The Straits Times reported 26 Jul 2009 that Prof Miss Thio has cancelled her teaching assignment to New York University (NYU) School of Law after negative feedback from students and the poor enrolment. The Christian Post SG has claimed that this was due to intolerance and it is indeed true that no progressive university should tolerate homophobia and victimization of a minority group such as gays especially in the Human Rights stream. Gays have been bullied in society, with threats of imprisonment by the Christian Right and with insulting statements at Parliament of drinking from the nose but alas such perverse acts, and immorality are not condoned anymore. It appears that the Christian Right is demanding the special right and freedom to criticize whilst condemning the right by others to disagree as being lack of tolerance to their views.

It is for the common good of all and for civil liberties that such anti-gay views be rebuke. We have imported an anti-gay Christian agenda and fervor from the American Imperial Powers as against our Asian Culture of “Live and Let Live” which they are quickly discarding whilst we hold on tightly as our colonial heritage. It is important that such foreign religious fundamentalism do not to cause social issues. The strong criticisms did not come from any particularly gay lobby but from a large chorus of the university because the facts speak for itself, the anti-gay public statements made to insist that gays be put in jail in the 377a debate. This becomes rather unacceptable when teaching human rights. It is like the advocate of Socialism teaching the benefits of Capitalism.

Many considers this issue as a “debate”, but forgot the terrible impact upon real lives, real people, real humanity of gay people. They are treated as less than humans, categorized only by their sexuality as homosexuals and no longer human beings of dignity and sacred worth to satisfy our theological interpretation of what we deemed the bible says. But seldom do we see the consequences. If we had not been 100% correct, maybe 90%, perhaps 50%, the consequences of being even 50% wrong after we have judged and condemned and barred from the church because of an innate sexuality of a section of God’s creation is serious.

We should be mindful of natural justice and morality. A thousand years of persecution against gays will come back as a tide which is hard to stop just as they are experiencing with gay marriages in America where the “victories” came as a surprise. Is the “debate on Gay Marriage over” as stated by Christianity today? It has just started. The blood of the gays who have died at the hands of injustice and persecution cries out from a thousand years ago, to the concentration camp at Auschwitz where Hitler killed more than a hundred thousands, to the hundreds of thousands who died of Aids, and those who took their own lives because of religious condemnation. Their blood cries out for justice and righteousness. It gets louder every time a gay man is killed due to hate crime encouraged by the rhetoric of the Christian Right. It gets louder every time a gay man is hanged in Iran or killed by the religious mobs in Nigeria and Uganda. It gets so loud until we could not hear the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ.

Why do Christians have anti-gay views? Gays are by far the smallest, the weakest and the most vulnerable with only 5% of the population. As Rev Rick Warren pointed out most poignantly that for him as gays only form 1 or 2% of the population, they could be condemned without consequences. Therefore, we reserved all condemnation of immorality against gays, when the first commandment is not against gays but idol worship which is so prevalent in every corner of the island yet not a sound from the mega churches. The condemnation against gays on the contrary is like a loud hailer. The Christian Right looks at the act and not the motives because to do so would require them to condemn idol worship then and today. The same sex acts in the bible is a religious activity as part of idol worship of fertility gods in ancient Israel. What makes it stands out is that their worship of these idols was so extreme and fervent that the straight men not only have mass sex orgies with the women as part of the temple prostitution but also had sex with men. These were deemed unnatural for straight men just as it was deemed unnatural for men to worship man made idols.

As our local anti-gay crusaders have begun to be exported to South East Asia and beyond appearing like an Angel of Light but beneath, a dark angel, we see that God is still there. They will have their season and freedom and free play to speak against the gay community recklessly and without strong opposition, but their seasons are numbered. God’s love and faithfulness is now extending to the heavens, to the ends of the earth, to the gay community. His righteousness will be revealed and the truth will one day be manifest like fountains of waters filling the land, first to the hearts of the gay community. The church may continue on to peddle half truths and condemnation about gays, but God is moving in the other direction, filling the hearts of Gay Christians with His love, His faithfulness, His Righteousness and His acceptance. They will be protected whatever the church does under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty. They will be filled from the household of God as new inclusive churches spread all over Asia so that they can go to a Safe place to be filled and drink from God’s heavenly stream.

Your Steadfast Love, extends to the heavens
Your faithfulness, it reaches to the clouds
Your righteousness, is like majestic mountains
And your wisdom's like a depth on the sea...and you come to me.

Filling my heart, with your loving kindness
I find my fear, on the shadows of your wings.
I eat my fill, from the abundance of your household
And I drink from the stream of rejoicing

You are my king (5x) (Repeat)