He refers to Hitler's aphorism that the lies most easily believed were the biggest, loudest and most repeated. Ironically, it is he, himself, a Christian pastor, who repeats the biggest lies about gay people.
When Pastors use science to further t
heir arguments then they not only lose credibility but they have to some degree lost their own moral compass.
He states that the lifespans of gay people are shortened by up to 40%. This is a serious libel and encourages the kind of prejudice seen against gay people in Derry itself in the last few years. It is so designed to hurt and diminish that it must be refuted strongly. There is NO such data published in any credible scientific journal anywhere. I challenge Pastor Bradfield to state his sources in credible peer-reviewed scientific journals. He is dangerously repeating the propaganda from people such as Paul Cameron, whose so-called research is so lacking in proper methodology that it regularly earns him rebukes from professionals and professional bodies.
Pastor Bradfield also repeats statements by the American Psychological Association (APA) that there is 'no gay gene'. I remind him that there is 'no straight gene'. In any case, the APA only states that research so far makes it impossible to conclude that homosexuality is purely genetic. Scientific consensus is that homosexuality is some complex combination of genetic, biological and environmental factors and that most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.
Pastor Bradfield should have gone on to read the words of the APA regarding the "widespread prejudice, discrimination, and violence to which lesbians and gay men are often subjected" and examined his own response to anti-gay stereotypes and misinformation. Instead of swallowing and repeating hateful lies wholesale, he should be demonstrating Christian compassion. I see none of that in his letter.
I don't believe Pastor Bradfield wishes harm on gay people directly, but be sure, his comments do harm. They will be welcomed by those in Derry who have a capacity and a desire for acts of real violence against gay people.
Lastly, the Derry Journal needs to ask itself if such a letter, a diatribe of hate, would even be published if it was about any other vulnerable group. Go ahead, please just substitute black, Jew, Roma or women for 'gay' and see how it reads. Acceptable? No, not in any decent newspaper, not in any civilised society, most of all not in Derry.
Yours,
Paul McMichael
