Bible message on sodomy censored in Brazil
By Julio Severo
Brazil is the land of the provocative women, who are shown even in billboards, with no censorship. But billboards with Bible messages were removed last Saturday, by order from judiciary officials in the city of Ribeirão Preto, in the state of São Paulo.
The billboards, sponsored by House of Prayer Christian Church, said,
“If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.” (Leviticus 20:13 ESV)
“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:26-27 ESV)
“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,” (Acts 3:19 ESV)
Allegedly, the messages were removed because on Sunday the gay parade would happen and its organizers were offended by the Bible verses in the billboards.
Yet, in the gay parade in the São Paulo city, Catholic saints were portrayed in indecent positions, and its slogan was a Bible passage, “Love one another,” that has no relation with homosexual sex. Catholics and other Christians were offended by the gay misrepresentation of Catholic saints and the Bible, but judiciary officials took no action against those that made such abuses.
In his decision against the Bible billboards, Judge Aleksander Coronado Braido da Silva declared that “the Federal Constitution protects the behavior of the defendant (House of Prayer of Ribeirão Preto) of expressing its personal views, but, at the same time, it also protects the intimacy, honor and image of people when they are dishonored”.
Mostly Catholic Ribeirão Preto has a population of about 500,000. According to the latest census, there are just 500 gay couples living in the city. But gay groups say that homosexuals are 20% of the local population, a number two times higher than the 10% used by the fraudulent research of Alfred Kinsey. Honest research today appoints no more than 2% of homosexuals in the general population.
According to Jornal A Cidade, a local online newspaper of Ribeirão Preto, just 5,000 people took part in the local gay parade, an event openly offensive in Brazil, with gay sex acts, drugs, violence and drunkenness. But this minority is entitled to offend the general population, with deceptions and depravity, and is entitled to get official protection from “offensive” messages containing nothing else than truth.
Notwithstanding the Bible messages removed, local gay militants said that they dislike censorship. “People may even voice their views, provided they do not offend the gay movement”, said Fábio de Jesus Silva, president of the gay NGO Arco-íris.
Yet, House of Prayer did not express its own views. They just put on billboards statements contained originally in Bible. And they were censored, for the sake of gay sensibilities.
How not to offend them?
If you cannot criticize their behavior, you are left only with the right to remain silent or affirm their lifestyle. This is just what the Anglican Church in Ribeirão Preto did: it participated in the gay parade.
Local Anglican archbishop Ricardo Lorite de Lima said that his church was available to make religious ceremonies of same-sex “marriage”. “Our church has the stance of embracing everybody, because they are children of God, with no discrimination. If some couple is interested in receiving a blessing, they just should come to us”, he said.
“In 2008, we passed a resolution where we accept the ordination of homosexuals”, the Anglican leader said, also criticizing the Bible message on the billboards of Ribeirão Preto: “There are several Bible passages that are translated out of the context, and today there is a Bible reinterpretation called inclusive. We have several theologians with different and updated views of the Bible”.
In interview with Julio Severo, Rev. Antonio Hernandez Lopes, of House of Prayer, said that he will pursue legal action to restore the Bible messages on the billboards. His view is that in a free society the church should be free to denounce any sin. In fact, churches traditionally denounce adultery, fornication, drug and alcohol abuse and other sins, and no church has ever been accused of inciting hate and violence against adulterers, fornicators, drug and alcohol addicts, etc.
Apparently, homosexuality has been singled out by the world powers for special protection and privileges, banning the right, religious and otherwise, to denounce it.
Rev. Lopes challenges churches to be prayerfully united against these world powers, which want to impose a “sacred” status for sodomy on society and church.
German version of this article: Botschaft der Bibel zu Homosexualität in Brasilien zensiert
Spanish version of this article: Mensaje de la Biblia acerca de la sodomía es censurada en Brasil
Source: Julio Severo in English
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