Tony Blair has told the world’s major religions that they have misunderstood their holy books when it comes to the issue of homosexuality.
Texts which identify homosexual acts as morally wrong should be seen as ‘metaphorical’ not literal, Britain’s former Prime Minister claims.
He also suggests that religions should follow shifts in the culture rather than hold firm to their historic beliefs.
In an interview with gay magazine Attitude Mr Blair said: “When people quote the passages in Leviticus condemning homosexuality, I say to them – if you read the whole of the Old Testament and took everything that was there in a literal way, as being what God and religion is about, you’d have some pretty tough policies across the whole of the piece.”
Mr Blair only converted to Roman Catholicism two years ago, yet queried some Bible references to homosexuality, arguing that these were not practical for this age, leading critics to question his authority.
Mr Blair, who now speaks worldwide for his own religious think-tank, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, said organised religions should move away from “entrenched attitudes” on homosexuality and “rethink” their doctrine.
Last month Mr Blair, his wife, and a group of MPs, raised alarm at how Christians have been marginalised in modern Britain.
But commentator Melanie Phillips said Mr Blair’s ‘human rights’ policies from his time in Downing Street were a major cause of the trouble.