Some Ontario church leaders say Christians discriminating against people who are LGBTQ get the Bible wrong
Religious leaders debunk Bible passages incorrectly used to discriminate against people who are LGBTQ
It was a summer day in June when Father Jarek Pachocki was at Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton, watching a Pride flag raised into the sky.
The city's Catholic school board trustees voted to start flying the flag in 2022 in support of students.
But not long after the ceremony, Pachocki, the co-pastor of the city's St. Patrick Parish, says a school staff member confronted him.
"He basically told me I shouldn't be here, the church shouldn't be supporting LGBTQ people and he was quoting bible passages," Pachocki said.
"My answer to him was, 'I'm here for the students' … I don't think he heard what I said … he made up his mind and that's quite often what happens."
Religious leaders in Ontario say conversations about LGBTQ people are becoming more common among Christians — but it's not all bad.
In fact, Pachocki and Rev. Karen Orlandi with the Silver Spire United Church in St. Catharines, Ont., say they're seeing more LGBTQ acceptance among churchgoers.
"They're not close-minded and when they focus on the human [aspect], it makes a difference," Pachocki said. "The church is having a listening attitude … we're going in the right direction."
Hate 'comes from fear'
Pachocki said most Christians he interacts with are open-minded, but some take extreme stances.
"You will see the people judging, quoting the Bible, taking it out of context and condemning," he said.
"I think it comes from fear. You fear what you don't know."
LISTEN: Inside the fundamentalist Christian movement that wants to remake Canadian politics
A recent CBC investigation exposed how a fundamentalist Christian movement which advocates for conservative social and political policies based on their interpretations of the Bible is gaining momentum.
Many supporters of that movement share a vocal opposition to LGBTQ rights, among other things.
Misconceptions among some Christians
Pachocki noted there are Bible passages some use to antagonize LGBTQ people.
The Book of Leviticus calls homosexuality an "abomination" and St. Paul condemns homosexuality in the First Epistle to the Corinthians — but Pachocki points to how there are many rules in the Bible modern-day Christians ignore.
Leviticus also permits people to enslave others, prohibits people from getting haircuts, doesn't allow people to plant two kinds of seed in a field, condemns tattoos and forbids people with vision issues and some disabilities from approaching an altar of God.
Orlandi said Jesus never spoke about homosexuality in the Bible and said texts, like those in Leviticus, are thousands of years old and generally taken out of context.
She said Jewish people were exiled into Babylon at the time and were making up rules to try to create their own identity and rebuild their own community,
"There's a whole bunch of rules including not eating pork, shellfish, not sitting on a seat that a woman who has had a period sat on … among them, rules about not wasting seed, not fornicating with the same sex," she said.
"The idea of not wasting seed is you don't want to waste people … we managed to discard some of [those rules] and say 'That rule doesn't pertain now.' It was for a very specific purpose."
In Genesis, God destroys the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness, which some have said is a metaphor for homosexuality, but Pachocki said that's an incorrect misinterpretation.
"They were destroyed because the people were inhospitable to others," he said.
Why these leaders support LGBTQ people
Orlandi said it's dangerous for someone to tell another person that God hates them because they're a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
She said churches are meant to be open to everyone.
"That was the call of Jesus, inclusivity and diversity, not divisiveness," she said.
"This is what God has created. It is part of the joy of God's creation that people have different ways of expressing love and sexuality and identity. That's something to be celebrated."
She noted most downtown churches tend to be more inclusive than rural ones.
Pachocki said Christians need to remember LGBTQ people are just that — people.
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