Home > Salvation Army Apologizes After Australian Official Says LGBT People Should Die
Salvation Army Apologizes After Australian Official Says LGBT People Should Die
by John M. Becker - Open-Publishing - Tuesday 26 June 2012Salvation Army Australia Apologizes After Official Says LGBT People Should Die
Anti-Gay Religious Beliefs Remain, Says TWO
Burlington, Vt – Just hours after Truth Wins Out published the words of a senior Salvation Army official in Australia who said the belief that gays must die is part of the Salvation Army’s “Christian doctrine,” the organization apologized to the LGBT community.
Major Andrew Craibe, Territorial Media Relations Director for the Southern Territory in Victoria, made the incendiary comments in an interview with LGBT journalists Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon for the radio show Salt and Pepper. Ryan noted that the Salvation Army handbook cites Romans 1:18-32, a passage claiming that “God’s decree” is that homosexuals deserve death, and asked Craibe if the Salvation Army took that passage literally. Craibe replied in the affirmative, and continued to do so throughout the interview.
In response, Major Bruce Harmer, Salvation Army Communications and Public Relations Secretary for the Eastern Territory, issued a statement acknowledging that Craibe’s responses to Ryan and Dillon were a “miscommunication” that resulted in a misrepresentation of the group’s official teaching. The statement read, in part:
“The Salvation Army sincerely apologises to all members of the GLBT community and to all our clients, employees, volunteers and those who are part of our faith communities for the offence caused by this miscommunication.”
Harmer further states that the Salvation Army is committed to building “a more healthy relationship with the GLBT community.”
“The Salvation Army was wise to distance itself from Major Craibe’s disturbing remarks and apologize promptly for them,” said John Becker, Director of Communications for Truth Wins Out. “However, it’s clear from Major Harmer’s statement that the group still believes ‘homosexual behaviour’ is sinful. The Salvation Army and the LGBT community cannot possibly have a healthy relationship while these offensive beliefs remain in place.”
“In Major Harmer’s statement, the Salvation Army promises to treat each person with dignity, respect, and non-discrimination,’” added Wayne Besen, TWO’s Executive Director. “But this pledge means very little unless it is accompanied by a reversal of the Salvation Army’s discriminatory, anti-gay teachings.”
Truth Wins Out is a nonprofit organization that fights anti-LGBT extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.