MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA – The Salvation Army of Australia has issued an apology after an official told a radio interviewer that he agrees with Biblical punishments against homosexuality, including the death penalty. On Thursday, Major Andrew Craibe appeared on a Melbourne gay radio station to encourage donations for the organization’s charitable works. The appearance was scheduled after Darren Hayes, the lead singer of pop band Savage Garden, called for a boycott because of the charity’s views on homosexuality.
Hayes is openly gay, and in a civil partnership with his British partner. When the interviewer asked Craibe to defend the section of the organization’s “Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine” which cites the declaration in Romans 1:18-32 that homosexuals deserve death, Craibe responded, “That’s a part of our belief system.”
“We have an alignment to the scriptures,” he said, adding, “That is part of our Christian doctrine and that’s our understanding of that.” Under Salvation Army rules, practicing homosexuals are prohibited from becoming full members.
About homosexuality, the Biblical Book of Romans states that “those who do such things deserve death.” Craibe noted that homosexuals can choose to be celibate if they wish to become full members, something he compared to his choice to abstain from alcohol.
“The Salvation Army sincerely apologizes to all members of the [LGBT] community and to all our clients, employees, volunteers, and those who are part of our faith communities for the offence caused by this miscommunication,” the Salvation Army’s Communications and Public Relations Secretary for the Eastern Territory of Victoria wrote in a statement.