Conversation is step in the right direction
Ames Tribune Editorial – 05/30/2007
Throughout May, the organization Faith in America has waged a campaign in Ames challenging anti-gay attitudes particularly among some Christians. Billboards have been posted. Newspaper ads have been published. Early in the month, The Tribune interviewed Faith in America Executive Director Jimmy Creech for a news story and published a guest column by Creech outlining the organization's goals. The effort culminates in a town hall meeting Thursday night at Ames City Hall. This is a conversation America ought to have. Ames residents would do well to attend.
Ames is one of four communities around the United States targeted for this campaign. Faith in America is dead on in its message and its audience. To be sure, the strong statements in its advertising sparked at least one letter to the editor from a dissenter. That, in turn, prompted several responses in defense. But Faith in America most likely will pick up the most ground not among those on the fringe of the issue, but squarely in the middle - people for whom Christian values mean fairness, understanding, respect for all people, love.
Faith in America effectively compares gay bashing with bigotry. Images of hooded figures burning crosses are juxtaposed against angry picketers with hateful placards aimed at gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people. Religious justification of racial attitudes parallels religious rationalization of gay bashing.
The pain of America's struggle with civil rights still is clear in most people's minds, even as racial prejudice and inequality continue. Yet racism, in one lifetime, has become universally deplored, unacceptable in any form. This is not to say that it does not still exist. But no one argues any more that, once it's identified, it ought to persist. Without question, it ought to be eliminated.
That's what Faith in America hopes will happen with gay bashing. The organization's literature pulls apart supposed biblical justification for anti-homosexuality. It points out that even literal readings of the Bible may in fact be identifying idolatry, not sexuality, as sin. It illuminates the historical, linguistic and social context in which various religious leaders have addressed homosexuality. And it offers a reading of the Bible that squares with the values noted above.
You don't have to be a Christian to hold these values. But many Christians will espouse such understanding as part of their faith. That's the rock upon which we can build a conversation. Hatred and condemnation should not be part of that lexicon. But extreme negative, even violent, attitudes have dominated the American dialogue on this issue for too long.
The conversation Thursday night is a step in the right direction. People of all faiths and persuasions ought to attend. The town hall meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 31, at Ames City Hall.
IT’S TIME TO END RELIGION-BASED BIGOTRY
Greenville News 9-30-07
For twenty-nine years, I was a United Methodist pastor. I believe that compassion, fairness and respect for the dignity of all people are the most authentic and noble expressions of the Christian faith.
Unfortunately, history has many examples of religion being misused to harm others. Religious teachings based on the Bible were used to justify slavery and racial segregation, the persecution of Jewish and Roman Catholic immigrants, the denial to women of the right to vote and the denial to interracial couples of the right to marry. Today, we recognize this misuse of religion to support these injustices to be misguided and wrong.
I learned about the misuse of religion as a child. I grew up in Eastern North Carolina in the 1950’s and 60’s and was taught that black people were inferior to white people and that the segregation of the races was ordained by God. The Bible was quoted to prove it. Fortunately, this false religious teaching is now recognized to be wrong.
In much the same way, I was taught that homosexuals were condemned to hell by God. This religious teaching influenced my perception of lesbian and gay people until 1984, when I was the pastor of a church in North Carolina. A member of the congregation told me he was a gay. I’d known Adam for three years and held him in high esteem as a leader in both the church and community. I never suspected he was gay. There was nothing about this man of strong moral character that fit the negative stereotypes I had about gay people. Adam’s integrity and dignity forced me to re-examine my attitude and the Church’s teachings about homosexuality.
After a careful study, I concluded that the Bible does not say homosexuality is a sin. Yes, there are a few Biblical negative references to sexual activity between men and between women. But, each is negative because of the violence, exploitation or idolatry related to it in the biblical account. There is no condemnation of same-gender intimate loving relationships in the Bible. In fact, there was no understanding of homosexuality in biblical times.
I learned that the scientific study of human sexuality didn’t begin until the last decades of the 19th century. Only then was it discovered that everyone has an unchangeable sexual orientation - heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual - which is an essential aspect of the human personality. Sexual orientation is as natural, normal and innate as skin, eye and hair color, left- or right-handedness, and gender. The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers support this scientific understanding of sexual orientation.
In May of this year, 20-year-old Sean Kennedy was murdered in Greenville because he was gay. Such hostility toward gay people is fostered if not promoted by anti-gay religious teaching. In addition, it does harm to the souls, hearts and minds of gay people, causing them to hate themselves and believe they are hopelessly rejected by God. Families with gay members are torn apart – parents reject their gay children and gay parents lose custody of their young children. Suicide tragically is too often the chosen way out for gay youth. To be gay is neither a curse nor a sin. To be homosexual or bisexual is as much a blessing as to be heterosexual.
This abuse of religion influences all aspects of public life in America. Because of it, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens are denied the full and equal rights and protections guaranteed by the United States Constitution. Yet, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are citizens no less than other Americans. They are doctors, mechanics, police officers, lawyers, teachers, scientists, construction workers, clergy – they work in every vocation, contributing to the well being of society. Demeaning their humanity and legally denying them full and equal citizenship is morally wrong and un-American.
Over the next few weeks, Faith In America, Inc. (www.FaithInAmerica.com) will publish ads in the Greenville News that designed to challenge readers to reflect on and discuss the misuse of religion to victimize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We believe the noble ideals of our religious traditions ultimately will prevail over the fear and ignorance disguised as religious truth.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens deserve the full and equal rights and protections guaranteed by the US Constitution. No religious teaching should deny them that. Religion-based bigotry must end now and forever.
Jimmy Creech, Executive Director