Hillsong ditches sexist preacher after backlash.

Update:

In response to the public backlash against sexist preacher, Mark Driscoll, the head of the Hillsong Church has said that he has rescinded Driscoll’s invitation to attend the Hillsong Conferences in Australia and the UK.

After a “personal interaction” with Driscoll, Brian Houston, head of the pentecostal mega-chuch said on Sunday that Hillsong will no longer be hosting Mark Driscoll at their events, which are expected to attract 30,000 participants.

Houston said Driscoll “held some views and made some statements that cannot be defended” and that his 30-minute scheduled appearance “had the potential to divert attention from the real purpose” of the five-day Hillsong Conference.

He said, “it is my hope that Mark and I will be able to speak in person in the coming weeks to discuss some of the issues that have been raised, what – if anything – he has learned, and for me to understand better how he is progressing in both his personal and professional life.”

“The teachings of Christ are based on love and forgiveness, and I will not write off Mark as a person simply because of the things that people have said about him, a small minority of people signing a petition or statements he has made many years ago for which he has since repeatedly apologised,” Houston continued.

“However, I do not want unnecessary distractions during our conference.”

Previously, Mamamia wrote…

‘Mega-pastor’ Mark Driscoll is coming to Australia.

He’s a man who says women are simply ‘penis homes’.

He’s a man who says that women are disrespectful and quarrelsome – and “gardens” that men must shape.

He’s a man who has described his home country of America as a “pussified nation” where boys are being raised by “bitter penis-envying burned feministed single mothers”.

He’s a man who was sacked by his previous church for being domineering towards his staff.

And he’s a man who has been invited to Australia by megachurch Hillsong to attend one of Australia’s largest Christian conventions and stand on stage in front of thousands.

Mark Driscoll is a known misogynist and homophobe who has been preaching the ‘inferiority’ of women for many years. Now a petition has been raised to stop this man from attending the Hillsong Conference. But surely the question should be: Why is this man welcome in our country at all?

In October of last year, Mr Driscoll was forced to resign as pastor from his Seattle-based church due to complaints from staff about his behaviour.

Seattle’s Mars Hills Church carried out an internal review, finding him guiltily of arrogance, “responding to conflict with a quick temper and harsh speech, and leading the staff and elders in a domineering manner,” the ABC reports.

But this man’s ‘arrogance’ pales in comparison to the derogatory way he encourages his supporters to regard women. This are just some of the public expressions of his disdain for women:

1. In 2001, Mr Driscoll described a woman as a “penis home”.

“Ultimately, God created you and it is His penis. You are simply borrowing it for a while,” he said.

“Knowing that His penis would need a home, God created a woman to be your wife and when you marry her and look down you will notice that your wife is shaped differently than you and makes a very nice home.”

2. Mr Driscoll says being married to a woman to is like water torture.

They’re quarrelsome. They’re a nag. And some women — you’re a nag. You’re disrespectful. You’re quarrelsome. Being married to you is like a life sentence, and the guy’s just scratching on his wall every day. Proverbs talks about certain women—they’re like a dripping faucet. You ever tried to sleep with a dripping faucet? Plunk, plunk, plunk, plunk, plunk. It’s what we use to torture people who are prisoners of war. A wife is like that.

3. Mr Driscoll says men are ‘gardeners’ and women are ‘the garden’. And if you don’t like how she looks…

A husband should be the firm and responsible head of his household, the leader of a “little flock called home and family.” He should think of his wife as “a garden” and himself as “the gardener.” If you look at your garden and don’t like how it looks, Driscoll preaches, just remember: “You are the gardener.”

4. Women must not “let themselves go” and must be sexually available to their husbands.

“A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband’s sin, but she may not be helping him either.”

5. Masturbation is a form of homosexuality, even if your wife is in the room.

First, masturbation can be a form of homosexuality because it is a sexual act that does not involve a woman. If a man were to masturbate while engaged in other forms of sexual intimacy with his wife then he would not be doing so in a homosexual way. However, any man who does so without his wife in the room is bordering on homosexuality activity, particularly if he’s watching himself in a mirror and being turned on by his own male body.

Hillsong is a powerful organisation. A crowd of 30,00 attends the megachurch each week. The church has garnered more than 680,000 followers on Twitter, and well over 4 million Facebook fans.

Hillsong clearly influences a lot of people. People listen to what is preached at Hillsong. They listen to it and they live it.

So having this man speak to so many people about his deeply objectionable views should be a concern not only to the Hillsong family or the Christian community – it is a concern to the entire Australian community.

One thing is clear: This man’s views are sexist, misogynist and homophobic. The hate that he preaches is inconsistent with the values of contemporary Australia.

So why would one of Australia’s most influential bodies see fit to not only invite him to Australia, but to encourage him to speak to their loyal followers?

For those who are interested, the petition to stop Mark Driscoll speaking at the Hillsong Conference can be found here.

Do you think Mark Driscoll should speak to the people of Australia?

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