Beer, Bibles and Same-sex Marriage. Brewer Bows to Backlash. UPDATED.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Coopers Brewery planned a range of light beers to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Bible Society in Australia.

There were even Bible verses on the cartons.

As part of their anniversary celebrations, the Bible Society produced a friendly debate between two Liberal Party (conservative) politicians as they enjoyed a quiet drink of Coopers Premium Lite.

Then the backlash and the boycott. Pubs stopped serving Coopers beer. Bottles were smashed in protest. Coopers beer was poured down the sink. Now that's serious.

Coopers repented and came out officially in support for "marriage equality". They cancelled production of 10,000 cartons of its light beer which commemorated the Bible Society's 200th year.

Watch the video. It's a discussion between two friends over a beer who have different opinions about an important social issue. The Bible Society was not promoting a side. Just a discussion, now silenced.

According to the Bible Society's spokesman, they don't have a position on marriage. That is up to the churches. Some churches were in favour of same-sex marriage. Some against. 

A much better response would have been, "Our job isn't to campaign on one side of the debate or the other. We're the Bible Society. We believe the Bible is God's living word to humanity. We want to get the Bible into people's hands so they can read it, and decide for themselves what it says."

UPDATE: The Bible Society has removed it's video. I've replaced it with a news report that includes part of the offending video.