A Methodist Bible faculty within the U.Okay. fired a Christian theologian and threatened to report him as a terrorist due to his tweets in opposition to homosexuality, his attorneys claimed.
Dr. Aaron Edwards, who taught theology at Cliff Faculty in Derbyshire, England, was dismissed from the varsity after being accused of “bringing the faculty into disrepute” on social media final month.
“Homosexuality is invading the church,” Edwards tweeted on Feb. 19. “Evangelicals now not see the severity of this [because] they’re busy apologizing for his or her apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not or not it is true.
“This *is* a ‘Gospel subject,’ by the way in which. If sin is now not sin, we now not want a Savior,” Edwards added.
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Edwards’ tweet went viral and prompted blowback, to which Edwards responded: “That *is* the conservative view. The acceptance of homosexuality as ‘not sinful’ *is* an invasion upon the Church, doctrinally. This isn’t controversial. The acceptance is controversial. Many of the international Church would agree. It isn’t homophobic to declare homosexuality sinful.”
“I expressed the conservative view as a doctrinal subject, re. the implications for sin/the Gospel. It was not an assault on people, it was addressed to evangelicals. Evidently holding the view that homosexuality is sinful is just welcome if it stays ‘unexpressed,'” he added.
Dr. Aaron Edwards, who taught theology at Cliff Faculty in Derbyshire, England, was dismissed from the varsity after being accused of “bringing the faculty into disrepute” on social media in opposition to homosexuality. (Christian Concern)
Edwards’ tweets reportedly precipitated “misery” amongst members of the Methodist Church in Britain, with one senior workers member saying they “might be extraordinarily damaging” and “influence the faculty’s core work” and “marketing strategy,” in accordance with Edwards’ authorized counsel on the London-based Christian Authorized Centre.
Edwards was suspended from the varsity pending an investigation and the faculty revealed throughout a disciplinary listening to on March 8 that it was contemplating referring him to Forestall, which polices allegations of terrorism within the U.Okay.
Edwards was reportedly requested in the course of the listening to what he would do if he have been requested to wish with a pupil about their same-sex attraction, which he believes was an try and lure him into affirming “conversion remedy,” which the U.Okay. Parliament has debated criminalizing.
“The response to my tweet and the unjust remedy I’ve skilled by Cliff Faculty and the Methodist Church in Britain fully illustrates the issue my tweet addressed,” Edwards stated in a press release offered to Fox Information Digital.
Cliff Faculty in Derbyshire, England, allegedly fired Dr. Aaron Edwards and threatened to report him as a terrorist due to his tweets in opposition to homosexuality. (Google Maps)
“The tweet was not defamatory; it was not an assault on any colleague or particular person; it was not abusive; and it was not an extremist spiritual view. It was addressed to evangelicals as some extent of doctrine, and it has been misunderstood by many who want to trigger private and institutional hassle for individuals who specific that view,” he continued.
Edwards added that conventional Christian beliefs about sexuality are being “silenced and stamped out” within the Methodist Church.
Edwards’ case comes amid a world rift amongst Methodists over the difficulty of homosexuality and homosexual clergy, which has led to many congregations within the U.S. leaving the mainline denomination. (AP Photograph / Sid Hastings / File)
With the help of the Christian Authorized Centre, Edwards is weighing his authorized choices in opposition to Cliff Faculty for potential discrimination beneath the Equality Act 2010. He’s claiming that the disciplinary process lacked “requisite equity” and that the investigation was prejudiced and crammed with an “astonishing” imbalance, exaggeration and misrepresentation.
Cliff Faculty didn’t reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark by time of publication.
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Edwards’ case comes amid a rising rift amongst Methodists globally over the difficulty of same-sex marriage and gender. The United Methodist Church within the U.S. has been hemorrhaging congregations lately, with lots of them becoming a member of the brand new conservative World Methodist Church.
