Mon 8 Dec 2014 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Jim Marjoram says he'd expect something like this from the US bible belt. An Auckland author and community advocate has been shocked by the "incredibly dangerous" views of an extremist pastor who told him to “commit suicide” and called him a “filthy child molesting fag”. Jim Marjoram had emailed churches about his new book and the Silent Gays project, which is “dedicated to helping/healing gay people broken by guilt, shame, abuse and fear that Christianity has mercilessly dealt out to God's precious people for too long.” Logan Robertson, who says he is a pastor at an organisation run out of his West Auckland home called Westcity Bible Baptist Church, responded “We are not interested in your filthy lifestyle or book,” and “Romans 1 clearly says God has rejected homos and they are worthy of death. You can not be saved.” It finishes “I pray that you will commit suicide, you filthy child molesting fag,” before directing Marjoram to a video which says AIDS is a judgement of God. Marjoram tells GayNZ.com he emailed every church in Auckland to introduce himself and tell them about his book and project, to see if any were interested. “I was expecting some backlash from my publicity efforts, knowing there are a lot of fundamentalist Christians who are very adverse to the LGBT issue,” he says. “I was rather shocked at the level of hate and vitriol in the reply. But I'm quite resilient and really feel sorry for the guy, and especially sorry for the people in his church and the wider influence he may have.” Logan Robertson Westcity Bible Baptist Church describes itself as “independent fundamental” and meets at Robertson’s West Harbour home. While he will not respond directly to GayNZ.com, the pastor is understood to be standing firmly by his comments - and his beliefs that gay people, or "fags" as he prefers, are child molesters and deserve to die. Marjoram says he would have expected something like this from the bible belt in the USA, but not here. “I'm well aware that many churches in New Zealand are actively discriminating and condemning of LGBT people, but this is the first I've heard anything this blatantly abusive and threatening. Very surprised really.” The writer and community advocate says Robertson’s are damaging to both LGBT people, and people who “truly have a rich and loving faith”. He explains “I know from experience that he currently is incapable of accepting anything outside of his paradigm - such is the depth of deception his cultic beliefs have led to.” However Marjoram says despite the man’s hatred, he has no personal animosity. But he does worry about the damage his views can do. “So many closeted and desperate LGBT people turn to the church for help. There are a disproportionate number of closeted people in churches who are trapped in guilt, shame and fear. The attitudes people like this guy are expressing will drive these people into deeper shame as they try to reconcile a perversion of the gospel with their core sexual and gender identities, causing massive cognitive dissonance, mental ill health, depression and suicidality,” he says. “There are also serious concerns with LGBT minors being thrown out of families that embrace these types of beliefs, and ending up on the streets - a disturbingly high percentage of street kids fit this description. There is also the danger of people being referred to reparative therapy which tries to change their sexual/gender orientation - something which all medical professionals have determined to be dangerous and unethical.” The church’s Facebook page continues to be inundated with disgusted responses, and one out of five reviews. Marjoram has been overwhelmed with public support since the email was shared on social media, and says it’s been humbling. “Even many very conservative Christians who would normally not agree with my own beliefs have stood together in condemning these attitudes. It seems to have triggered a lot of people to take these attitudes seriously and stand together in a positive way instead of just moaning about it and slagging the guy. It's addressed much deeper issues with religion that people seem to have had enough of, and even many conservative Christians are saying ‘hey, we aren't all like this you know!’” The book which sparked the hateful email, It’s Life Jim, will be launched on Tuesday. It’s about Marjoram’s “journey of battling being gay but desperately wanting to be straight and just have a happy family”. He says as he grew up he became depressed and suicidal so turned to Christianity for a solution, wrestling with faith, doctrines, honesty and integrity, while embracing more extreme forms of faith, ending up in Pentecostal churches. Marjoram went through many types of counselling and "reparative" or “pray the gay away” therapy and became a "worship leader" and assistant group leader in the Living Waters organisation. “I was married for 22 years to a wonderful woman, and we tried to work through it together and were totally committed, but she died in 2011, after which I had a meltdown and finally admitted I was gay and unable to change.” He says his passion is to help people trapped and silently suffering in churches and religious systems to find integrity in their lives and faith. Proceeds from his book will help fund his project Silent Gays. “It's a web based resource site, Facebook page, secret Facebook group for privately sharing in a loving and supportive environment, and very importantly, guidelines for setting up and running small groups where people can meet in neutral locations to simply share their hearts, struggles and pain, their doubts and fears, all in a loving supportive and non-judgemental situation." If this story raises issues for you there is plenty of help available: Silent Gays OUTLine: 0800 OUTLINE Rainbow Youth on (09) 376 4155 After hours you can call the 24 hour Depression helpline: 0800 111 757 There are also a number of supportive and welcoming churches in Auckland, such as St-Matthew-in-the-City and St Lukes in Remuera, and St Andrews On The Terrace in Wellington.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 8th December 2014 - 7:03am