A protest against anti-gay preacher Angus Buchan was held in Kilkenny yesterday ahead of his talk in The Hub

Yesterday forty liberal Irish in Kilkenny protested against the talk held yesterday by anti-gay South African pastor, Angus Buchan, in The Hub.

The pastor who professes to have cured homosexuality through prayer has previously stated “I cannot ever agree that homosexuality is right, I cannot bless it.”

However, in spite of the protest and petition to “Stop preacher Angus Buchan from preaching Homophobia and Misogyny in Kilkenny and throughout Ireland”, the talk did go ahead.

Petition

“We are concerned by Buchan’s misogynist and homophobic views and comments,” said Susie Stein a Manager at the Scottish Borders Rape Crisis, who successfully campaigned for Buchan to be blocked from speaking in Scotland.

When Enya Kennedy heard that Angus Buchan was coming to The Hub, a venue that also holds an ice-skating rink during the winter, she, inspired by Scotland’s successful ban of Buchan, took matters into her own hands.

The Kilkenny resident and frequenter of The Hub created a petition which received 1,680 signatures in hopes to raise awareness that the preacher who also holds misogynistic beliefs would be forced to relocate his talk.

Buchan Preaches

“I love the Irish, I really do!” Buchan said at the beginning of his talk in Kilkenny yesterday. “You are the most passionate people I have ever met.”

Buchan then dropped to his knees and the crowd erupted in cheers.

“The Bible tells me to love my wife,” Buchan said. “I love my wife. If I love my wife, she will gladly submit to me.”

Buchan has been criticised for preaching that women should submit to men, with the strong allusion to domestic violence.

“My wife is two years younger than me. She looks like she’s 20 years younger than me. Do you know why? Because I love her. I look after her. I protect her. I provide for her, I put food on the table.”

Devout Believers

Although Buchan’s beliefs might seem alien to liberal Ireland, the event yesterday was full of devout believers and pious people who applauded, cheered and sat in riveted silence to lap up the preacher’s every word.

“It shows how much God loves Ireland. That’s why Angus is here, because God wants us to hear the good news, among all the bad news,” Rosemary Parle from Kildare said.

“Unfortunately, Ireland has become so liberal in its thinking that we have strayed from the teachings of the Lord and taken on a humanistic view instead. A homosexual lifestyle goes against the covenant of marriage”

When questioned about the fact that same-sex marriage is now legal in Ireland Parle stated: “That’s not marriage.”

“Marriage is one man and one woman. Their bodies fit together. I’m sorry to sound crude but it’s true.”

(Image: By Nathan Keirn from Kadena-Cho, Japan (NAK_2421.jpg; to the Commons uploaded by odder) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)