GLYNI – Gay and Lesbian Youth Northern Ireland

Iris Robinson is yet again in the headlines, after comments made in the House of Commons, during a debate on the topic of sex offenders and their jail times:

“We all agree that few issues arouse as much interest or concern in the community as that of sex offenders. The sentences served and their subsequent placement back in the community cause considerable disquiet among the public. There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children. There must be sufficient confidence that the community has the best possible protection against such perverts and it is important that there be a mature public debate on the issues, but the security of our citizens must be our overriding priority.”

This has not been removed from the official transcript, and is viewable on the website of the Houses of Parliament. Since then, she has been interviewed on the issue by the Belfast Telegraph:

“Can you think of anything more vile than man and man or woman and woman and sexually abusing children? What I say I base on biblical pronouncements, based on God’s word. I am amazed that people are surprised when I quote from scriptures … I cannot think of anything more sickening than a child being abused. It is comparable to the act of homosexuality. I think they are all comparable. I feel totally repulsed by both. … I am trying to reach out to people. That is what Christ teaches us … Anything I say is out of love. I am not hate-mongering. I cannot leave my Christian values hanging at the door when I go into politics. I am speaking out more now because we are getting it more and more rammed down our throats that the minority views are more important than the majority views. I am not trying to alienate anyone … I do not turn anyone away. I would never water down anything with the scriptures and I don’t think I should. I find it amazing, if not unexpected, as these days Christians are persecuted for their views but that will not stop me. There will be a judgement day and when I am judged I want to know that I did all I could to spread the word of God.”

It is heartening that all the reports and articles on the website of the Belfast Telegraph condemn her words, with their ‘viewpoint’ article discussing some of the issues regarding free speech.

One could question her motives in saying what she did. If you read what she said, her viewpoint would not have been weakened if she had simply omitted the words ‘apart from homosexuality and sodomy’. It could be considered that this was deliberate? We all know that this is the run-up to Belfast Pride. Perhaps this is just the latest in a chain of intentional outbursts, designed to inflame a situation which is already sensitive.
Perhaps not. Perhaps, like she says, she simply wants to spread the word of God. Perhaps then she is advocating a country in which politics and laws are dominated by the teachings of Leviticus? Truth is, this is from where she seems to extract her views. I doubt, if this was the case, she would be allowed to be a politican! The out-of-touch Book of Leviticus asserts many things, few of which we still adhere to today.
And let’s not forget. No matter how much Iris asserts that it is the case, it is NOT the job of Government to uphold the Laws of God. It is the duty of Government to uphold the laws of the PEOPLE. And the laws of the people indicate that people should not be attacked, persecuted, insulted, etc etc. Whilst she compares our acts to those of sex offenders, she forgets that sex offenders are criminals, we are not. She should stop treating us as such, stop trying to ‘rehabilitate’ us.

Maybe Iris should think of the old phrase ‘What would Jesus do?’. Does she think that Jesus, who stated that the Old Testament was just that, the OLD Testament, would say the things she is saying? Hurting the people she is hurting? Maybe she does, she is entitled to believe that he would. If this is the case, then there is no hope for her. If she believes that God wants her to do these things, then only God will convince her otherwise.
If I were a smaller person, I would say I would like to be watching when she is to be ‘judged’ by God. I think she would be devastated by the verdict.

Read the Belfast Telegraph article here!

Popularity: 2% [?]