Blasphemous Play

Back in November 2015 a blasphemous production was shown as part of the Queer Arts Festival in Belfast.
Below is the content of correspondence sent to the five public bodies that funded this vile event. 

We write on behalf of the Government and Morals Committee of the Free Presbyterian Church to express our outrage that public money has been used to fund a blasphemy against our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Committee felt it needed to express protest at the blasphemy in the play, "The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven" performed on November 15 at the Outburst Queer Arts Festival in Belfast. In this play the Lord Jesus Christ is portrayed as a transsexual. The preview of the play on the Outburst festival website described how in the play there is a "revolutionary queer ritual in which bread is shared, wine is drunk and familiar stories are re-imagined by a transgender Jesus."

The Bible reveals Christ as the "King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s" and the eternal "Son of God" and the title "Queen of Heaven" is only used in the Bible in the book of Jeremiah to describe a heathen goddess whom God condemned.

Furthermore the Bible teaches that homosexuality and transgender activities are sinful. Among those that 1Corinthians 6:9-10 informs us shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven unless they repent are the “effeminate” and the word is almost certainly a reference to homosexual prostitutes who dressed as women.

We do know that God has made us male and female in his own image. In Genesis 1:26, the Bible says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Maleness and femaleness are God’s choice, determined at conception. This may not be politically correct but this is the historic teaching of Christianity. Therefore Jo Clifford the playwright must have known that his play would cause offence. Indeed it would be our belief, although we know that the playwright denies it that the play was written with the intention of causing offence. It has certainly done that because many evangelical Christians and others from other communities have been outraged at this play.

Your organization/department has been involved in funding this play. Did you know beforehand that this play was part of what you were funding?

If you did not, would due diligence not have obliged you to have found out?

Under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act public bodies have obligations relating to promoting good relations between people of different religious beliefs, ethnic origins, and political opinions.

Surely funding the LGBT lobby to portray the Son of God as something other than who He is does nothing to promote good relations. Indeed we contend that you have funded the LGBT lobby to make a mockery of Christ.

Christians do not react as some Muslims do to such a blasphemy (ie with violence) but does that mean we are fair game?

We feel the mockery of our Saviour just as much as they do their revered figures, but we are not a violent people. However we do demand that government and government funded organisations do not facilitate and promote attacks upon our Saviour.

I think the least that should be done is that funding to this festival be reviewed and that they be asked to repay the money they were given to produce and promote something of deep offence to Christians.

Yours Faithfully

David McLaughlin (Rev)
Gordon Dane (Rev)