The Alpha Course and homophobia

[user1469485133]

Hi,

My friend has just started going to The Alpha Course and asked if I wanted to go along one Sunday. She's Romanian and was raised in religion but basically broke away.
I'm openly lesbian and not religious, and have read about Alpha. What I've read has left me not feeling good towards the general jist of the course.
To be honest, I'm worried about her and am concerned that our relationship/friendship will change. As far as I can see, The Alpha Course is homophobic.
It's possible that my friend has explored the idea of being attracted to women, although she dates men.

I'd like to know others experience of this - especially those in the LGBT arena.

Thanks!

"No thankyou, my sexuality is directly at odds with the courses teachings, I don't think I'd feel comfortable there"

And see if she changes, I have had lesbian relationships yet I'm Catholic raised and although I don't actively go to church or feel like a Catholic anymore I still believe in God and pray.

She may take some things and leave others.

My understanding - and I hasten to add it’s not first hand knowledge - is that they would not actively discriminate or shun a friendship on that basis, albeit they would be clear about their teaching being that it is not something the scriptures would approve of. However there is a strong emphasis on love and acceptance. I wouldn’t worry about your friendship. If you want to influence her beliefs though, that might create more tension.

God (ironic expression!) no.

"Like the sinner, hate the sin."

I can't think of a worse phrase frankly.

I'm not gay, and I am actually religious, but I wouldn't have a thing to do with Alpha and I wouldn't happily stand by if my teenagers/young adults wanted to do it either.

"Love the sinner". No idea why my auto type changed it to like 🤷🏻‍♀️

Really appreciate the responses to this so far.

Maybe it just sits uncomfortably with me.
'Like the sinner, hate the sin'....tell me more

Sorry I'm not familiar with how to reply to someones response...so
XmasMunkeh it's interesting to me that you have had lesbian relationships and be religious. How does that feel for you? Did it create tension in your mind, or did you feel at peace with it?

It's supposed to be "love the sinner, hate the sin" and it's what evangelical Christians espouse to try and prove they really aren't discriminating against people who are gay.

It's utter crap though.

If you put this in the Religion topic you might get some more people who've done the Alpha course. I did it years ago and I honestly can't remember anything homophobic. The woman who ran the one I attended is not someone who would be happy with anything homophobic.

Jesus welcomes everyone!

Alpha course has got nothing to do with lgbt, Christian belief is that being gay isn’t Gods design, you can feel free to disagree with that, but it’s an opinion that is as valid as yours is. The alpha course is the basics of Christian belief relating to core doctrines and doesn’t mention anything about gay people

I was raised Catholic and didn't like it. Not had much to do with tue church, I find the people judgemental and I find it hard to think about the abuses of power.

But that what it comes down to for me, the corruption of man. The desire for man to twist and manipulate for their own gains.

So I don't go to church but I talk to God directly.

He created me as I am and I don't believe he thinks homosexuality is a sin. I believe men have decided that on his behalf and no one can judge me but him.

Jazzjazzjazz...well Nicky Gumbel has been noted saying that gay people are the same as paedophiles, so that's where I have that information from. He is the leader of Alpha so his views are limiting and influencing the course.

Thank you for helping me to understand. I'm genuinely interested in this.

The Methodists disagree with you 😁 in case you want just one example of religious people who aren't homophobes.

I don’t remember Alpha having any teaching on sexuality. Many liberal churches use it.

There’s not a homophobic word in Alpha anywhere.

The only time it talks about sex of any
kind is to say that marriage and commitment are great and sex within that is the best. Genders aren’t mentioned.

The C of E flatly refuses to condemn anyone LGBT and even the Pope (Catholic) won’t.

So anyone who tries it on, OP, is using religion as an excuse for hate. Oldest trick in the book. Send them packing.

The alpha course doesn't usually specifically cover LGBT issues but it can vary from church to church as it's a resource pack that can be adapted to context. However it is popular among the kinds of churches that are homophobic.

More liberal churches that are members of the Inclusive Church movement and will say that Jesus didn't say one single word about homosexuality in any of the gospels but was rather adamant that no one gets excluded, will tend to use different courses for explorers to learn about Christianity - but some may use the Alpha resourses adapting them to emphasise inclusivity. If you are interested, go to https://www.inclusive-church.org/ and look up the church that is running this course. If they are on there then the course your friend is doing is probably safe. If not then you could find the nearest church that is part of that network and nudge her towards that instead.

Interesting article here. It’s so much more complicated than simply ‘homophobic or not’.

www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/12-january/news/uk/htb-s-allies-alarmed-by-bid-to-resist-same-sex-blessings

I’ve done the Alpha course. The evening about Sin makes it all pretty clear… that’s when the gay man in my group never came back.
basically I remember them saying that the Bible makes it crystal clear. Pre marital sex is a sin. Any sex outside marriage is a sin. Being homosexual is not a sin but any homosexual act is a sin. If you sin you go to hell. Only God, and Jesus, can take sin away if you give you life to him.
cue the worship singing and everybody cries.
In the small groups, when you have your one and a half chocolate digestive biscuit, you talk about it some more.
At the time I went through the course it was advertised as “a place to ask questions”. I never found that. I was told repeatedly that “this isn’t theological college” and “we can find someone to help you with your questions” which felt like a threat.
The Holy Spirit weekend, at a Pontins camp outside Lowestoft, was memorable. I never understood the calling of the Holy Spirit, why do we need to call it when it came to us at Pentecost. Why the fuss and wailing? Then the praying for donations.
Why did we need to give our lives to Christ when any Christian believes that we are all the children of God?
My group leaders were a couple and the group was half already committed members of the church, I found out as the weeks went by…
my group leader told me once he thought he understood why I was so interested in religion and the Bible but I hadn’t given my life to Christ… this could be the devil working in me. Evidence of this was that I had been to see a horror movie.
I still think about it all. A lot.
in some ways I wish I was not such a questioning person and could just have accepted it all.
I would suggest that after the talk on sin you might not feel so welcome…
in this part of London there are other Anglican parishes who welcome a more diverse community. I don’t really understand how the Church of England has such varying doctrine and practices. I suppose Alpha is the money making wing, as well as all the outreach/ charity work they do?
A broad church, indeed

Yikes, the Sin one! No one mentioned anything specific where I was - the course doesn’t - but the man next to me started talking about The Devil.

I concentrated on the shortbread.

Being homosexual is not a sin but any homosexual act is a sin

Is this your first day in hell?
Yeah, what you here for?
Oh I was a child serial killer, you?
I'm a lesbian who lived an exemplary life, loved my wife, worked hard, did good in the community loved my children and cared for all those in my life.

I did the Alpha course as moral support for my friend that was running it. I was not a Christian before or after it, if that makes the difference.

The Alpha course I did didn't mention sexuality at all. If it had I would have challenged it.

I'd suggest going along to support your friend and you can discuss it properly if it does come up.

I think this point is important - that if you reject “ Alpha course types” for their beliefs it really isn’t any different from people being homophobic. What’s wrong with “ love the religious person, hate the religion?” (though I doubt they do “ hate the sin”). It’s really a bit two-faced to shun people because of religious beliefs yet talk about them being intolerant and discriminatory. It always stuns me how short-sighted people’s logic can be on that.

This is what SOME Christians believe. The rest of us are not homophobic.

Whilst the Alpha course may not actively say or teach anything homophobic they feed into evangelical churches that very much do. I’ve had relatives sucked into this - had to leave one of my dn’s christenings because the sermon may as well’ ve been hate speech from my pov. My personal experience is those inclined towards Alpha are often the least Christian in their actions.