An Irish college has pulled a worksheet from use, after the assignment spurred outrage over its portrayal of a specific Bible verse concerning homosexuals and heaven.
Hunterhouse College, located in Ireland’s capital Belfast, had handed out a Religious Studies worksheet concerning Bible verses 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11, according to BBC News .
The Bible verses were printed for reference on the worksheet, and included the following wording.
“Do not fool yourselves; people who are immoral or who worship idols or are adulterers or homosexual perverts or who steal or are greedy or are drunkards or who slander others or are thieves – none of these will possess God’s Kingdom.”
The verses were accompanied by three questions, which asked the following questions.
What do these verses tell us about homosexuals?
Who else is included with homosexuals?
What hope is there for all these people?
Andrew Gibson, the principal of the girl’s college, attempted to explain the purpose of the worksheet, according to the Belfast Telegraph .
“This is in the introduction to Christian ethics centred around personal and family issues, Gibson said. “As part of this, pupils are encouraged to consider a variety of attitudes to homosexuality.”
Gibson went on to clarify that the Bible worksheet was not intended to leave the classroom, and therefore the college “got it wrong” when it allowed it to be taken home by students. Hunterhouse College has stated that it has an “ethos of inclusivity,” and that their curriculum encourages viewpoints from both pro- and anti-gay ideologies.
Richard O’Leary, of the Church of Ireland pro-gay group Changing Attitude Ireland, said he was “surprised at the Bible translation the school used, which is not one of the accepted translations.”
Gavin Boyd, of a group called the Rainbow Project, was understanding of the college’s mistake, but still expressed concern about the possible effect on students.
“If any LGB child was sitting in that class and asked to list a bunch of people to associate with themselves including drunks and all these licentious people, it’s horrible,” Boyd said.
There are other recent examples of the controversy regarding the Bible in connection with education. The Inquisitr reported this week about the Oklahoma’s Mustang School District, which was considering a trial run of a Bible study course championed by Hobby Lobby president Steve Green. However, the school district scrapped the course when groups such as the atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation protested against the curriculum.
Do you think the Hunterhouse College worksheet about the spiritual fate of homosexuals is an accurate interpretation of scripture?
[Image via The Guardian]