margaret court

Margaret Court, pastor of Victory Life Centre, a Pentecostal church in Perth, has been extremely vocal about LGBTQ people and their relationships. This was particularly true during Australia’s agonising marriage equality debate. One of her most infamous efforts was an open letter to the CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce, stating that she would no longer fly with the airline because of their support for same-sex marriage. Alan Joyce, who’d been with his partner Shane Lloyd, for nearly two decades, had joined a growing number of Australian CEOs who’d publicly committed their companies to the YES vote.

It was rather amusing that Ms Court had not considered that Australia’s other major airline, Virgin Australia, had made the same commitment, and whatever airline she flew, homosexual men served her needs.

Ms Court has repeatedly stated her opposition to LGBTQ people is based on her unswerving belief in the infallibility of the Bible.

“All my life I’ve had those views and I was just saying what the Bible says,” she told Australian Associated Press. “I should always be able to say my views biblically, being a pastor and helping people with marriages and family. And I’ll never change those views.”[1]

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“I run a church and I teach what the bible says and that’s my beliefs and I standby that.” she told the Sydney Morning Herald. [2]

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“I am disappointed that Qantas has become an active promoter for same-sex marriage,” Court, who lives in Perth, said in the letter published in the West Australian newspaper. “I believe in marriage as a union between a man and a woman as stated in the Bible. [3]

If Margaret Court is so committed to Biblical truth, one has to wonder what she does with verses like 1 Timothy 2:11-12, where the apostle Paul instructs his young protege about the faith and how to run a church.

“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.” 1 Timothy 2:11-12 

Christian fundamental believers, like Evangelicals and Pentecostals, have always had a clever knack of quoting verses that align with their preconceived ideas and prejudices, yet ignore others that are challenging or don’t fit. It’s called cherry-picking.

I’m not sure it really works that way….do you?

READ THIS. Man shall not lie with a man.

Margaret Court

[1] https://apnews.com/article/australia-media-victoria-marriage-tennis-499b778518522ab0b5e17afd1941dd60

[2] https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/margaret-court-to-be-recognised-in-australia-day-honours-20210122-p56w2y.html

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/may/25/margaret-court-vows-to-stop-flying-qantas-over-marriage-equality-stance