Tim Farron is a conservative evangelical. Such Christians think they are braver than wishy-washy liberals when it comes to sin – they are not afraid to put it at the heart of their message. But in fact they’re in a muddle on sin.
Farron embodies it. During the election he was repeatedly asked by journalists whether he thought gay sex was a sin. He tried to avoid the question by saying that such questions were beyond the bounds of normal political discussion; he implied that secular journalists framed the question in the wrong way, not understanding that we are all sinners. But they kept pestering him. So in the end, under pressure from his colleagues, he said that he did not believe it was a sin.
He now takes that back – he told Premier Christian Radio that he felt pressured to give an answer ‘that, frankly, was not right.’
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