08/11/2008
Ian McKellen and Simon Callow Target Homophobic Scottish Bishop
Back in March, leading Scottish Bishop Joseph Devine, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Motherwell, launched an attack on gays and, more specifically, actor Ian McKellen, criticizing the motivation of the gay community for honoring Holocaust survivors, and remarking during a lecture on Christian faith in Glasgow that "[he] saw actor Ian McKellen being honoured for his work on behalf of homosexuals, when a century ago Oscar Wilde was locked up and put in jail."
At a recent speech to gay rights group Stonewall, McKellen fired back, saying, "From the pulpit, homophobia is preached by some arrogant religious leaders who think their beliefs are superior to our inborn and, some would say, God-given nature....'We neglect the gay lobby at our peril', he said. And when a mother asked him what he would do if his child said he had a mission to be gay, the Bishop of Motherwell replied, sympathising with the mother but not the child, 'I would try to handle it with a degree of compassion but would not tolerate it.'"
His criticism was joined by actor Simon Callow, who spoke out in a Sunday Times interview: "The bishop is in my view a profoundly ignorant and stupid man. If he finds it offensive that gay people want to celebrate those gay people who died in the Holocaust — which was a large number of people — he’s also profoundly un-Christian. But then all churches have thrived on prejudice, it’s a means of keeping people under their control. I think they are really, really shocked at how quickly the world has moved on. They are constantly evoking some kind of specious moral authority which they’ve taken on. Nobody has particularly asked their advice on matters moral. We are working them out for ourselves."
Posted 9:46 AM EST by Andy Towle in Catholic Church, Ian McKellen, News, Scotland | Permalink
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Bravo to Sir Ian and Mr. Callow; unfortunately their enlightened views are not indicative of the general populace.
One day perhaps.....
Posted by: Nick | Aug 11, 2008 9:54:58 AM
Callow makes a good point.
Just because you dress up in a funny suit doesn't mean we care what you think.
Posted by: Wes | Aug 11, 2008 10:17:49 AM
the catholic church continues its Shermanesque march into irrelevance.
Posted by: dc-20008 | Aug 11, 2008 10:19:44 AM
As I always told my ex, an episcopalian, you don't have to read the bible to know morals. It's these religious drag queens who need to shut up. As Nick says, our enlightened views are not indicative of the general populace, hopefully one day. What is really scary is the third world countries and the raging extremism there.
Posted by: davefromtampa | Aug 11, 2008 10:30:19 AM
The fact of the matter is the general populace is shifting in our favor faster than you think. That's why creatures like Devine are mouthing off. In the past they didn't have to. Fear and loathing was a well-accepted social pracice and woe betide he or she who stood up and spoke out. That game is over. Sir Ian and Simon Callow are great artists and great gay men. BRAVO!
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Aug 11, 2008 10:45:40 AM
"Nobody has particularly asked their advice on matters moral. We are working them out for ourselves"
And that probably vexes the churches more than anything else.
Posted by: Protogenes | Aug 11, 2008 11:45:06 AM
The red cumberbund with matching buttons are fierce!
Posted by: Olive Yurdich | Aug 11, 2008 11:51:12 AM
God, the Bible and the Church offer convienient cover to people too cowardly to admit their own prejudice.
Posted by: voet | Aug 11, 2008 1:02:11 PM
The United States has given the world many great things, but when it comes to gay role models in popular culture, thank God for the British!
Posted by: Strepsi | Aug 11, 2008 1:07:36 PM
Ian & Simon should have reminded Devine that he would have been hanged in Glasgow 400 years ago, or imprisoned 200 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John_Ogilvie
Seems that Roman Catholic agenda worked.
Posted by: Alec | Aug 11, 2008 1:27:55 PM
Hooray for Simon Callow! What's he been up to lately, I haven't seen him in a movie for years, and I miss him!
Posted by: thin mint | Aug 11, 2008 2:04:31 PM
Hooray for Simon Callow! What's he been up to lately, I haven't seen him in a movie for years, and I miss him!
Posted by: thin mint | Aug 11, 2008 2:05:50 PM
Who is this Bishop Devine anyway? Now if Divine had been a Bishop maybe I would have listened. Her outfits would have been cuter too.
Posted by: rayrayj | Aug 11, 2008 2:41:18 PM
But then all churches have thrived on prejudice, it’s a means of keeping people under their control. I think they are really, really shocked at how quickly the world has moved on. They are constantly evoking some kind of specious moral authority which they’ve taken on. Nobody has particularly asked their advice on matters moral. We are working them out for ourselves.
Nothing to add. I just want to loudly applaud!
Posted by: Sportin' Life | Aug 11, 2008 2:42:02 PM
VOET, you're right: what even liberal Christians fail to realize is that the Bible is so regularly used as an excuse for railing against things they either don't understand or dislike for irrational reasons. The Catholic Church gets such a bashing (and rightly so in many cases) but Evangelical Protestants are by far the worst offenders. The Catholics have provided health care, schools, hospices all over the world when governments failed. Compare that to the blatant money grabbing of preachers and televangelists - at least the nuns and priests were giving lifesaving care to AIDS babies when Evangelicals were getting Reagan to ignore it all. And why do we always blame the Christian conservative right, when it's stupid citizens who believe in this crap?
Posted by: SexyBack | Aug 11, 2008 2:44:06 PM
Yes, how dare people remember those murdered in the holocaust. Why couldn't they be more like the Catholic church and support the Nazis until it was clear they had lost, and honor a former Nazi with their highest possible title?
Posted by: James Probis | Aug 16, 2008 3:11:56 PM