Communion 'Smells Like Hate'? Bishop Blasts BBC Video on Gay Discrimination
A BBC video belittles Christian street preachers and says that Holy Communion "smells like hate."
Bishop John Keenan of Paisley told the Catholic Herald on Friday that the "BBC The Social" video, which has been viewed over 8.5 million times on Facebook, is "offensive to Catholics in both the words and images used."
The video, with the caption "this is how homophobia feels in 2018" features a spoken free-verse poem by a young gay man who says that society is judging him for romantic displays of affection with his boyfriend.
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The video takes a critical look at different people in society who would disapprove of gay relationships, including those in the faith community. It depicts a man who appears to be an angry street preacher yelling at the gay man, with the words "see him, he thinks it's faith."
Then it switches over to a woman receiving Holy Communion inside a church, though the priest is depicted holding Mini Cheddars instead of sacramental bread. When the woman eats the wafer, the voice says, "But under all that din, it tastes like cardboard and smells like hate."
An image of Jesus on the cross is also shown, with the narrator saying that Christ "saved a lot of time when He died for our crimes, that He would've wasted teaching small minds that love is no sin."
Paisley argued that the video is "not fair comment" on the Catholic position on homosexuality, however, with the church traditionally defining marriage solely as a union between one man and one woman.
"It is ridiculing and demeaning the faith of ordinary Catholics, especially at a time when Catholics are experiencing more and more abuse and prejudice in Scotland," the bishop said, referring to the rise of religiously aggravated hate crimes in Scotland.
"The BBC has to be careful," he added. "It has to ask itself if it has ceased to be a broadcaster in the public interest, and is just promoting particular interests."
"You cannot imagine it treating any other religion like this."
While the Catholic Church remains firm in its stance on marriage, much controversy has surrounded two other major Scottish church denominations and their approach to the issue.
In May 2017, the Very Rev. Iain Torrance, who convenes the Church of Scotland's Theological Forum, told the General Assembly that the church lacks a theological reason to continue opposing same-sex marriage.
The Rev. Dale London, a minister who is opposed to the idea of allowing gay marriage in church, however, said that the homosexual activity is "contrary to the Word of God ... it is sinful. ... We cannot call good what God has called evil."
A month later, the Scottish Episcopal Church became the first major U.K. church to approve of gay marriage, going against the Anglican majority which only supports traditional marriage.
The BBC video on homophobia can be watched below:
