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Opinion
Gay Rights and Bad Bible Scholars
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
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I
n the aftermath of President
Obama’s statement in support
of gay marriage there was a
lengthy article in the Washington
Post regarding the potential
impact that this might have on his
base. The article included inter-
views
with
two
African
Americans, both of whom had
been Obama supporters in 2008.
As a result of this announcement,
one of them said that he is going to
vote for Romney in order to be
true to God.
I found myself very perplexed
by this statement. I want to make
sure that I get it right. This indi-
vidual has decided that it is OK
with God for him to vote for some-
one who wants to make the poor
poorer, quite possibly take us into
a war of aggression with Iran, and
is, himself, a member of a reli-
gious sect that until not very long
ago thought that Black folks had
no place in their religion. Am I
missing anything?
This character is illustrative of a
much larger problem that needs to
be addressed forthrightly. There is
a very selective use of The Bible
when it comes to addressing mat-
ters relative to women and
gays/lesbians. One such example
that has been making the rounds
on the Web has to do with
Deuteronomy, and specifically,
Chapter 22. If you are not up on
Deuteronomy, among other things
T RANS
A FRICA
Bill
Fletcher Jr.
Bible? Does this person, for
instance, believe that we should
currently implement that section
of Deuteronomy? If not, why?
There is nothing new about
selective interpretations of The
Bible. Growing up, my father
would regularly remind me that
White supremacists claimed that
Black people are the children of
Ham and that we are Black
I may be wrong but I do not
remember Jesus focusing a great
deal of attention on who was
marrying whom but it is clear that
Jesus was very concerned about the
poor and sick. He was very
concerned about the money
changers. And he was very
concerned about the Romans who
were oppressing the Hebrews
it says that if a woman is not a vir-
gin at the time of her marriage that
she can be killed.
I found myself thinking about
Deuteronomy in connection with
the statement by the African
American quoted in the Post. I
asked myself, how selectively
does this individual interpret The
because we are cursed. My father
would point out that it did not mat-
ter to them that the Bible does not
say that. The White supremacists
wanted to believe this and they
would find a way to connect that
with their interpretation of God
and God’s word.
I find it very disturbing that peo-
ple continue to hide behind The
Bible in order to justify their own
set of prejudices and demons.
Even otherwise very good people
will offer a selective use of The
Bible and I continue to find it very
perplexing.
Consider, for a
moment, the amount of time that
The Bible places on the question
of injustice and the plight of the
poor. I may be wrong but I do not
remember Jesus focusing a great
deal of attention on who was mar-
rying whom but it is clear that
Jesus was very concerned about
the poor and sick. He was very
concerned about the money
changers. And he was very con-
cerned about the Romans who
were oppressing the Hebrews.
What are we to make of those
who have decided that gay mar-
riage is the once and forever
dividing line but can turn a blind
eye to the forces in this society
that ravage the poor and promote
war? What are we to make of
those who have decided that gay
marriage is against God’s word
but are silent on Deuteronomy?
Just asking.
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a Senior
Scholar at the Institute for Policy
Studies, the immediate past presi-
dent of TransAfrica Forum, and
the co-author of Solidarity Divid-
ed.
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White Evangelicals: Wrong Side of History
T
hroughout the diabolical
devastation of slavery to the
turbulent tragedies and
injustices endured during the Jim
Crow era and the civil rights
movement, many southern evan-
gelical preachers were on the
wrong side of the issues. In 1845,
during a gathering of White South-
ern Baptist ministers in Augusta
Ga., there was a rippling internal
controversy over whether slave
owners could be missionaries in
foreign countries while owning
slaves. Thus on the heels of being
sharply divided over the issue of
slavery, the Southern Baptist Con-
vention was formed, breaking
away from the American Baptist
Home Mission Society.
As this southern contingency of
evangelical preachers said no to
giving up their slaves, they also
said no to the human rights of
African Americans. It was the
beginning of a long pattern of lin-
ing up on the wrong side of the
issues when it came to standing up
for liberty and justice for all.
Revisiting this bleak chapter of
American history is critical to
understanding the religious right
in 2012. To understand the history
of the southern evangelical move-
ment and its evolution, it is helpful
to understand how modern day
southern evangelicals have devel-
oped an alliance with a right-wing
agenda that continues to — with
vigor — divide, devastate and
destroy human and civil rights.
Let us fast forward to North Car-
olinians’ recently held voting for
the state constitutional amendment
to ban gay marriages and civil
unions. It is no coincidence that
staunch White southern evangeli-
cals, the National Organization for
Page 4 The Portland Skanner May 23, 2012
S OCIAL J USTICE
By Rev. Amos C. Brown
Marriage (who designed a secret
strategic plan in 2010 to drive a
wedge between gays and Blacks),
and the right wing of the Republi-
can Party, have aligned themselves
for political gain on this issue
though they want you to believe it
voting rights? What side did the
Reverend Billy and Franklin Gra-
hams of the worlds stand during
the civil rights movement?
For generations, politics and
religion have made for strange
bedfellows, all the more reason for
Black people in particular to not
be used as a political tool in the
vote for a ban on gay marriage in
North Carolina or get caught up in
the middle of an age-old divisive
To understand the history of the
southern evangelical movement and
its evolution, it is helpful to understand
how modern day southern
evangelicals have developed an
alliance with a right-wing agenda that
continues to — with vigor — divide,
devastate and destroy human and
civil rights
is purely a theological stance con-
sistent with Biblical beliefs.
The goal is to weaken and frag-
ment the African-American voting
block for President Obama in
November while courting much
needed Hispanic voters for south-
ern evangelical support for
Republican nominee Mitt Rom-
ney.
To put this in context, ask your-
self: What side of civil rights did
the southern evangelical preacher
or right wing political base stand
when it came to issues such as
equal protection under the law,
desegregation, women’s rights and
tactic and strategies aimed at pro-
moting a right wing, money and
power-driven agenda and, more
aggressively, the conspiracy
against the re-election of President
Obama.
While I personally do not per-
form same-sex marriages because
of my Baptist faith tradition, I will
not be guilty of being intolerant. I
was supportive of the president
before his decision to support
same-sex marriage and I am still
supportive of him. President
Obama gave his personal reasons
for adopting his position and made
it very clear that those who for
religious reasons did not agree
with him, he still had respect for
their faith traditions. The Bible
says in the words of Jesus, “We
must be wise as serpents and hum-
ble as doves.” Therefore, African
Americans should still support this
president because our main goal is
to make sure that he is re-elected.
Let’s look at how people on the
other side behave. Rev. Robert Jef-
fress, pastor of First Baptist
Church in Dallas, said during the
Republican primary that Mor-
monism is a “cult” and that
Romney is not a Christian. How-
ever, Jeffress has since come out
boldly endorsing Romney for
president. Here’s a minister that in
one instance can withhold support
from a candidate because of his
religious convictions yet closes
rank behind that same man after he
was selected to oppose America’s
first Black president.
In 1960, some Blacks, including
preachers, did not support John F.
Kennedy for president because he
was Catholic. But Kennedy was
elected and the nation did not col-
lapse. We must go beyond our
faith traditions and support Presi-
dent Obama so that our economy
will be improved, quality brought
to our schools, safety brought to
our communities and we all expe-
rience peace in the world.
America is a democracy and not
a theocracy. And in our democra-
cy, all law abiding citizens are
entitled to equal protection under
the law. We must recognize the
hypocrisy of denying the rights of
the LGBT community as a politi-
cal strategy in hopes of regaining
the White House.