Professed Evangelical Christian and UK Liberal Democratic Leader Believes Gay Sex is Not a Sin
A Christian politician in the UK has claimed that gay sex is not sinful.
Shortly after UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced another General Election in June, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron clarified his views on homosexuality, the Metro reported.
Farron said the question of homosexuality and sin is "not a statement that I make, this is something I get asked because of my faith".
Two years ago, Farron was asked if he thought that being gay is a sin. At that time, he merely answered, "We are all sinners." Recently, he was asked the same question, to which he replied, "No I do not [believe being gay is a sin]."
In a more recent interview with BBC, Farron clarified his belief that gay sex is not sinful.
"I don't believe that gay sex is a sin," he said.
Although a Christian, Farron said he does not want to "pontificate" on theological matters simply because he is a political leader. He added that he didn't want people to have the wrong impression of what he thinks about the issue of homosexuality.
"I'm quite careful about how I talk about my faith," he told Newman. "I don't bang on about it. I don't make a secret of it, either."
"When I get asked theological questions, which I don't think many other politicians do get asked, I kind of took the view that it would be better for me to say, this is a matter of theological nitpicking – let's talk about the politics," he explained.
Asked as to why he did not clarify his views earlier, Farron said he did not want to go into answering a series of questions regarding the theology of the Bible. "I don't think people want political party leaders telling them what is and isn't sin," he said.
"People's faith is private, and it's up to them to decide how they make these interpretations," Farron explained. "For me, separating faith from politics means you shouldn't be trying to have a running commentary on these things, and also shouldn't be trying to impose one's beliefs on others."
