuality is not something you choose, but something you discover. So you could even argue that God has made some people gay, which is why the Church of England no longer condemns anyone for just being gay. Indeed, it even teaches that homophobia is immoral.
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