A church reverend has come under fire for preaching an alleged misogynistic Handmaid’s Tale-style sermon calling for all women to ‘submit to their husbands as it’s God’s will’.
Reverend Chris Demetriou, a pastor at Rosyth Baptist Church in Fife, Scotland, preached a sermon called ‘Submit and Love’.
In the sermon, delivered on January 28 this year, Revered Demetriou says: ‘A wife ‘should submit to her husbands leadership’ because ‘that’s the Lord’s pattern for us’.
Quoting from the Old Testament, he adds: ‘The Lord Jesus is the head of the church, so the husband is the head of his wife.
‘It means that the Lord has given the husband a particular responsibility for leadership in that marriage.’
Reverend Chris Demetriou (pictured above centre), a pastor at Rosyth Baptist Church, preached a sermon called ‘Submit and Love’
He goes on: ‘Men and women are equal but not the same.
‘God created male and female to compliment each other. In marriage, the husband has been given responsibility for leadership.’
Demetriou stresses that if a wife thinks her husband is making a mistake, she ‘is to express why, as she is looking out for him’ and to ‘look to persuade him’.
He goes onto say that while a ‘should listen to his wife’, it is ‘his responsibility to lead’.
The sermon ends with a prayer by Demetriou who hopes ‘that we will let our husbands lead’.
The National Secular Society (NSS) claimed the sermon was ‘misogynistic, discriminatory against women and perpetuates sexist tropes’.
The NSS, which has been campaigning against bodies with potentially harmful religious views becoming charities, has urged the Scottish Charity regulator to investigate the church.
Rosyth Baptist Church (pictured above) is registered with the Scottish Charities Regulator
The sermon, called ‘Submit and Love’, was first published on January 28th this year
According to the Daily Record, Reverend Demetriou’s church is a registered as a charity with the ‘purpose of the advancement of religion.’
NSS campaigns officer Alejandro Sanchez said: ‘Mr Demetriou’s vision of a world of female subservience is straight out of The Handmaid’s Tale.
‘It is misogyny like this that underpins the abuse and coercive control of women, which the Scottish government says it is committed to ending.’
‘In return for generous tax breaks, charities are meant to provide a public benefit and not cause likely detriment or harm.
‘If ‘the advancement of religion’ enables charities to promote misogyny with impunity, it should be removed from the register of charitable purposes.’
The NSS argued that the sermons encourage ‘coercive and controlling’ behaviour which is against the law under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018.
Guidance from the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator OSCR said registered charities must actively provide benefits, and may fail the charity test if it causes ‘likely detriment or harm’.
But a spokesperson said: ‘OSCR cannot intervene in the activities of religious charities seeking to promote their religious beliefs unless their activities have the clear and direct effect of harming others or otherwise breach the law.’
Rev Demetriou have been asked to comment.