Originally published in news24
Johannesburg – A complaint has been laid with the Advertising Standards Authority about an allegedly homophobic church billboard in Pretoria.
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The billboard features the naked torso of a man surrounded by the words “drug abuse”, “promiscuity”, “alcoholism” and “homosexuality”. It is captioned: “whom the son sets free is free indeed”, and is signed: “Light of the Nation Church”.
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“What annoyed me is they lumped homosexuality with other things such as drug abuse, alcoholism and promiscuity. Those are behaviours that people can control,” said complainant Francois Joubert, from Pretoria.
Billboard ‘unethical’
He first saw the billboard a week ago and again while driving with his spouse Werner Nieuwoudt on Sunday, when they photographed it on the corner of Solomon Mahlangu and Bendeman streets in the Silver Lakes area.
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In his complaint, Joubert contended that the billboard was inaccurate and unethical because it suggested that a sexual orientation, such as homosexuality, could be changed with the church’s help.
The local Gay rights group OUT also condemned the billboard.
“It uses discrimination against the homosexual community in order to bring people to their services,” said OUT director Dawie Nel.
He said the billboard would cause some homosexuals to believe they could be “cured”, but instead caused them harm.
Word to be removed
Light of the Nations Church senior pastor Deric Linley said in a statement on Monday that the word “homosexuality” would be removed from the billboard.
He said the billboard was intended to “highlight aspects and challenges of everyday life” and not “sins”.
“It was never the intention of Light of the Nations to discriminate against any group, but purely to offer a non-judgmental refuge for people dealing with issues in their personal life,” Linley said.
ASA senior consultant for consumer complaints Selloane Khosi confirmed that a complaint about the billboard had been brought against the church.
– SAPA
Yes and (as usual?) the church would rather give in than stand up for what it really believes and take persecution like Jesus predicted.
The idea that homosexuality is not a coice is an utter lie, forced on society and trapping people inthat lifestyle because they think that it cannot be reversed.
The reasons for homosexuality are either a poor or non exsistant father and/or a domineering mother or that a child was molested by the same sex.
The number od little boys who are raped is climbing and is a major source of this deviant behaviour. I have never met a gay “Gay.”
Although childhood and other external factors do contribute to homosexual tendencies, there are a percentage of people who are born with too many female hormones and who really struggle with sexual orientation. In this case, homosexuality is not a choice but a biological imbalance. Things aren’t always as black and white as your comment seems to imply.
Zita you are talking about a tiny infinitesimal percentage of people who are born hermaphrodites.
Your argument is not based on fact and hermaphrodites are not homosexuals. It is always a choice.
THAT IS THE FACT.
People who are not hermaphrodites but have an imbalance can be medically treated and have a very normal life.
Just shows what happens when you touch a nerve! Thank God for Jesus who still heals , saves and delivers – the same yesterday , today and forever.
As Brenda says, obviously touched a nerve! The Bible, in both the OT and the NT, roundly condemns adultery, incest, promiscuity, beastiality (sex with animals) – and homosexuality. It actually calls it ‘an abomination’. Yet researchers, mostly gay ones, have been trying for years to find a ‘gay gene’ without success, largely because there isn’t one. Environment and sexual abuse in childhood I suspect are the main culprits that lead these unfortunate folk to make this lifestyle choice. But sadly that is no excuse, and certainly won’t cut it with the Lord when we all one day stand before His throne to account for how we lived our lives. As much as He loves us, He will not accept sin into His presence, and homosexuality in His eyes is sin.
The Lord God, after He had created Adam and Eve, saw that it was good. Is the “gay” movement saying that God made a MISTAKE???
There are quite a few places in the bible that emphasises God’s view on homosexuality. HAS ANYONE EVEN LOOKED IT UP? For crying out loud… DO IT ALREADY, then you can fight the enemy on the grounds of creation.