Christians Behaving Badly

This morning, I came accross to examples of people who profess to being Christians and yet acting very differently than the person they claim to follow. First off is a report that far-right Christian activists have succeeded in gathering enough signatures to put an initative to repeal the state of Maine's Gay Rights Law on the ballot this November. On the news of acheiving the required signatures, Tim Russell of the Christian Civic League of Maine said, "Praise the Lord."

I find it sickening to give God praise for a ballot measure that would say it is okay to fire someone from a job, deny them housing or even a hotel room simply because they are gay. That isn't the Jesus that I worship. I don't think he's any better than some segregationist ala the 1950s who thought it was okay to do these same things simply because someone's skin is black.

In a related case, as an African American who is gay and also a devout Christian, I have experienced first hand how predominantly black churches can be incredibily homophobic. Just one example is a, ahem, "sermon" given by the Reverend Willie Wilson, pastor of Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington, DC. I never thought I would say that a sermon might be too graphic for some listeners, but this sermon was just that. Here is some of the tamer portions:

“… We live in a time when our brothers have been so put down, can’t get a job, lot of the sisters making more money than brothers. And it’s creating problems in families. That’s one of the reasons our families’ breaking up. And that’s one of the reasons many of our women are becoming lesbians. You got to be careful when you say you don’t need no man. I can make it by myself. Well, if you don’t need a man, what’s left? Lesbianism is about to take over our community. I’m talking about young girls. My son in high school last year, trying to go to the prom, he said, ‘Dad, I ain’t got nobody to take to the prom because all the girls in my class are gay. There ain’t but two of them straight and both of them are ugly. I ain’t got nobody to take to the prom.’

Oh and it gets worse. This is the kind of stuff African Americans who are gay have to put up with in churches accross the nation. It's a dirty little secret in the black community, but homophobia is a problem and it's a problem we as black people must face head on. We who have known what it's like to be discrimated against, should not be trying to oppress another group. And please don't say, "It's in the Bible" because white segregationists used that excuse.

On a brighter note, The Washington Blade has an excellent piece on predominantly African American churches that have welcomed gays and lesbians. I'm glad to see this and hope it becomes a trend.