L.A. based anti-gay Hillsong Church has announced that they’ll be working in collaboration with Facebook to bring their services into the modern, technological age.
Many places of worship had to adapt to online methods during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Hillsong and many others are now looking to take their virtual presence a step further. Lead Pastor Sam Collier sought advice from Facebook, and in turn, the social media giant said they would use Hillsong as a test case for how religious practices can thrive on their site.
“For months, Facebook developers met weekly with Hillsong and explored what the church would look like on Facebook and what apps they might create for financial giving, video capability or livestreaming,” The New York Times says. “When it came time for Hillsong’s grand opening in June, the church issued a news release saying it was “partnering with Facebook” and began streaming its services exclusively on the platform.”
Collier apparently couldn’t divulge anymore information about the partnership, his lips sealed by a non-disclosure agreement.
At first glance, nothing appears to be glaringly wrong with the alliance—until you look at Hillsong’s track record, that is. The megachurch is infamous for their anti-gay rhetoric. “Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles,” founder Brian Houston writes in a 2015 post currently available on the church’s website. “Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle, and because of this, we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid.”
But, as the saying goes, actions mean more than words, so let’s take a look at their actions. The church reportedly sent congregants who came out to them to conversion therapy programs for years and actively advocated against the legalization of same-gender marriage in Australia. While the conversion therapy practices allegedly ceased in 2011, they continue to be a pillar of anti-gay religious sentiments in the U.S., even drawing in high-profile celebrities like Justin Bieber and Chris Pratt who sing the church’s praises online.
And Facebook isn’t any better. A July 2020 report by the nonprofit Media Matters showed that far-right websites like The Daily Caller and LifeSiteNews dominated the LGBTQ news stream on Facebook, spreading misinformation and fear-mongering stories about trans and queer communities. Facebook has also blocked advertisements about PrEP medicines, claiming that they were “political messaging.”
The platform did institute an algorithm to ban the promotion of conversion therapy, but there are reportedly huge blind spots that allow many posts and ads to still slip by.
The Times asserts that Hillsong’s partnership with Facebook is only the beginning. Witnessing the success of online worship through their site, The Times claims that Facebook is looking to become a new hub for religious communities. They’ve reportedly already connected with Pentecostal denominations Church of God in Christ and Assemblies of God, which count more than 70 million members between them.
The Church of God opposes marriage equality and called same-gender unions “aberrant and deviant behavior” in a 2004 statement. The Assemblies of God clarified their stance on LGBTQ issues as well in 2014 in a statement that remains on their website. It says: “We believe, in light of biblical revelation, that the growing cultural acceptance of homosexual identity and behavior (male and female), same-gender marriage, and efforts to change one’s biological sexual identity are all symptomatic of a broader spiritual disorder that threatens the family, the government, and the church.”
The Times writes that virtual religious alternatives will not replace in-person gatherings anytime soon, but churches are beginning to see how an online platform like Facebook, the world’s largest and arguably most influential social media company, can expand their scope and influence.
Facebook has come under fire for enabling their user to spread political and pandemic misinformation at a rate high enough to considerably sway public opinion. It has been ridiculed as one of the chief social media sites responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, as far-right accounts utilize the platform to spread lies that go unchecked.
With this in mind, queer advocacy groups fear for what a Facebook/religious partnership could mean, especially when Facebook has already shown they are more than willing to work with anti-gay churches. Taking these homophobic voices and amplifying them through huge social media sites could lead to a dangerous dispersement of anti-LGBTQ ideologies.
https://twitter.com/elizabethjdias/status/1423323879603326976
The short answer to this question ⬇️ from the Senior Global Pastor is no. He & Hillsong do not love gay people. They actively discriminate against gay people and Facebook should be shamed for courting the business of such hateful organisations. https://t.co/3uTyJBwi4t — Sam (@babbamoo) August 4, 2021
