Church leaders in Marlborough have hit out at the Labour and Green parties, slamming them for their "disgusting" support for civil unions and even homosexual law reform in 1986. Speaking out in the wake of the Exclusive Brethren leaflet-dropping campaign, the various church leaders said they didn't tell their congregations how to vote, nor did they support the Brethren's actions. "They are trying to legislate morality and it's disgusting,” says Tom Hatch of the Elim Church. “In my personal view some individuals have an agenda to promote their own lifestyle and make it the law. They are trying to do what they complain the church does. They say we try to tell people what is wrong and right, and then they say what is law." Pastor Lester Terrill of the Freedom Assembly of God went further and attacked the Homosexual Law Reform Act of 1986, referring to an 800,000-signature petition (found later to be full of repeat signatures and forgeries) which opposed the law at the time. "It was the biggest miscarriage of justice in our nation's history," he said. The Civil Union Act was "totally immoral". Reverend Rodney Dunlop of Picton's Anglican Church said he was concerned at Labour's agenda. "They seem to be attempting to change the face of society in the sense of what has been the traditional view of the family."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Friday, 9th September 2005 - 12:00pm