The Old Times

Thinking About Your Audience

11th March 2026

Task 1: Create your own audience profile.

Clobbered by the Bible – Target Audience

In essence, this project is mission driven and – as I said in class last week – the motivation is largely personal and comes from a desire to share a message that I believe to be true which is simply based in my view that if we are, indeed, all made in the image of God then there is no room for the exclusion of people on the basis of sexuality or gender identity. Period. No exceptions. No exclusion.

My own theological position is that the Bible itself is one document in the story of life and faith, I don’t believe that God – if there is a God or Gods – would have spoken once two or three thousand years ago and that that is an end. My own feeling is that the nature of God is much more complex than the traditional image and that he/she/they are wider than the human imagination and as a result no-one can be included in ‘the kingdom’ if ANYONE is denied entry.

Therefore, the target audience I have described in the graphic above is in a sense, retro-fitted to my own experience and understanding of God and this project and my own view that those who wish to exclude people in the interests of their own position or power have manipulated texts – which are written by human rather than celestial hands and were collated in the interest of Roman Emperors – to suit their own narrative of exclusion and to be inclusive only of those acceptable to the powerful.  

Task 2: Continue work on your project, working on your production pack

Equipment list

• A printed copy of the script
• Scotch tape to stick it to the tripod
• A tripod
• A copy of the Bible
• Samsung S24 Mobile phone
• Coffee and biscuits
• Bicycle for getting around locations

Visual asset creation

• I have started to film Chapter One and it is currently being edited as I work through a Premiere Pro training course!
• Chapter One will be longer than Chapters Two and Three – this is because I have decided to include an introduction which gives background to the subject so that the series is accessible to those who have no prior knowledge of the subject or interest in ‘religion’.

Audio asset creation

• I hope to include a theme tune and some appropriate sound effects and music to add to the production quality of my videos but I haven’t learned how to do this effectively yet so this is a work in progress!

8^th March – Script Review

I decided to refocus slightly from the ‘1946’ translation and back to the Clobber Passages more directly. I think that this enables a stronger story narrative that can involve my own position as a Lay Minister in the Church of England – and the decision of the Bishops taken in February 2026 to end the ‘Living in Love and Faith’ process – this was designed to support greater (and some of us hoped full) acceptance and affirmation of LGBTQ+ people within the church. No such luck!

This will require a review of the story board as I plan to begin filming on 10^th March so this will be the final change to the narrative focus.

CLOBBERED BY THE BIBLE

Chapter One – The Weapon and the Word

OPENING

[Outside or inside a Church building.]

“In February 2026, the Church of England formally brought the Living in Love and Faith process to an end – Living in Love and Faith – LLF – began in 2017 as a way to engage with changing views on sexuality, relationships and marriage. It led to Church’s governing body – the General Synod -approving “Prayers of Love and Faith”, blessings for same-sex couples within regular services in February 2023.

Progressives and many clergy backed the process as a path toward fuller affirmation of LGBTQ+ relationships. Opponents – some might use the words extremists or homophobes – argued it undermined Scripture and traditional marriage doctrine.

The Bishops ultimately concluded that standalone same-sex blessing services would not be possible since the Church’s official doctrine defines marriage as between a man and a woman. General Synod voted 252 to 132 to halt the process in February 2026, with new working groups commissioned to continue exploring the issues and by kicking the can down the road, they have satisfied almost nobody.

The headlines talked about ‘prayers of blessing’ and ‘pastoral provision’, but underneath the careful language many of us heard a familiar message:

You can belong here, but only on certain terms.
You can serve, but not be fully affirmed.
You can exist, but not quite as equals.

This series is my attempt to tell another story. Now, I’m not a theologian or a biblical scholar, I’m just an ordinary Christian and a human being who believes that life BEFORE death is more important than life after death. And so, I want to do my bit – as my great hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it – do your little bit of good where you are and that way we will change the world …

So welcome to Clobbered by The Bible – it’s about the so‑called ‘clobber passages’, just six or seven verses of the Bible out of more than 10,000 that have been used by many in the Church to justify half‑measures and exclusions, inspiring prejudice and hatred – including for many shame and internalised homophobia.

We’ll walk through them one by one and ask: is this really what they say, and does it really justify the way we treat LGBTQ+ people in our churches? For further context, scholars say that there are more than 600 laws in the Old Testament alone – here are a few examples:

• Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material (Leviticus 19:19). The runaway favourite because virtually everyone watching this documentary is wearing a poly-cotton blend at this exact moment.
• Men must not have long hair, it is a disgrace (1 Corinthians 11:14). The comedy writes itself: every Renaissance painting, every church window, every crucifix in existence depicts Jesus with flowing locks.
• Anyone who works on the Sabbath shall be put to death (Exodus 31:15; Numbers 15:32–36)  Hopefully that makes you feel sorry for the folks at Tesco next weekend.
• A man who refuses to marry his dead brother’s widow shall have his sandal publicly removed and she shall spit in his face (Deuteronomy 25:7–10). The sandal-removal is humiliating enough. The spitting feels personal.
• Soldiers must carry a spade and bury their excrement outside camp, because God walks among the camp and must not see anything indecent (Deuteronomy 23:12–13). The implication that the Almighty is fine with the wholesale slaughter of entire cities but draws the line at a whiffy loo.
• Do not set up a stone pillar as a memorial (Deuteronomy 16:22)

All of these are verbatim scripture, all sit in the same texts as the clobber passages, but none are enforced by anyone.

And yet, queer people are excluded on the basis of just six. And while we are here, this is what Jesus himself had to say about homosexuality:

NOTHING!

My qualifications, well, I’m someone on the inside. I’m an Authorised Lay Minister, I wear the robes, I preach the sermons, I lead the prayers. And I am also a queer person who has sat in the pews and heard these clobber passages used to explain why people like me can never be fully welcomed.

Welcome to you all, especially those who’ve been ‘Clobbered by the Bible’

SECTION 1 – THE CLOBBER PASSAGES

When our bishops issue careful statements and pastoral guidance, they rarely quote every text out loud. But the clobber passages sit in the background like loaded weapons.

Genesis 19. Leviticus 18 and 20. Romans 1. 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Timothy 1. These verses are the unspoken ‘evidence’ behind policies that bless relationships with one hand and withhold full acceptance with the other. I’ve lived with those passages hanging over me as a Christian and a Lay Minister. So in this chapter, I want to begin with two of the most frequently cited New Testament texts: 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1.

SECTION 2 – 1 CORINTHIANS 6 & 1 TIMOTHY 1

[Bible close‑up.]

In 1 Corinthians 6, Saint Paul lists wrongdoers who ‘will not inherit the kingdom of God’. In many English Bibles used in our pews, that list includes ‘homosexuals’ or ‘those who practice homosexuality’.

In 1 Timothy 1, another vice list is sometimes translated to include ‘sodomites’ or ‘those who practice homosexuality’, squeezed in between murderers, slave traders and liars.

These verses have quietly underpinned decades of teaching that says: ‘We can’t fully affirm queer people, because Scripture is clear.’ The clobber passages become the theological justification for the Church’s refusal to offer unambiguous, equal welcome.”

SECTION 3 – THE 1946 THREAD (NOT THE CENTRE)

“In the original Greek, Paul doesn’t use a word that means ‘homosexuals’ as we understand that term today. He uses two rare terms: malakoi and arsenokoitai.

Malakoi literally means ‘soft’ – used at times as an insult for moral weakness or for younger men kept by powerful patrons in exploitative relationships.
Arsenokoitai is even rarer. Many scholars think it refers to people who exploit others sexually or economically – abusers, traffickers, those who treat bodies as property.

In the mid‑twentieth century, a major English translation chose, for the first time, to merge these tricky words into the modern identity label ‘homosexuals’. That decision, explored in the documentary 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture, has heavily influenced the Bibles we read in our pews and the way ministers talk about ‘biblical teaching’.

I’m not saying that one translation choice explains everything. But it matters that the clobber passages we lean on in debate are themselves the products of particular historical moments, fears and blind spots. They are not as straightforward as our statements often imply.

SECTION 4 – PERSONAL NOTE & BRIDGE

Over the years, I have attended many different churches in a variety of denominations and traditions – generally we’re expected to uphold the Church’s teaching, even when that teaching sends mixed messages about one’s own life and the lives of people like me. Like many others I’ve had to sit with these passages and ask: are they really saying what is claimed? Or have we turned difficult, context‑bound texts into absolute barriers that suit those already homophobic?

In the rest of this series, we’ll look at how that same dynamic plays out with Sodom, Leviticus and Romans. My hope is not to tear Scripture down, but to free it from the uses that have clobbered LGBTQ+ people and kept us at the edges of the church’s love.

For now, I simply want to say: the clobber passages that defend the status quo in the Church of England are not as clear, or as simple, as we’ve been told.”

Join me for Chapter 2 of Clobbered by The Bible when we’ll take a trip to Sodom and Gomorrah – thought to have been located in modern Jordan – when we’ll look at the story behind the threats.

Chapter Two – Sodom, Shellfish and the Holiness Code (in an Anglican frame)

[Open in or outside a parish church; maybe near a heavy wooden door or stone arch.]

SECTION 1 – SODOM: THE STORY BEHIND THE THREAT

“In the church, Sodom and Gomorrah hovers in the background. People don’t always quote the chapter and verse, but they invoke the idea: ‘We can’t risk becoming like Sodom.’

Many of us have heard the line, explicitly or implicitly: ‘God destroyed a city because of homosexuality.’ That anxiety feeds into outright discrimination, cautious policies, delayed decisions, and the fear that fully affirming queer people would put us on the wrong side of God’s judgement.

So let’s actually look at the story.”

[Cut to Bible close‑up – Genesis 19.]

“In Genesis 19, two strangers arrive in Sodom. Lot offers them hospitality. That night, a mob surrounds the house and demands that the visitors be brought out to be raped.

This is not a passage about a loving same‑sex relationship. It’s a story about attempted gang rape, humiliation and the violent abuse of strangers.

And the Bible itself tells us what Sodom’s sin really was.”

[Back to you.]

“In Ezekiel 16:49 we read: ‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.’

Pride, greed, neglect of the vulnerable.

When we use Sodom as a silent threat to justify half‑welcomes in the Church of England, we are not following Scripture closely. The clobber passage here is not a divine example of God hating queer people. It’s a warning about communities that crush the vulnerable and abuse those seeking shelter.

SECTION 2 – LEVITICUS: WHY THESE VERSES, BUT NOT THOSE?

Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 are the other Old Testament clobber passages that lurk beneath our debates. They describe a man lying with a man ‘as with a woman’ as an ‘abomination’.

These lines are often cited when people in church say, ‘We must uphold biblical standards of holiness.’

But these verses live inside the holiness code – a collection of laws given to shape Israel’s identity in contrast to surrounding nations. In the same sections, we find commands about which animals to eat, which fabrics to wear, and how to trim our beards.

The Hebrew word translated ‘abomination’ is toʿevah. It frequently refers to ritual taboos, particularly linked to idolatry and worship. It signals what is ritually off‑limits in that system, not who is unlovable to God.

In practice, the Church happily sets aside most of this code. We bless people wearing mixed fibres. We do not check for prawns in the chancel, we even allow clergy with neatly trimmed beards.

Yet we cling to the verses about male same‑sex acts as if they were unique and timeless. Those two verses are then used to rationalise our unwillingness to offer full acceptance to LGBTQ+ people.

SECTION 3 – THREADING BACK TO TRANSLATION AND POWER

When we add this to what we saw in Chapter One, a pattern emerges. Translational choices, selective use of ancient law codes, and cultural fears have combined to create a powerful story: that the Bible clearly demands the permanent marginalisation of queer people.

That story has been written into pastoral guidance, synod debates and cautious press releases.

But Sodom is about violence and injustice, not Pride marches.
Leviticus is about ritual boundary‑markers, not your girlfriend, boyfriend or non‑binary partner sitting quietly in a pew.

The clobber passages do not say what we have trained them to say. And if they do not, then our structures of exclusion in the Church rest on very shaky ground.

SECTION 4 – BRIDGE TO ROMANS AND BEYOND

In our final chapter, we’ll look at Romans 1 – perhaps the most frequently quoted clobber passage in Anglican debates – and then step back to ask what kind of church we could be if we stopped using these texts to justify half‑hearted hospitality.

What does it mean, in this denomination, to say that queer people are made in the image of God and loved without condition? And what would our policies look like if we truly believed that?”

Chapter Three – Romans and a Sermon for Queer Christians

[Open in the brightest, most welcoming space you can find – perhaps the nave flooded with daylight, or near the communion table.]

SECTION 1 – ROMANS 1 AND OUR ANGLICAN ANXIETIES

Romans 1:26–27 is perhaps the most quoted clobber passage in Church of England debates:

‘Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another…’

For many, this is the final obstacle: ‘Paul clearly condemns homosexuality. How can we possibly bless or affirm queer relationships?’

Romans 1 needs to be read in context.

Paul is describing a society that has turned away from the living God towards idols. He sketches a world in which power, status and domination shape everything – including sex. In that world, bodies are used without consent; enslaved people have no say; religious and political elites indulge in exploitative practices.

When Paul talks about ‘exchanging natural relations’, he is not describing a modern person recognising their sexuality and seeking a faithful, loving partnership. He is talking about people abandoning their own norms in the context of idolatry and excess.

Romans 1 is a critique of dehumanising systems, not of queer Christians seeking to love God and one another with integrity.”

SECTION 2 – STEPPING BACK FROM THE CLOBBER TEXTS

Across this series we’ve seen:

• Sodom’s sin named as arrogance and neglect of the poor, not queer love.
• Leviticus’ ‘abominations’ embedded in a ritual code we already treat selectively.
• 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy relying on obscure words about exploitation, later translated as ‘homosexuals’.
• Romans 1 addressing idolatry, abuse and status, not consensual queer relationships.

The clobber passages do not provide the clear mandate the Church claims when it withholds full acceptance and affirmation from LGBTQ+ people.

If our policies, statements and compromises are built on these texts as weapons, then we have been wielding Scripture in ways that distort its meaning and damage our siblings in Christ.”

SECTION 3 – A SHORT SERMON TO CLOSE THE SERIES

[Move to a slightly more central or liturgical position – perhaps standing near the communion table or lectern. Speak directly to camera.]

“I want to finish this series not as a commentator, but as a Lay Minister speaking pastorally and plainly.

For years, queer people in our congregations have been told that the Bible is clear, that the clobber passages exclude them from full acceptance, that the most the church can offer is cautious blessing and permanent ambiguity.

That is not the gospel.

From the first chapter of Genesis, Scripture tells us that every human being is made in the image of God. Not conditionally. Not ‘until we discover their sexuality’. Simply: made in God’s likeness.

Nothing in the clobber passages erases that declaration. Nothing in Sodom, Leviticus, Romans, Corinthians or Timothy cancels the image of God in you. Those texts, when read carefully, confront violence, injustice, idolatry and exploitation. They do not name you as an exception to God’s love.

In the gospels, Jesus consistently moves towards those at the edges of religious respectability. He eats with the people others call sinners. He heals those declared unclean. He refuses to let purity rules stand between people and healing. His sharpest rebukes are reserved for religious leaders who tie up heavy burdens and lay them on others’ shoulders.

If we claim to follow this Jesus, then any use of Scripture that crushes queer and trans people, that keeps them forever at the margins, is out of step with his heart.

So let me say this as clearly as I know how, from within this flawed, beloved denomination:

You, as a queer person, are not an embarrassment God needs to manage.
You are not a theological problem to be solved before you can belong.
You are not an asterisk in the fine print of God’s grace.

You are created in the image of God.
Your queerness does not place you outside that image; it is held within it.
Your capacity to love, to create, to hope, to seek justice and mercy bears witness to the God who made you.

The Church may still hesitate, equivocate and compromise. Its processes may end without the courage we hoped for. But God is not confused about you.

You are wholly, deeply, unequivocally loved by God.
You do not live on the edge of God’s table. You are invited to the centre.

The clobber passages, once we read them rightly, cannot take that away. No mistranslation, no synod vote, no pastoral statement can cancel it.

So hear this blessing, from one Anglican to another:

You are not a problem to be managed by policy or proof text. You never were.
You are a beloved child of God, called, gifted and wanted in the life of the church.

Welcome to the table.
It always, always had a place set for you.