250 Dutch Pastors Just Signed the Anti-LGBTQ "Nashville Statement"

[NeoGreen]

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/01/06/250-dutch-pastors-just-signed-the-anti-lgbtq-nashville-statement/

250 Dutch Pastors Just Signed the Anti-LGBTQ “Nashville Statement”
By Hemant Mehta, January 6, 2019

Once again, anti-gay Christian bigotry that began in America has made it overseas.

Remember the Nashville Statement? That was the anti-LGBTQ document created by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) and signed by more than 150 evangelical leaders. It condemned marriage equality, rejected the existence of transgender people, and claimed that “faithful Christians” must oppose LGBTQ rights. (It also denied evolution by claiming Adam and Eve were actual people. Just because.)

It was basically a declaration that True Christians™ were against LGBTQ rights, not to mention basic human decency.

Now, that document has been translated into Dutch. It’s been signed by roughly 250 Christian leaders in the Netherlands — all men, of course, some of whom are politicians — and it’s infuriating citizens (including more progressive pastors) who thought their nation cared more about civil rights that these pastors would lead others to believe.

(snip)

There is a silver lining to this story: The bigots are outing themselves. Because younger Christians are more accepting of LGBTQ people, they now know exactly which people and which churches to avoid for the rest of their lives.

At least, unlike the 2014 “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda, this one doesn’t come with legal consequences. That Ugandan bill had the direct support of one American pastor and the indirect support of people like Rick Warren who eventually condemned it but also once told a Ugandan crowd that gay rights are “not a civil rights issue” and worked closely with the pastor who later helped draft it.

In this case, the bigots created their own blacklist and put themselves on it. Good. While they’re at it, they should put up signs on their church doors saying “Decent human beings not welcome inside.”

[safeinOhio]

1. Dutch Pastors

I guess that it was preordained.

[Major Nikon]

2. I don't agree it was imported there

It's just showing its true colors.

[gay texan]

3. I've never traveled abroad

But I thought the Netherlands was fairly progressive.

I've always wanted to have a foreign Gaycation. I beginning to wonder if any country is safe now

[Act_of_Reparation]

4. Where there are progressives, there are reactionaries.

But really, it depends on where you go. A city like Amsterdam is probably just as safe, if not safer, than New York, LA, or San Francisco. The countryside... well, one thing I learned in my tavels is the countryside is more or less the same no matter what country you're talking about.

[Mariana]

5. To be fair, 250 Christian clergy in a country of 17 million people

can hardly be said to represent the views of most of the population.

[trotsky]

6. I dunno, when a dozen pastors in America sign on to some progressive pledge...

there are a few folks here who think that's Really Good News.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. I've heard there's quite an urban-rural divide in the Netherlands

The cities - Amsterdam and Rotterdam especially - are liberal, while the rural areas are quite traditional and conservative, even puritanical. My guess is this would be mostly pastors in the countryside and small towns.

[MineralMan]

7. Yet another batch of oppressive Christians trying to harm people.

Nothing new there. They've been doing that kind of crap for centuries, here and abroad. Fuck 'em! Christians! Why not try to change them, Guy? Why not do something about that. They won't listen to atheists, but you're a putative Christian, so tell them to knock it of, won't you?