UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today
James Macintyre 08 February 2017
A new alleged victim of abuse by John Smyth, the former QC at the centre of claims about sadism and beatings towards Christian youth in the 1970s, has said that the same culture of homophobia still exists in “mainstream Christian fundamentalism”.
The man has come forward to The Guardian newspaper claiming that he was encouraged to self-harm by Smyth as a way of ridding himself of “sinful” homosexual yearnings.
As a schoolboy he was instructed to “do anything to give myself pain” amid “frightening and blunt” warnings homosexuality which drove him into “a dark place”, the paper reported.
Now in his 50s, ‘David’, which is not his real name, said that Smyth’s narrow theology and lack of compassion can still be found in today’s Church of England.
He said that Smyth’s “brand of Christianity” and “literalistic interpretation of scripture” still thrived in the Church.
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