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Available for over a year

Yesterday marked one year since India decriminalised gay sex but the anniversary has brought forward evidence of continuing intimidation and violence against LGBTQ people in India, as in this country. In Reading, this summer, for example, as a Black Lives Matter protest petered out, three gay men were stabbed and two of them killed - a hate crime that received scant media comment at the time. Media attention may necessarily be fleeting, but the addressing of any deep-seated prejudice takes courage and, what theologian, Eugene H Petersen calls, ‘a long obedience in the same direction’. In April this year I was due to visit Leonard Theological College in Jabalpur, India. The formal invitation arrived in an envelope with a first day cover featuring a visit from the Mahatma Gandhi to the college in celebration of its 200th anniversary. I learned some of this history first hand at a seminar in Oxford with the College Principal, Prof Naveen Rao. He described the college’s mission as helping to fulfil the vision of the prophet Amos ‘that justice would roll down like rivers.’ So, early on the college had resisted the notion that Christianity should align itself with the caste system, and instead fought for liberation for Dalit people. In its recent attempts to decolonise its curriculum the college has sought to identify those outcast today – and has refocused its programmes around the needs of the destitute, the promotion of inter-religious understanding, climate justice and justice for LGBTQ people. Hearing Prof Rao I was stunned by his resolve in the face of significant opposition. ‘It would have been easier’, he said, ‘for the college to play the game of pleasing the sponsors by keeping a safe distance from such issues that render the hands unclean. It would have been easier to promote objectives like ‘how to be a successful revival speaker’, or ‘how to save the heathens from the fire of hell’, than to discuss the suffering of LGBTQ communities in India, in a real hell, in their daily life.’ Identifying those who are living a real hell in their daily lives is not difficult. We see them drowning in the English channel, we hear of escalating domestic violence, we know who is subject to discrimination and harassment on a daily basis and where people live in real fear because of their ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. Making a difference to people’s lives, though, takes a ‘long obedience in the same direction’. Giving our energy and resources to making visible the plight of others, joining with them to address the causes and not only the symptoms, and a guiding belief that will keep our feet on the path even when the world’s attention is turned away. “Letting justice roll down like rivers”, has served Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur pretty well. I hope very much, soon, to be able to visit and learn more.