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The Newsletter of the Interfaith Working Group
September 1998
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The Ad Campaign 1
In early July, Rev. D. James Kennedy's
Center for Reclaiming America (CRA)
began taking out full page anti-gay ads in major
papers. Ostensibly for ex-gay organization
Exodus
(previously presented as apolitical), the ads include
phone numbers for fifteen Religious Right organizations,
including the
Family Research Council (FRC).
The FRC's Robert Knight called them "the Normandy
Landing in the culture war." Four ads were created;
people featured include Reggie White and Ann Paulk
(whose husband John is the head of Exodus). Appearing
in the New York Times, Washington Post,
USA Today, Los Angeles Times,
Miami Herald, and San Francisco Examiner,
many sources estimated the cost to be at least
$600,000.
The Miami Herald and New York Times
interviewed the CRA's Janet Folger, who also debated
Andrew Sullivan on Nightline; the Paulks were
on Newsweek's cover; commentaries ran in
Time and U.S. News and World Report;
Politically Incorrect and the
McLaughlin Group debated causes of orientation;
sports writers rehashed White's views;
NGLTF and HRC
folks debated Exodus folks on talk shows; and editors,
letter writers, and columnists debated whether
orientation can change, not its pertinence to equal
protection. The Miami Herald's Nancy
Murrell compared the ads to 1940's anti-Jewish and
-Japanese propaganda. After the first ad the
Inquirer and Daily News ran a
Reuters story; the Daily News ran a reduction
of the ad as an illustration. Daily News
reporter Ron Goldwyn wrote a story (we helped find
subjects) about the local ex-gay ministry
Harvest,
and Chris Paige of
Tabernacle United
Church and
The Other Side magazine.
Also in the Daily News: a sports-section profile of
White and an editorial against ex-gay ministries.
Rabbi Rebecca Alpert and Rev. Patricia Pearce were
on a show on WIP-radio, and the Inquirer
covered a Harvest meeting and ran a letter about
the ads from Rev. Pearce.
The first ad shows Anne Paulk, "wife, mother,
former lesbian," with her wedding ring prominent.
A short biography is followed by an admonition tell
people you love the truth. (It was to have included
the Exodus phone number, but a number for a store in
rural Alabama was printed instead). The second ad
says that calling homosexual behavior a sin is pro-life
and motivated by love; that Christians are attacked
for being anti-homosexuality; and that homosexuality
is related to disease, drug abuse, alcoholism and
suicide. Most troubling quote: "...if we can't talk
about sin as a nation, just where is our moral
compass pointed? And is there truth in a created
moral order, or is truth anything we define it to
be?" The third ad shows White in his uniform
(against NFL policy; later he was shown in a turtleneck).
Entitled, "In Defense of Free Speech," it compares
detractors of White and Trent Lott to oppressive
third-world governments, rants about gays recruiting
in schools and legally-mandated acceptance of
homosexuality in churches, and decries "the raw
political power" of "homosexual activists."
Free speech is defined as Jesus coming to
"reveal God's honest truth about deception and sin
and to offer a way out with a lifetime guarantee."
The fourth ad, "From innocence to AIDS,"
features Michael Johnston
(of Kerusso Ministries)
and his parents. It is largely a discussion of
his parents refusal to accept him as gay, the fact
that he has AIDS, and how with God's help he became
an anti-gay-rights activist. The ad urges parents
to refuse to accept their children being gay, depicting
the lives of gay men and lesbians as filled with
"anonymous sex, drugs, alcohol... and even physical
violence."
The Ad Campaign II
On the same day the Reggie White ad appeared in
USA Today, the Human Rights Campaign and
several other gay-rights organizations (none
religious) purchased an ad in that paper featuring
an out lesbian and her supportive lesbian parents.
Other responses to the ads: The author of one of the
studies cited in the second ad said that the authors
of the ad reached the exact opposite conclusion from
that reached in the study, and that he believes an
intolerant society causes drug abuse, alcoholism
and suicide, not homosexuality itself. On August 20,
organizers say that about 2,800 people from 45
organizations, including
Dignity
and
congregation Etz Chaim,
staged a "March for Truth," outside
Coral Ridge
Ministries, home to Kennedy's
Center for Reclaiming America.
In San Francisco, three supervisors suggested the
$35,000 that the Examiner received for the
anti-gay ad that appeared there be donated to the
Gay and Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation. There were several
press conferences in Washington: one at the
Religious Roundtable
[see article], one called by the
HRC which featured the national
UCC
Office of Church in Society and other pro-gay
religious leaders, and one featuring ex-ex-gays.
Rev. Mel White, Minister of Justice for the
UFMCC,
issued a Soulforce response calling on everyone
to surround the organizations in the ads "with truth
and love relentlessly," and for a national campaign
of civil disobedience.
The organizations listed in the ad are:
the Alliance for Traditional Marriage--Hawaii,
the American Family Association,
Americans for Truth about Homosexuality,
the
Center for Reclaiming America,
the
Christian Family Network,
the Christian Coalition,
Citizens for Community Values,
Colorado for Family Values,
Concerned Women for America,
Coral Ridge Ministries,
Family First,
the Family Research Council,
Liberty Counsel,
National Legal Foundation,
and
Kerusso Ministries.
In response to the responses there was an
FRC press conference with anti-gay-rights clergy.
And the next propaganda wave from Kenney is in the
works: On a recent Sunday morning show he announced
he is raising $300,000 to blame the recent school
shooting deaths of Christian children on the
ACLU
(because of its anti-school-prayer work).
United Methodist Church
On August 11, the United Methodist Judicial Council
ruled that performing commitment ceremonies for
same-sex couples is a chargeable offense.
According to
CORNET's web page,
as of August 16, 245 United Methodist clergy had
signed a statement: "..we will celebrate rites of union
with all couples, regardless of gender, as part
of the pastoral responsibilities consistent with the
Gospel and spirit of Jesus Christ, entrusted to us by
the United Methodist
Church." Eight are from Eastern PA: Robert G.
Coombe, James F. McIntire, and six
IWG supporters:
Art Brandenburg, David W. Brown, Ted Loder, David
Tatgenhorst, Hal Taussig, and Tim Thomson-Hohl.
Please keep the signers in your thoughts and prayers.
Also on August 11, the
Reconciling Congregations Program
released a statement calling the decision
"deplorable and theologically unsound."
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The PCUSA
General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission
refused to overturn the ordination of gay elder
Dr. Ray Whetstone
(Second Presbyterian of Ft. Lauderdale),
saying, (according to the Miami Herald:
"We exhort the church not to provoke such proceedings
through irregular ordinations or to initiate
disciplinary actions vindictively or without
prayerful consideration."
Lambeth Conference
There was a good deal of press in the U.S. for the
once-a-decade meeting of the world's Anglican bishops,
which passed non-binding resolutions stating that
abstinence is right for those not called to marriage,
(understood as a lifelong union between a man and a
woman), that homosexual practice is incompatible with
Scripture, and that they cannot advise the legitimizing
or blessing of same-sex unions or the ordination of those
involved in such unions. The vote was 526 for, 70
against, with 45 abstentions.
Bishop Bennison voted
against the resolution. In other areas of the country,
newspapers either interviewed the local bishop or
an op-ed pieces by Episcopal priests. The
dissenting bishops released a statement aimed at
sexual minorities, saying in part:
"We pledge that we will continue to reflect, pray,
and work for your full inclusion in the life of the
church." A statement from
Integrity
said full inclusion of openly gay clergy and laity
would continue, as would celebrations of lesbian
and gay unions: "The life of the Church...is not going
to come to a halt because bishops from other parts
of the world refused to even listen to the stories
of their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters and
even denied their existence."
Southern Baptist Church's Sign Defaced
According to the Kansas City Star,
the sign for
Broadway Baptist Church
(affiliated with the
Southern Baptists)
was defaced with spatters of black ink.
"Baptist" was replaced with "Sodom" and the words
"repent" and "Jesus" were added. The church has
seven pastors, one of whom is gay, and
openly gay members.
UUA and Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts
told
Unitarian Universalist
congregations that award Religion and Life badges
to stop giving them, because they include information
about the UUA's opposition to the Scouts' discriminatory
policies in the award manual. UUA president John
A. Buehrens, a Life Scout, wrote to Lawrence Ray
Smith, Ph.D., Chair of the Boy Scouts of America
Religious Relationship Committee, saying in part:
"Your committee is charged with... [helping]
the BSA relate to the increasing religious
pluralism of American society. Judging by your
letter, you are in danger of failing in that task.
You risk exposing the BSA to charges of
discrimination--not only against a sexual minority,
but against entire religious groups, starting with
Unitarian Universalism, a movement which has deep
spiritual roots in America's commitment to religious
freedom, to democratic values, and to minority rights."
Abstinence Programs
Abstinence programs to decrease the single teen
mom birth rate and STD's have been announced by
the Texas and Mississippi governors. The programs
are not presented in the context of family planning
or comprehensive sex education. In Texas, Governor
Bush said": "Cultural wars must be waged on multiple
fronts." Governor Kirk Fordice touted the
"traditional family unit...the cornerstone of American
survival, strength and success."
Letterhead Changes
Rabbi Amy Levenson has left the area. We have added
Rabbi Linda Potemken of
Beth Israel in Media,
and Rabbi Marc Margolius of
Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley.
Religious Leadership Roundtable
In July,
Equal Partners in Faith
and the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Policy Institute sponsored the
Religious Leadership Roundtable in Washington, DC.
The Interfaith Working Group
participated, as well as the
American Friends Service Committee,
Americans United
for Separation of Church and State,
the Brethren/Mennonite Council,
Dignity/USA,
Disciples Justice Action Network,
Gay Muslims Email Mailing List,
Integrity,
Lutherans Concerned,
Methodist Federation for Social Action,
More Light Presbyterians,
New Ways Ministry,
PFLAG,
the Reconciling Congregations Program,
Unitarian Universalist Association,
United Methodist Affirmation,
United Methodist
Covenant Relationships Network (CORNET),
the U.S. Urban Rural Mission of the
World Council of Churches,
Unity Fellowship Churches,
the Universal Fellowship of
Metropolitan Community Churches,
and the
World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish
Organizations. A press conference about the
advertisements appeared several times on C-SPAN
tape delay.
We were thrilled that so many organizations met in
a spirit of overwhelming cooperation, agreed to
meet again regularly, and agreed to consider a
structure and possible education projects. We
look forward to doing what we can to make this
endeavor a success.
Lawsuit
The
Urban Family Council,
which helped organize opposition fo the Life Partnership
ordinances, is now financing and publicizing a
lawsuit to block implementation of the ordinances.
Bill Devlin vowed to take the case to the State
Supreme Court.
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