Plurality American support for gay marriage

A clear plurality of American public support for gay marriage is evident in polling by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press in a survey of 2,973 adults conducted from June 28-July 9. This is a dramatic change from 2004, when 60% of those polled opposed gay marriage. The long-term trend has been inexorable, in part because "Younger generations express higher levels of support for same-sex marriage." Both the magnitude and strength of opposition have declined.

Among religious groups, majority opposition is sustained only by evangelical protestants. That leaves the Catholic bishops out of touch with self-described Catholics, 52% of whom Pew found to be in support of gay marriage. More specifically:

Nearly six-in-ten white non- Hispanic Catholics (59%) favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry, as do 57% of Hispanic Catholics.

Politically, support has risen among Democrats and independents. Some two thirds of Democrats support gay marriage.

For years, the trend for men and women has been an increase in support for gay marriage.

There was then every public opinion reason for the Biblical Recorder to expect a strong response to its Chick-fil-A story.

The argument by Louisiana Baptist Message Editor Kelly Boggs for majority support of Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy's anti-gay views, willfully confuses various ballot box results with overarching public opinion. Nor does Mike Huckabee's Chick-fil-A appreciation day alter either the data or its direction.

The challenge for evangelicals is better addressed by Southern Baptist Pastor Wade Burleson of Enid, Oklahoma, who is concerned about who will best witness to "the next generation." For among the young, the there is clear majority (and growing) acceptance of gay marriage. The polling data suggests that the view most likely to prevail was expressed by Rev. Dr. Angela M. Yarber, of is Wake Forest Baptist Church at Wake Forest University, in an open letter to Chick-fil-A's Cathy:

We are the only Baptist church in the country with two lesbians as head pastors. I serve a diverse congregation; many of our members are LGBT families raising children. And I refuse to look into their eyes and tell them that their families do not deserve the same rights as your family. For me, that is unethical. It is un-American. And it is unchristian.

Exporting homophobia wholesale [Updated]

Homophobia is being sold abroad by the evangelical Christian right, concludes Boston-based Political Research Associates. It is being sold by the American Center for Law and Justice, Human Life International and Family Watch International, reports the Guardian:

Each of these "frame their agendas as authentically African, in an effort to brand human rights advocacy as a new colonialism bent on destroying cultural traditions and values", the report says.

In the past five years, the report alleges, all "have launched or expanded their work in Africa dedicated to promoting their Christian right worldview". A loose network of rightwing charismatic Christians called the transformation movement joins them in fanning the flames of the culture wars over homosexuality and abortion by backing prominent African campaigners and political leaders."

Read the entire story here.

Update

Download the full report here [.pdf]. It begins:

Uganda’s infamous 2009 Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would institute the death penalty for a new and surreal category of offenses dubbed “aggravated homosexuality,” captured international headlines for months. The human rights community and the Obama administration responded forcefully, the bill was tabled, and the story largely receded from U.S. headlines. But as the Rev. Dr. Kapya Kaoma reveals in this important exposé, the “Uganda problem” is continental in scale and its underlying cause continues unabated: the U.S. Christian Right, which engineered Uganda’s so-called “Kill the Gays” bill, continues to open new fronts across the African continent in its distinctly American culture war against homosexuality and abortion.

Devilish comments unhelpful

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said yesterday that he would not allow a gay pride parade in the city, and repeated comments he made two years ago that such a march would be "Satanic."

Luzhkov is reportedly a "devoted Orthodox Christian believer."

That an Orthodox Christian would strongly oppose homosexuality is not surprising.

The Orthodox Church's teaching on homosexuality, however, focuses on ministering to homosexuals and separates what it considers to be sinful acts from concern for the people involved.

Labeling a gay-pride event "Satanic" hardly exhibits such concern. Mean-spirited rhetoric effectively reverses the ministry called for by Christian compassion.

In 2007, homosexuals who marched in spite of a ban were "beaten up by right-wing counter-demonstrators or detained by police," according to a BBC report. Last year, some activists were detained before the parade began.

More crackdowns can be expected this year, unless Luzhkov sets aside meanness for ministry.

Broadway Baptist absents itself from the BBGCT annual meeting

Broadway Baptist Church, foregoing conflict and asserting its Baptist autonomy, sent no messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting, which convenes today.

Messengers are delegates, and had it sent any to the Nov. 16-17 meeting in Houston, the church's approach to homosexual members would almost inevitably have resulted in debate over whether to seat its messengers. The BGCT has a history of such actions. In 1998 the BGCT disfellowshipped University Baptist Church of Austin for ordinaining a gay man deacon.

Broadway was found not in friendly cooperation (effectively expelled) by the Southern Baptist Convention in June, ending a 127-year relationship, because the SBC constitution prohibits any action "to affirm, approve or endorse homosexual behavior."

According to Ken Camp of the Associated Baptist Press, the church's statement said:

We understand that there is a small group who plan to attempt to create discord within the BGCT by challenging the seating of Broadway’s messengers. While we have taken no action that would justify having our messengers not seated at the convention, we have decided that not sending messengers this year is in the best interests of both our church and the BGCT.
. . .
We believe it would be a terrible mistake for the BGCT to start down the path of investigating individual congregations and strongly assert the Baptist principle of the autonomy of the local church. We at Broadway are remaining focused, as always, on the worship of God, spiritual growth, showing hospitality to all in Jesus’ name and ministering to those in need.

The transition has been a painful one for members of the church, well-expressed in Lyn Robbins blog after the SBC decision.

The history of University Baptist Church suggests the path can be a complex one. In that regard, the church's history says:

During the decade of the '90s, UBC became affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and the American Baptist Churches of the USA. In the fall of 1995, the Austin Baptist Association again expelled UBC, this time for ordaining a gay man as a deacon in 1994. In the fall of 1997 the church voted to disaffiliate with the Southern Baptist Convention because of ramifications of the fundamentalist takeover of that organization. UBC's welcoming of homosexuals led, in February of 1998, to the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas' action to stop receiving mission funds from UBC and to request that the church remove mention of its affiliation with the BGCT from its publicity. In 2001 the church disaffiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship after that organization had taken an official position not to expend funds for organizations or causes that condoned or affirmed homosexual practices. UBC's acceptance of homosexuals in the worship, work, and fellowship of the church has cost additional members but has also attracted others to take a stand with the congregation by becoming members. The church's primary denominational affiliation is now with the American Baptist Churches of the USA.

• Baptist General Convention of Texas twitter hash tag (thus far in use): #BGCT

Broadway says clearly that they have as a congregation elected to continue the journey to which they feel called. That may not be out of the BGCT. They will decide:

We ended up with two choices, I think: agree to the compromise— which involved being studied by the BGCT Executive Board—or not send messengers. To not go stops a vote, doesn’t force us into this compromise, and gives us the time and freedom to decide where we go from here with the BGCT.

---

• Baptist General Convention of Texas twitter hash tag (thus far in use): #BGCT

Obama opens for Lady Gaga

Southern Baptists are well-known for their refusal to welcome "unrepentant" homosexual Christians into their midst. You may recall how the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina followed SBC precepts in acting to "disfellowship" Myers Park Baptist Church. Or this year when the SBC ended "the denomination's relationship with Broadway Baptist Church, a Fort Worth, Texas, congregation that has been the source of controversy over its stance on homosexuality."

Some Southern Baptists will not welcome President Barak Obama's message at the Human Rights Campaign dinner Saturday night:

But some will applaud, if they have not yet joined the Jimmy Carter exodus from the SBC. The year before the Myers Park disfellowship and in response to one of a series of actions which included expelling the late W.W. Finlator's Pullen Memorial Baptist Church for the congregation's "unqualified acceptance of homosexual Christians and their full participation in the life and work of the church," one Southern Baptist college student was moved to write for her blog in the now-defunct North Carolina Biblical Recorder BRBlogs:

Donald Miller once opened a confessional booth on his campus, not to accept others confessions of previous sins, but apologize for our actions (current and historical) as Christians. He apologized for the crusades, for genocide, and bigotry all done in the name of Christ.
Right now, I know why he did it, I feel so ashamed.
From my own confessional booth I would like to say to all of you that this news from the Baptist convention is going to upset, anger, or turn off ... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we as Baptists feel the need to separate ourselves from the very ones we should love. I am so sorry that there was ever a division in the first place. I'm sorry that I am guilty of disconnecting myself with people and places that I am supposed to go and serve. I am sorry.
I am ashamed of this decision and that it is my very denomination making it but hear me, I am not and never will be ashamed of the God I serve. Ever.
Yeah, the church is messed up. But God isn't. It is my hope and prayer that those of you who do know him are appalled by this...and that you continue to serve our amazing father. If you support the banning of homosexuals in the church...wow.
Reconsider.
Reconsider just because God loves us (as followers) beyond all our stuff that no one sees.
And if there is a division that we have to draw between "us" and "them" remember that it is "them" that we are supposed to love. if you do not follow Christ, don't be turned off by this recent action of the convention. I promise there is so much more to God than any of us know ... even those of us who think we do.

Again, from one of your own.

We won’t watch Haggard ‘Divorce Court’

We'll miss Gayle & Ted Haggard's appearance to discuss how their marriage survived the predatory homosexuality/drugs blowup.

They want people to know that divorce is not the answer. Although this is not volunteer missionary work:

The couple will be paid an undisclosed amount for the interview, the latest in a series of public appearances that started in January when Ted Haggard began promoting an HBO documentary about his time in exile. He also has appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" and "Larry King Live."

We sense a comeback. For Gayle told the Denver Post she believes his struggles have deepened his Christian walk: "I think he is better equipped to minister to people than ever before."

Knights Out in Navy Times

Our Southern Baptist friends didn't tell us about this.

Knights Out indeed. Navy Times says there are similar support and education groups formed by graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy, known respectively as USNA Out and Blue Alliance. Not that this casts any light on disfellowshipping.

Will a new Southern Baptist sexual tolerance start in Texas?

Broadway Baptist Church's views on homosexuality have brought it to be brink of expulsion from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Homosexuals have not been excluded, you see. Same-sex couples in the church directory. Yet homosexuality is not endorsed, Broadway argues.

Short shrift has not been made. Clarification has been asked by the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee to which the matter was referred by the SBC annual meeting last June. Action on the historic Fort Worth, Texas church's case, delayed.

Hope is seen in this. Lyn Robbins, a Broadway member and the church's general counsel, said after the vote:

We believe that we are in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. Our purpose here today was to express that and also to share who Broadway is and what we are about.

The president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, who journeyed to Nasheville to stand with Broadway Baptist, wrote:

At the end of the day work still needs to be done before there will be resolution, but this was a good day in Baptist life. I believe we took some of the stones from the walls we have used to divide us to build bridges across which we can work together for the cause of the Great Commission and the Kingdom of God.

Will this be the beginning of the end of a key division, or further diminishment of the SBC through Cathist inflexibility?

Addendum

Christa Brown notes how the possibility that a church has acted in ways which “affirm, approve or endorse homosexual behavior” is seen here to merit SBC Executive Committee attention. Yet clergy sexual abuse is not given similar attention, because “Every Southern Baptist church is autonomous.”

The burden falls upon the Southern Baptist Convention messengers who at their annual meeting in June referred this debate over homosexual members at this one church to the executive committee.

Yet famously rejected the creation of a pedophilia database. And although abusers were found on an official church web site, took no other action to protect church members from sexually predatory clergy.

Brown's comment is here.

Prayers for Bobby

From Matter of Faith we learned of the Lifetime movie about the catastrophic failure of the "pray the gay away" approach to homosexuality advocated by some Christian conservatives and in particular Southern Baptists. The movie is Prayers for Bobby. It chronicles the experience of Bobby Griffith, who did not survive his conservative Presbyterian family's attempt to "heal" him.

On Aug. 27, 1983, at the age of 20, Bobby, did a backflip off a freeway overpass, timing his jump so that he landed in the path of a tractor-trailer truck.

The movie is based on a book by the same name. Much of the material from the book, and thus the movie, is from Bobby's diaries.

After Bobby's death, his mother, Mary Griffith, concluded that there had been nothing wrong with Bobby. She concluded that "he was the kind of person God wanted him to be...an equal, lovable valuable part of God's creation." She says, "I helped instill false guilt in an innocent child's conscience."

She became a spokeswoman for and is reportedly still very active in Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

The trailer below will tell you whether you wish to view the entire work:

You can watch it here in four parts.

Acceptable 'Pastor Rick' steps forward

Acceptable "Pastor Rick" spoke from the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta today, and promised to reappear at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration tomorrow in Washington, D.C.

In his keynote Martin Luther Kind Day address, Warren said, according to the Associated Press:

Tomorrow when I pray the invocation for my friend, Dr. King and a whole host of witnesses will be shouting. Martin Luther King was a mighty tool in the hand of God. But God isn't through. Justice is a journey and we're getting further and further along.

Controversial Rick Warren, whose views on homosexuality and the role of women in marriage and in the church brought protesters out today, seemed to be absent from the pulpit of the church where King preached from 1960 until he was assassinated in 1968.

Instead there was a man whose voice may have been very much like the one Gustavo Arellano prayed for in the Los Angeles Times opinion piece we wrote about today. For this was a Rick Warren who urged the crowd to follow King's example of service and selflessness.

One with whom Obama can work, but who to play the role of a national unifying voice will have to make changes in style and content back home at Saddleback Church.

Time will tell, don't you think, whether the self-contradictory Rick Warrens the Boston Globe wrote about today will resolve into a man of sweeping compassion with whom the late Dr. King would in fact have been pleased to work.

Fire in the streets, quiet in the pews

Public conflict between those who view homosexuality as a path to hell and civil liberties activists who reject that view has apparently not built a fire in the pews of U.S. churches.

The 2006-07 National Congregations Study (Wave 2), a major survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,506 congregations from all over the United States, found:

Even though conflicts within American religion over ordaining homosexuals have received a lot of attention in recent years, and seem to be tearing some denominations apart, the overall level of conflict within congregations is about what it was in 1998, with 26 percent of congregations experiencing a conflict in the last 2 years that led some people to leave. (Interestingly, only 2 percent of congregations in the NCS-II reported a conflict over homosexuality.)

That does not mean little is happening in the average church.

Congregations have changed a great deal since the initial, 1998 snapshot (Wave I), as Mark Chaves of Duke University explained:

A second snapshot of U.S. religious congregations reveals four trends in American worship: a growing informality in worship practices, a graying of congregations and clergy (on average), churches becoming less white and more ethnically diverse, and an ever-increasing use of technology.

Change proceeds at a rapid pace -- just not the kind and direction of change implied by the pitched political battles of the past two decades.

Clerical zealots who seek to bar gay church membership, forbid homosexual marriages, keep women out of the pulpits and so on down the culture warriors' list of imponderables may be doomed by a lack of the broad, underlying support required to keep those barriers in place.

Christophobia is what, exactly?

Responding to Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren's Sunday screed denying he had compared homosexuality to incest and pedophilia, Frink wrote:

Giving his critics no credit for good faith, Warren began with a false denial of his earlier incendiary assertions and climbed a tree of polemic, concluding that those who took offense at his views were suffering from "Christophobia."

"Christophobia" is an attack word which has been in use for more than a decade.

As William Safire wrote in On Language:

As Christianist, with its evocation of Islamist, gains wider usage as an attack word on what used to be called the religious right, another suffix is being used in counterattack to derogate those who denounce church influence in politics.

''The Catholic scholar George Weigel calls this phenomenon 'Christophobia,''' the columnist Anne Applebaum wrote in The Washington Post.

She noted that he borrowed the word from the American legal scholar, J.H.H. Weiler.

The word was used by Weigel ''after being struck by the European Union's fierce resistance to any mention of the continent's Christian origins in the draft versions of the new, and still unratified, European constitution.''

There's more -->

Rick Warren revisits himself

Evangelical Pastor Rick Warren, chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to pray at his inauguration, has been misunderstood as a kind of radically insulting extremist in his views of homosexual Americans.

Warren explained exactly how he has been misunderstood in a three-part video blog to his congregation at Saddleback Community Church on Tuesday:

I have in no way ever taught that homosexuality is the same thing as a forced relationship between an adult and a child, or between siblings. I was trying to point out I'm not opposed to gays having their partnership. I'm opposed to gays using the term marriage for their relationship.

His views were still received by many as insulting, as gay rights activists like Pam Spaulding and Wayne Hudson observed. But it is clear that he really didn't intend to put homosexuality on the same moral and ethical level as pedophilia and incest.

Apparently to underline his commitment to a civil dialog, the Saddleback Web site has been rewritten to provide a gentler explanation of homosexuality as a mortal sin. Saddleback Community Church standards are unchanged, of course. Homosexuals must still overcome and cast off their homosexuality, as though it were the equivalent of alcoholism or drug addiction, in order to join his church.

I'm neither homosexual nor remarkable for my devotion to gay rights, and while I see there is a difference between his expressed views and the language in which they were being cast, I don't expect the waters to be abruptly calmed. What Warren and his church have to say to homosexuals is still "repent," not "I accept and respect you just as you are. Let's make peace."

Warren's conciliatory explanation is in my view progress toward such a dialog, but to many a homosexual ear Warren's voice still rings with something like the dulcent tones of the late Bull Connor's expositions on racial equality.