Ulster Presbyterians were among the most enlightened people in Ireland but have stepped back into the Dark Ages

The Scottish planters who arrived in Ulster in the 17th century were mostly Presbyterian, a reformed church governed by elected assemblies of elders or presbyters (from the Greek word '˜presbyteros' meaning senior or elder).
Brian McClinton, the editor of Irish FreethinkerBrian McClinton, the editor of Irish Freethinker
Brian McClinton, the editor of Irish Freethinker

As J.C. Beckett suggests in The Making of Modern Ireland, a greater part of both Antrim and Down were transformed into ‘a sort of extension of the Scottish lowlands’.

Scottish Presbyterianism was founded by John Knox who in 1560, with five other ministers, drew up a Confession of Faith which was passed by the Scottish Parliament.

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It condemned the Catholic Church as the ‘kirk malignant’ and denounced the celebration of the mass as a blasphemy.

Ulster Presbyterians attacked Cromwell’s toleration laws in 1649 in A Necessary Presentation as ‘an innovation overturning of unity in religion, and directly repugnant to the word of God’. John Milton’s ire was raised.

What particularly annoyed him was that these ‘blockish Presbyters’ from ‘a barbarous nook of Ireland’ were daring to “brand us with the extirpation of laws and liberties; things which they seem as little to understand as aught that belongs to good letters or humanity”.

In the late 18th century a more liberal wing of the Presbyterian Church emerged. Indeed, Belfast Presbyterians were among the most enlightened people in Ireland and played a leading part in the foundation of the United Irishmen. Samuel Neilson, William Drennan, Henry Joy McCracken, Thomas McCabe and Henry Monro were all born Presbyterians; indeed, both Neilson and Drennan were sons of Presbyterian ministers.

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This more progressive moment didn’t last. When Henry Cooke in 1835 persuaded the General Synod of Ulster to make subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), which defined the pope as the ‘Antichrist’, compulsory for all ministers and elders, he was re-establishing Puritanism at the heart of Presbyterianism after a period of relative freedom in the previous fifty years.

Since then, while there have been periodic shifts towards liberalism, the reactionary faction has generally dominated. The creation of the Free Presbyterian Church in 1951 under Iain Paisley moved the main church further backwards in order to compete with Paisley’s louder voice.

At its annual meeting in Belfast, the ‘blockish presbyters’ decided to reaffirm ‘traditional values’ in the face of trends in the wider society. They voted for a new policy that anyone in a same-sex relationship cannot be a full member of the church and their children cannot be baptised.

The church also voted to loosen its affiliation with the Church of Scotland over its stance on same-sex relationships which allows partners in same-sex relationships to serve as ministers or deacons in congregations that approve of it.

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By 255 votes to 171 it also voted to stop inviting Scottish Moderators to the Irish General Assembly, and refused to send the Irish Moderator to the Scottish Assembly. These isolationist measures have been described as a ‘theological brexit’ from the church of which Irish Presbyterians were a 17th century off-shoot.

Clearly, Irish Presbyterianism has stepped back into the Dark Ages.

It has become a cold house for gays. In fact, Presbyterians should put up a notice in every church door: “homosexuals need not apply”.

The church claims that its position on marriage and human relationships is based on the teachings of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. The New Testament “unambiguously regards homosexuality as contrary to nature, understood as God’s created order”.

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This is fundamentalism gone mad. It is also based on ignorance. Homosexuality is common throughout nature. Most liberated Christians also know that not everything in the Bible should be taken literally. In Leviticus you are forbidden to wear clothes made of both linen and wool and you mustn’t plant more than one kind of seed in a field. And you are forbidden to eat shellfish or pork. These prohibitions show that the Bible is of its time but certainly not for all time.

To forbid the baptism of gay children seems both odd and cruel. Ministers baptise thousands of children of heterosexual parents who have no intention of bring them up as faithful Christians, yet they must deny it to those who want to do so because they happen to be gay. And why do they baptise the children of divorcees when ‘Holy Scripture’ expressly forbids divorce. As Jesus says, what God has joined together, let no man put asunder”.

Repeatedly, those who support these measures against gays say that they love them and welcome them to attend services so long as they are not practising. That’s like saying that we welcome motorists so long as they don’t drive a car. It’s ridiculous. Is that what Jesus really meant when he said: “love thy neighbour as thyself”?

The criticisms of these decisions as intolerant, narrow-minded and backward-looking are increasing daily.

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Several prominent Presbyterians have resigned from the church, already struggling with numbers, down from 370,000 in 1975 to 210,000 today. Of course, like martyrs of old, the reactionaries will stand their narrow ground.

Indeed, they may go further and make the ordination of women the next target.

Alas, the DUP are not the only dinosaurs on display in Northern Ireland’s jurassic park.

• Brian McClinton is editor of Irish Freethinker

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