This past Sunday I visited a predominantly African American baptist church in Melbourne, Fla. It was an emotional, soul-stirring service in the great tradition of the black church. I was really enjoying myself, feeling the spirit as we say...until the pastor's sermon -- during which he heartily railed against marriage equality and President Obama's support for it.
That this pastor came out against same sex relationships was no great surprise because most black people are generally deeply religious, social conservatives. There is a lot of conflict in the black church and community about homosexuality. And while it's unfair discriminate against anyone for any reason, I can understand why many Christians cannot condone same sex relationships or marriage. It's Biblical to them, based on their interpretation of the scriptures...with no gray area.
But the one thing this particular pastor did that crossed the line was say that he doubts that President Obama is a Christian because he supports same sex marriage. Not suprisingly, he got a lot of loud "Amens!" when he said that. I liken that to what that Franklin Graham said not too long ago. How can anyone doubt someone's Christianity or claim to whatever faith they profess? That's just wrong. Afterall, Matthew 7:1-2 says: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."
This preacher also went so far as to say that just because Obama is black that doesn't make him right and that we shouldn't follow anyone who is leading us straight to hell. He didn't get as many shouts of "Amen!" on that one. I don't think anybody walked out, but you could tell that the congregation was starting to feel uneasy about what he was preaching.
The preacher went on to cite scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments that seem to condemn same sex relationships. He also railed against Gay Days at Disney World, taking prayer out of schools and abortion rights. He closed by saying he's mad at Obama and the NAACP for supporting same sex marriage, adding that he's a registered Independent, while hinting that he's not voting for President Obama because of his support for same sex marriage.
My wife and I were tempted to leave, but for whatever reason sat through his whole hateful sermon. When driving home we debated whether or not we'd visit this church again and wondered how many folks in that church that day were gay or Lesbian, but remained silent and sat through the sermon feeling totally alienated, bullied and belittled by the pastor's words. Situations like that have made people go into the closet and kept them there. As we all know, going on the "down low" is a very common occurence in the black community. Sermons like this are a big reason why.
Like any American, this preacher has a right to his beliefs and generally, I've visited this church before and thought very highly of him and his previous messages, but this left me cold and angry. Moreover, it left me concerned that thousands, if not millions of black paritioners across America are hearing bigoted messages like this from the pulpit on a recurring basis.
I'm concerned that many church folks follow their pastors blindly and see marriage equality as a religious issue, instead of the Constitutional, civil rights issue it truly is. As a previous diarist once wrote, it's irrelevant what the Bible says about homosexuality, because America isn't a theocracy. And I say that as a Christian.
However, I'm concerned that his courage on this issue could turn off a substantial number of voters from a voting block that usually supports the Democratic nominee by a substantial margin. I'm afraid that margin might be shrinking in the wake of this controversy. And in what seems to be shaping up as a close election, President Obama needs every vote he can get.
One of President Obama's most sacred duties as our President is to protect the rights of all Americans under our Constitution, which is exactly what he's doing...and I'm extremely proud of him for his forward-thinking position on marriage equality. If it costs him the White House, so be it...but America will be much worse off if this courageous, caring and brilliant man isn't reelected.
I usually come out of a church service feeling hopeful and re-energized...unfortunately, not this time because I'd just heard a message of hate that 50-60 years ago probably would've been delivered by a pastor railing against inter-racial marriage, school integration or voting rights. Sadly, I don't think a lot of black people get that parallel.