January/February 2000

The Equality Bill and the Homosexual Revolution in light of God's law on sex and marriage.

Dear Friends,

We wish you God's richest blessing for the year AD 2000 and pray that He may equip you to "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim. 6:12) and "contend for the faith which was once deliverd unto the saints." (Jude 3). For the new Millennium promises to intensify the great spiritual battle between the Biblical Gospel and man-centred Humanism.

On 3 February, the President of South Africa, the Hon. Thabo Mbeki, signed into law the "Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Bill" - for short, the Equality Bill. The Bill, now Act, "endeavours to facilitate the transition to a democratic society." It forbids unfair discrimination on the grounds of "race, gender, and disability." It forbids "hate speech, harassment and the dissemination... of unfair discriminatory information." An "Equality Review Committee" will make sure that equality is applied, and offenders will come before an "Equality Court." - "Neither the State nor any person may unfairly discriminate against any person," says the Act. There must be no talk of racial superiority or inferiority; no exclusivity, exclusive control, provision of inferior services or denial of access to opportunities. There must be no gender violence, mutilation, disinheritance and denial of dignity. There must be no denial of enabling facilities for the disabled. There must be no Hate Speech, (undefined in the long list of "Definitions") or anything which could be hurtful, harmful, or hateful. The Act's value system, said Mohseen Moosa, ANC chairman of the drafting committee of the "Pro-motion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act," will apply to all sectors of society, including the religions. Point 5 of the Act states that "the provisions of this Act must prevail" over any other law other than the Constitution.

"Sexual Orientation"
Indeed, it is good to love one's neighbour as oneself and to do unto others as one would like them to do to us. However, there is one aspect of the Equality Act which must cause major concern to the Christian churches. It is the prohibition of "unfair discrimination" on the grounds of "sexual orientation". This implies that even deviant forms of 'Sexual orientation' are a natural condition of man which needs special protection. Here they are put on a par with 'race' and 'gender'. We are there-fore faced with a demand for equality between righteousness and sin, between virtue and vice, good and evil. If applied, churches could be prosecuted for refusing membership or ministry to homosexuals. A precedent for this was created in the U.S.A. on August 4, 1999, when the Boy Scouts of America were ordered by the New Jersey Supreme Court to re-instate a 'gay' scout-master. The judge ruled that "the Boy Scouts... are not entitled to exemptions from anti-discrimination laws." 1) - In South Africa the organisation "OLGA", which lobbied political parties at CODESA to include the "Gay Rights" clause in the South African Constitution, wants to pursue the following goals:

Consenting sodomy and homosexual adoption of children have already been legalised. The Constitutional Court has declared that a homosexual partner should have the same immigration rights as the spouse of a South African citizen. Companies have been forced to give 'spouse benefits' to homosexual partners. The Equality Act therefore gives homosexual activists the legal tool with which to realise the above agenda. 2)

The whole world is, in fact, in the midst of a homosexual revolution. This revolution is aimed against Biblical faith and morality. It is part of the larger Humanist revolution, i.e. the militant demand that Man and his needs (instead of God and His demands) be made the centre of everything. The Humanist Manifesto II (1973) states: "We believe that intolerant attitudes, often cultivated by orthodox religions and puritanical cultures, unduly suppress sexual conduct... The many varieties of sexual exploration should not in themselves be considered 'evil'... individuals should be permitted to express their sexual proclivities and pursue their life-styles as they desire." Whereas, in previous times, homosexuals were a secret, hostile fraternity within a society which generally upheld the Ten Commandments, they now flaunt their perversity with "gay pride". The recent Rag-Day of the University of Cape Town showed that little shame is attached to unnatural appearances. Many young men selling "Sax Appeal" at the traffic lights were dressed up in women's beachwear. Some churches, too, offer little or no resistance. A Dean of the anglo-catholic Cape Town Cathedral actually posed for a photograph fully robed, sporting a devil's tail, for an advert for a gay film festival! His superiors protected him against his dismayed church members.

The homosexual culture is bitterly hostile to the Family. For instance, the London 'Gay Liberation Front Manifesto' stated in 1989: "The end of the sexist culture and of the family will benefit all Gay people and women... we must aim at the abolition of the family, so that the sexist, supremacist system can no longer be nurtured there." 3) - Marriage, however, is a holy bond that was instituted by God Himself at the very dawn of history. Having made man in His own image, He endowed him with many blessings and gave him dominion over all things. God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Gen. 2:18) So He created woman of man's own substance and brought her to the man. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." (Gen. 2:24) Our Lord Jesus Christ honoured marriage by His presence at the wedding in Cana and confirmed it as a divine ordinance, as a honourable estate, and as a lasting bond. He declared: "Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matt. 19:6) Showing its exalted nature the apostle Paul called marriage a symbol of the mystic union of the Saviour and the church, His redeemed bride, commending it as a state honourable among all.

But the Homosexual opposes this holy ordinance. He therefore acts against God and His Law. "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination," says the Scripture. (Lev. 18:22) - "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." (Lev. 20:13) - "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel." (Deut. 23:17) - St Paul cited homosexuality as the culmination of man's apostasy and hostility towards God, saying: "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet." (Rom. 1:27)

The Humanist, on the other hand, falsely sees great benefits in homosexuality. A Swedish doctor by the name of Ullerstam extols these, saying: "Would it not be in the interest of the whole world to provide such [homosexual] education, which might, in the long run, prove a solution to the problem of overpopulation?" 4) Indeed, the Humanists are constantly worrying about the problem of overpopulation! Because it is vastly exaggerated, millions of babies have been killed through abortion, and many old people will be killed by euthanasia. Because of the "overpopulation" scare, many young people are brainwashed into condoning, and ultimately accepting, a homosexual life style, which is actually a death style. For the Bible says: "All they that hate God, love death." (Prov. 8:36) - It is a sad fact that many homosexuals die of AIDS or suicide. Their families die out. - But then, the Humanists view even AIDS as something positive. At a briefing for the European Parliament in Brussels in October 1999, Mr Jan Fransen, a demographer and former representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), spoke inter alia about "fertility control" which has been UNFPA's work since 1969. Someone asked him: What is a "demographer's approach to AIDS and STDs since they reduce life expectancy?" Nobody at the meeting "challenged the suggestion that AIDS could be viewed as a positive phenomenon..." 5)

Homosexuality does not only mean personal misery, but also family tragedy. Indeed, it is a national disaster, for homosexual cultures are at war with God - a war not only of personal disobedience, but also of a hostile philosophy. Speaking on the "Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Bill" on 26.1.2000, Rev Kenneth Meshoe, the leader of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), said in Parliament: "Is referring to homosexuality, sodomy and lesbianism as an abomination before God going to be classified as hate speech because of this bill or not? Will the calling of sinners to repentance be labelled as hurtful according to section 10(1)(a)? Are churches going to be forced to marry homosexuals, because of the impending law? If that be the case, then we are ready for them, and it is the ANC that will pay the ultimate price for it. - By giving extensive rights to homosexual partners that are far above other citizens, this bill contradicts the call by President Thabo Mbeki... upon all church leaders to promote morality in the country. But the Bill seeks to legislate immorality and to destroy Christian and religious family values once and for all."

Rev Meshoe also "regards this bill as one of the worst and far-reaching interventions by this government in the regulation of private life, as it aims to entrench values and belief systems that are detrimental to the family." Again referring to section 10(1), he said, the freedoms of speech and belief might be undermined. "To give an example," he said, "Bible believing Christians believe the words of Jesus Christ... 'I am the way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.' Can this section be used to allege that Christians... are discriminating against other religions? What will happen if a person of another religion complains that to hear that Jesus Christ is the only way to God is hurtful to them and is discriminating against their religion? What will the government or the courts do about it? Will they ban that scripture? If that is a possi-bility, then the ANC must be seriously warned about the grave consequence that will follow. That will be the beginning of the end of their popularity."

The South African Churches and Christian organisations must be alert. Pressure may come upon them not only through Government legislation but also as members of the South African Council of Churches, for the SACC has pledged to implement the provisions of the Equality Act in their constituency. May God, by His Word, equip each Christian, that he may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, upholding Truth and Righteousness to the glory of Christ.

D. Scarborough.

Footnotes:
1. Focus on the Family, reprinted in the Citizen, October 1999.
2. From "Christian View", 28.1.2000.
3. KE Olsen, Christians for Truth, Questions answered... p.71
4. Cited by R Rushdoony in The Institutes of Biblical Law, p. 420.
5. Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, UNFPA briefing makes light of high mortality in Africa. 15.10.99