Heather van Wyk studies the way people think and the lessons that history teaches us that we so often ignore. She has tried many churches but always gets a strong urge to stand up and shout “CHALLENGE!!”
Conservative thinking would like us all to be in the same boat. The people in our boat all agree on what is “normal”. It is safe, calm and comfortable in our boat.
The trouble is that there are always courageous people who are compelled to step out of our boat and challenge our accepted “normal”. We can’t understand why they would want to do this.
The suffragettes were abused and spat on. Not just by men but by women also. But they overturned our boat because votes for women was the “normal” for them.
And that is just the way it should be.
Children born out of wedlock were labelled illegitimate.
Definition: Illegitimate — contrary to rule or proper procedure. Irregular.
We now realise that the situation of a child’s birth does not define who they are as a person.
And that is just the way it should be.
Divorce solicited a similar reaction. If you got divorced you had to get out of our boat. We now accept that people have the right to end a relationship that is making them miserable.
And that is just the way it should be.
It took us decades to acknowledge and accept the right for homosexuals and lesbians to be who they always knew they were. That issue really rocked and eventually capsized our comfortable and conservative little boat. And that is just the way it should be.
Now we have transgender people asking for the same acknowledgement and acceptance. They tell us it is none of our business whether they call themselves Jack or Jill.
And that is just the way it should be.
As a Christian, the opposition to the symbolic rainbow crossing by members of Destiny Church saddened me.
I think the Bible is a remarkable book but there are many verses in the Old Testament that are plainly abhorrent by today’s standard of morality. Such as Judges 19: 20 -30 about a man offering his concubine and virgin daughter in the place of his male visitor, to some men who demanded his male visitor be given to them for sex.
Rape is rape no matter the gender of the victim.
The New Testament also has ridiculous teachings, such as this written by Paul: Timothy 2:11-15 Let women learn in silence and with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over man. But to be in silence. For Adam was first formed; then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing.
REALLY?!! What does Destiny Church and other conservative Christians think about these verses? We have evolved well beyond such ridiculous dogma.
Thank goodness we have courageous people who are not afraid to rock our boat until it is overturned.
In many cases the secular community is demonstrating more Christ-like compassionate and acceptance behaviour than some of the churches. They understand the importance of “doing unto others what you would have them do to you”.
If we claim the right to be the person we want to be, we don’t deserve this right unless we are willing to allow others to do the same.
I look forward to the day (and history has shown us that it will come) when we no longer need labels, symbols or separate communities, and we realise that each one of us is a unique, individual human being and we belong to one community — humanity.
And that is just the way it should be.
