Faith leaders speak OUT against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Religion Dispatch is on a roll this week! They have featured some fantastic articles over the past week (many of which QfN has featured or cited this past week). Today, they have an editorial by Alex McNeill on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).

Harry Knox of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Community Partnerships praised the recent ruling that declared “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to be unconstitutional by acknowledging the ruling as “a vindication of the tireless efforts of advocates over the last 17 years.” The recent decision includes an interesting twist which McNeill explains:

Since the “defendant” in this case is the federal government, any appeal will be seen as coming from President Obama, who has asked Congress to help him repeal DADT.

So it will be very interesting to see how the federal government responds to the court’s decision.

is From a faith leaders’ perspective, Harry Knox, who also the Director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion and Faith Program, said that “[progressive] faith communities care about justice for everyone” and for that reason “thousands of faith leaders are using social networking, their teaching and preaching opportunities, and their voices as prophetic leaders in the public square to amplify God’s call to remove the barriers to service for lesbian and gay people.”

God to anti-gay hatemongers: “Do I know you? For you, do not know me”

Today, I read an article on in the Salt Lake City Tribune titled “Anti-gay hatemongers aren’t doing God’s work.” The article is largely a discussion regarding the Westboro Baptist Church led by the Rev. Fred Phelps. The article’s author, Corey Hodges, explains:

There is no biblical defense for Westboro’s hateful message and insensitive demonstrations. The group’s philosophy and approach are riddled with contradictions. Westboro cannot truly believe in the Bible, which speaks of God’s love, mercy and grace. Jesus vehemently opposed earthly agents of condemnation. He said, in Matthew, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged. … Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye.” Westboro’s hate is a huge plank.

Hodges, a Baptist pastor himself, explains that although the Westboro Baptist Church and its leader have a First Amendment right to the freedom of speech (and to and from religion – I would add), he reminds us:

While Westboro’s actions may be not be illegal, they are immoral and unethical. People of faith must remember that the law cannot be the sole decider of behavior.

In reading the editorial by Rev. Hodges, I feel forced to ask: “What is hate?” and “How is hate manifested in our society?” We need only consider how the United States has responded to Muslims in America and to GLBT Americans to understand how hated is manifested. Hate is a powerful word and as such, is often masked behind other words:

• Some may argue that they speak out against Islam because they feel it is “of the devil.” This is hate.
• Some may argue that gay relationships are abominable in the eyes of God and that they love gay people, but they do not love “the sin.” In fact, the mantra goes “Hate the sin, love the sinner.” This is hate.
• Some may argue that it is “us” against “them.” This is hate.

As a society, we have to stop blanketing hate; we have to stop accepting synonyms for hate, because by such we exercise a silence that allows hate to continue to raise its ugly head in the halls of Congress, behind the guise of a pulpit, and in the words of men of our age who claim to be speaking for God. We must stand and speak in one voice in declaring an end to hate.

When President Obama gave his speech last week declaring an end to military operations in Iraq, I couldn’t help but pray for the day that we may have a similar cry for justice, a similar declaration for the end of hate. We are all called to be prophets of our time by living a life that seeks to be void of hate. We must respond to hate with love, a love that does not judge.

I can only imagine what God might say to those who spew hate: “Do I know you? For you, do not know me.”

Today’s Church Bulletin: September 4, 2010: A non-profit confronts religion-based bigotry, PCUSA won’t marry GLBT Christians, and HRC religion institute

Here are a few headlines from today’s news feed that are worth exploring.

The first article Faith in America non-profit confronts religion-based bigotry by A. Latham Staples explores a non-profit organization – Faith in America – which seeks to confront religious bigotry head-on. Here is an interesting excerpt:

“I had publicly derided gays and lesbians under the banner of Christianity. Soon though, I realized the hostility wasn’t at the center of my Christian beliefs, it was being instilled in me by the church itself,” Childers [Executive Director of Faith in America] said. “For centuries various leaders have used the Bible to preach slavery and segregation, to promote sexism, and to decry interracial marriage.

“The Bible has a divine place for the spiritual life of a person, but you can’t get past the fact that it was written by individuals and has gone through various translations and interpretations,” Childers said. “The teachings in it are a wonderful example of how one should lead their life but shouldn’t be taken literally.”

In 2006 Faith in America gained national attention after the organization disseminated a series of educational campaigns that stirred controversy in a number of communities across the nation. The newspaper ads, radio spots and billboards featured the image of Jesus Christ along with Biblical passages such as “Jesus affirmed a gay couple (Matthew 8:5-13),” “Jesus said some are born gay (Matthew 19:10-12)” and “The early church welcomed a gay man (Acts 8:26-40).”

According to Childers, polling in each community where the ads ran showed an increase in acceptance levels of the LGBT population in comparison to polling completed prior to the running of the ads.

The organization reminds me of another organization, Soulforce, which organizes the annual equality ride that visits religious-schools around the country that deny GLBT students equal standing and protections. Learn more about Soulforce on their website. Read the entire article about Faith in America online at San Diego Gay & Lesbian News.

A second article is an interesting discussing about the Presbyterian Church’s (PCUSA) position on gay marriage. Read the article online at Get Religion.

And today’s winning article comes from Religion Dispatch. Rebecca Alpert provides a guest blog entry regarding the Human Rights Campaign’s Summer Institute for LGBT graduate students studying religious studies. Though this blog is not a fan of the HRC for a variety of reasons — largely because it represents rich, white, gay men — this Institute seems rather interesting based on the coverage provided by Alpert. Read about the Summer Institute on Religion Dispatch.