Minister of Justice, Knut Storberget (Ap/Labour) tells bishop to clean up his act.

The criticism from the Justice minister is a response to Oslo bishop Ole Christian Kvarme’s refusals to marry gay couples. Storberget claims that the massive media attention this case has received is contributing to the spread of hatred against gay people.

Leads to hatred

Last week the bishop tried to stop a same sex wedding in Kampen kirke (Kampen church) in Oslo. Storberget is upset with the bishop’s actions, and he fears that this behaviour can lead to an increase in hate crimes.

–Hatred towards gays is a big problem, and every one of us have a responsibility to discourage such behaviour, and the church has a particular responsibility to do so, Storberget tells Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.

The Justice Minister fears more prejudice against gays.

– The Norwegian Parliament introduced tougher hate crime legislation earlier this year, but because the church keeps on criticizing homosexuality they are in fact facilitating prejudice and hatred against gays, Storberget says.

Needs to address this issue

Storberget says that the church needs to change their attitudes.

– The church really needs to address this issue. We can’t interfere and tell them what to do. It’s up to the church to come up with satisfactory solutions, Storberget says.

He believes that it is important to speak out before it becomes too late to fix the problem.

– As members of the Norwegian church, we need to make the church’s leadership aware that we won’t tolerate this kind of behaviour. The church must be inclusive and not shut out certain groups. Bishops are humans too, and it’s about time someone told them to get rid of their old fashioned views

Kvarme, however defends his actions, and points out that he is only acting in accordance with the church’s own policies on this matter, and he feels that Storberget needs to respect this.

Source: BT.no