Cape Argus (Cape Town) 8 October 2008
Activist and theologian Allan Boesak says he will continue his work as an extraordinary professor at the University of Stellenbosch after resigning all positions from the uniting reformed church in southern Africa.
Boesak resigned on Friday in protest at the church synod's opposition to his recommendation that gay parishioners be allowed same-sex unions.
It emerged today that the church may request Boesak to reverse his resignations, but Boesak said he would resist.
He said he had been dismayed at views expressed within the synod which denied gay people's rights "as normal, dignified human beings".
He accused members of the synod of "almost Mugabe-like views - that homosexuals are like dogs and animals not worthy of human consideration", as "monsters, as if they have some incurable disease".
Boesak said one synod member had, for example, said gay people had the same psychological disorders as kleptomaniacs.
Having resigned, Boesak said he would continue his work at Stellenbosch on the "globalisation project", dealing with links with German churches for the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology, which dealt with important social issues, like the debates around homosexuality within the church.
Co-founder of the United Democratic Front, Boesak dismissed speculation that he could have a role in a possible ANC breakaway group - which would supposedly have strong links with the defunct United Democratic Front.
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