Black Pastors' Group Urges Civil Disobedience Against Gay Marriage Ruling
Saturday, 27 Jun 2015 06:42 PM
"I was in the civil rights movement, so I know how to do it" the Rev. Bill Owens, president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors (CAAP), said in an interview. "When we sat at the counters at restaurants, we knew we were going to be arrested. You do things to get arrested, to call attention to it.
[Amen brother!] "So many people were silent," he added. "The church people were absolutely silent on this issue. A few leaders spoke out, but the masses of the church people were silent."
[Do I hear Amen!] When asked why people were unwilling to speak against President Barack Obama when he came out for gay marriage in 2012, Owens responded: "The whites didn't want to come out against Obama since he endorsed it so strongly and they didn't want to be called bigots — and the blacks didn't want "I came out very powerfully against Mr. Obama when he stood for same-sex marriage."
A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Friday that gays and lesbians had a legal right to marry in all 50 states. Only 36 states and the District of Columbia had allowed gay marriage.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, just as he did in the court's previous three major gay rights cases dating back to 1996.
Chief Justice John Roberts and the courts three other conservatives — Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas — each filed their own separate dissenting opinions.
Scalia slammed the majority's opinion as a "threat to American democracy."
The decision "says that my ruler and the ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court," Scalia said.
Founded in 1993, CAAP is based in Memphis and has more than 7,000 members. In 2012, the group spoke out against both President Obama and the NAACP for their gay marriage support.
In April, the group called on liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Elena Kagan to recuse themselves from the case because of their "stated bias" on the issue.
"Their positions were already known," Owens told Newsmax. "That takes away from the credibility of the court's decision.
Despite the court's ruling, "I absolutely would not do a gay marriage," Owens declared. "Absolutely.
"I think of our children," Owens continued. He is the father of two young adopted children. "What it's going to do to our children. What kind of world are they going to grow up in?
"I've said for two years that we're going to have to have civil disobedience. They were very cunning in the way they did it," he said, referencing gay-rights advocates.
"Since I was in the civil rights movement, I know that if the people come together in force, things will happen. How they will happen, I don't know.
"The homosexual community has not shown all of what it's going to do," Owens said. He mentioned a 2013 California law that allows boys and girls to use the same bathrooms and showers in public schools.
"They have a game plan that, now that the Supreme Court has ruled, will take this country down a very immoral path," Owens said.
He told Newsmax that he believed that President Obama had always supported gay marriage.
"I knew that he was going to do it the second term," Owens told Newsmax. "His deal was, 'Get me elected the first time, and I'll come out for same-sex marriage in my second term.'
"He deceived the American people, because the black community would not have backed him had he come out the first time for same-sex marriage. Some people just didn't want to speak against Obama."
Owens reiterated his call for civil disobedience, acknowledging that "our work is cut out for us.
"It's going to be much harder, because we're going to have to go from state to state. It's going to be hard to do, but it can be done.
"Remember, blacks worked for 300 years for civil rights in the courts. Three-hundred long years. It's not something that we're going to win overnight.
"There is no quick fix, but I think now the church will rise up," Owens added. "All the Christian churches in the United States that believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, they need to rise up."
The organization is asking those who believe in traditional marriage to sign a petition on its website.
"We're asking people to rise up and be ready to go to jail," Owens told Newsmax. "Why go to jail? To let it be known that we will not bow down, we will not give up, whatever the costs.
"It’s the new civil rights movement, because they are taking away our rights. They are taking away the Christian's rights. This is just a start.
"We have nothing against homosexuals," Owens added, "but when you start talking about marriage, and then indoctrinating children, where are we going? Where is this society headed?"
26 comments:
Blacks, as a rule, do not care for gays. A prison warden I know said that gays do not do well among blacks in the prison population…they even had a separate wing in the prison for gays…the inmates and guards called it "the girls dorm." Oddly, adult blacks with intact families are often very conservative with regard to moral values. But, their race trumps good sense when it comes to voting and they end by electing an immoral, ethical imbecile to the presidency and harming us all.
How about homegrown: Read St Thomas Aquinas definition of law and discussions on it. That was our homily today. In the reactionary traditionalist FSSP parish.
"Only 36 states and the District of Columbia had allowed gay marriage."
In fact, only 11 states and DC have revised the definition of marriage (see Appendix B to the opinion of the Court, which lists the sources legalising same-sex "marriage").
Martin
You should do a little research on the Rev. Bill Owens (someplace other than NewsMax) before citing him as an authority on anything.
His coalition apparently is an "Astroturf" front group that represents nobody but himself (he appears at press conferences alone).
There's no contemporaneous record of his involvement in the civil-rights movement, and nobody involved in the '60s remembers him at all.
Just as Fox News can always find a black man who loves the Confederate flag, there are always people like Rev. Owens for hire.
He certainly has a right to speak, as much as me or you or Angry A, but there's no proof he's a spokesman for anything.
The last Pew Research Center poll said 41 percent of blacks support same-sex marriage, which is less than some other groups but a far cry from "blacks don't care for gays."
Like it or not, the poll says most American Catholics support SSM.
That probably explains why it is getting harder and harder to find credible opponents.
So folks on a Catholic blog end up posting rants from the likes of Rev. Wells, who sounds like a fraud, or Franklin Graham, who does not have a toenail's worth of his grandfather's humanity.
As opposed to discussing the very humane and balanced statements by Bishop Hartmeyer or Archbishop Gregory.
Angry A exhorting the moral code of prison inmates. Who needs Saturday Night Live for laughs?
Much ado about...nothing.
The black vote has been going heavily Democratic for president since LBJ in 1964--even as late as 1960, about a third of the (then small) black vote went to the GOP, Nixon that year. But Goldwater's campaign against the 1964 Civil Rights Act got the black vote on board with the Democrats, often 90 percent or more, and things haven't changed much since then. n Just like southern whites these days vote overwhelmingly Republican.
Atlanta Democratic Congressman John Lewis has long endorsed same-sex marriage and abortion on demand. He is a member of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church---as in the King family. His pastor openly endorsed Michelle Nunn for US Senate last year---she was strongly pro-choice and pro same-sex marriage. The sermons at Ebenezer (you can see them on our local cable) usually hit Democratic themes---support for Medicaid expansion, opposition to picture ID to vote. Apparently those issues are more important to the pastor, Rapheal Warnock, than the carnage of abortion on the black community. We even have a "Concerned Black Clergy" group here in Atlanta led by the controversial Timothy McDonald, who has endorsed contraception coverage---whether you are married or not---under Obamacare. No speaking out against abortion or same-sex marriage.
lican
Certainly a lot of blacks opposed same-sex marriage, as reflected by the 76% statewide support for the ban in Georgia in 2004---well above normal Republican showings in the state. All 159 counties votedfor the ban, bfrom blue Bibb County (Macon) and Richmond County (Augusta), to very red counties in the north Georgia mountains and southeast Georgia. But the black voters have not punished at the polls the many black politicians like Lewis who endorse same sex marriage. And of course, same sex marriage has become a sacrament in the Democratic party, much like abortion on demand has. LOL even finding a Georgia Democratic politician these days who opposes either....
If Trashy is correct about most Catholics, then what is the future of the Church? What does it mean to call oneself a "Catholic", but then to publicly oppose Church teaching on faith or morals? It's easier for me to respect a pagan with integrity than such Catholics lacking integrity.
The comparisons made between last week's pro-fruitless marriage decision and the Sixties Civil Rights movement is very odd. There was nothing in the law before preventing a homosexualized man who still wanted to have children from marrying a woman. Therefore, there was no discrimination. Normal or abnormal, marriage was open to every man and woman.
Angry Augustinians, as a rule, do not care for blacks or gays or protestants or for Mexicans or for poor people or for old people or for uneducated people or for liberals or for disabled people or for anybody who is not like them or does not agree with them and kiss up to them.
As opposed to discussing the very humane and balanced statements by Bishop Hartmeyer or Archbishop Gregory.
I much prefer the OCA's response: namely, that this decision is irrelevant for Orthodox Christians. We're to continue living the Christian life, focusing on our own salvation. The Church has not, nor will it, change its teachings on marriage.
Would all of you people please stop the name-calling and exaggerated accusations? I used to read this blog daily, but the petty bickering is getting old. I'm about the can the whole thing.
…or gobs.
85 miles up the road from Macon (I think y'all know what city I am referring to), cultural degradation is in "full bloom" after the Supreme Court's Friday misinterpretation of the Constitution. Paraphrasing from our local paper stories of the last few days:
"They affirmed gay marriage! They affirmed gay marriage!" boasted the Rev. Dan Matthews and his staff (St. Luke's Episcopal Church in midtown Atlanta, just north of our Basilica of the Sacred Heart). The church (St. Lukes, of course, not the basilica) that night had an interfaith service to celebrate the ruling. This in a denomination which has lost nearly half its members in the last 50 years (3.6 million in 1965, 1.9 million today). Expect more losses after this decision....and the election this past weekend of a new presiding bishop who opposed (in his home state of North Carolina) a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage (a measure eagerly backed by the state's two Catholic bishops, much as Georgia's then-Catholic bishops backed a ban in our state 11 years ago).
---At the North Decatur Presbyterian Church in DeKalb County, the co-pastor celebrated "marriage equality" and in the children's part of the service, there was a story about a boy "marrying" his two mothers...
---And at Dr. Kin's old Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Rev. Warnock preached a sermon which obviously approves of the stand of our very liberal congressman, John Lewis. The reverend said that gay marriage doesn't threaten other marriages, and that he does not want the Supreme Court interpreting scripture. Agreed on that point--I don't want them to interpret scripture either, but I do want them to faithfully interpret the Constitution and not "invent" new rights.
---And in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo (remember, the son of the late "I'm personally opposed, but...Mario Cuomo) presided over a same-sex ceremony in his home state. I am awaiting to see if any Church disciplinary action will be taken against him...but not holding my breath.
All this reminds me of a homily my pastor gave years ago---paraphrasing the late CS Lewis---"If being a Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" If America were the person on trial for such a crime, I think the evidence would be pretty clear by now---overwhelmingly NO!!!
The same is true of the Episcopal Church in Macon. Two parishes have male priest who are openly gay and in a relationship with each other although they work at different churches. One of these priests had an episcopalian Eucharist Friday night to celebrate the Supreme Court's decision!
Golly, I would think Episcopalians in Macon might be a little more conservative than their brethren here in Atlanta. How wrong I was...then again, they have a bishop who has presided at a same-sex liturgy at a parish in Decatur a year or so ago. Some years ago, at the annual convention of the diocese (of Atlanta), a resolution was rejected requiring clergy to abstain from sex outside of marriage...and the bishop at that time now is dean of theology at the University of the South (Sewanee). I suspect a lot of politically correct theology being taught up there these days...
The Methodists may be the next to break up on this issue---their church law prohibits same-sex ceremonies, but a lot of Methodists outside the South want to allow them. There already has been some "civil disobedience" on that issue within the Church...over at Emory University, a chaplain affiliated with the Cannon Chapel praised the Supreme Court decision...
Meanwhile, I saw online that Russia's Vladamir Putin, posing with the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, has accused the West of being "morally bankrupt." Hard to argue with him on that, though he isn't exactly the ideal spokesman for traditional moral views!
The episcopal bishop in Atlanta gave his imprimatur to the active gay relationship of the two priests in Macon even without a Church recognition of the union or legal partnership.
Yes, you are speaking of Robert C. Wright (bishop) who seems to be even more liberal than his predecessors. Relations between Atlanta's Catholic and Episcopal dioceses were fairly warm in the 1970s and 1980s but I think have fizzled some in large part because of the marriage issue. On the flip side, relations up here have grown warmer with the local Greek Orthodox diocese, as seen by two yearly ecumenical gatherings which alternate between each cathedral.
In Savannah (Episcopal Diocese of Georgia), then Bishop Lessard had good relations with Paul Reeves and Harry Shipps, who were diocesan bishops between 1972-1985 and 1985-1995 respectively for that diocese. Bishop Reeves was an opponent of both women's ordination and liberalized morality views and Bishop Shipps generally was conservative on moral questions. But their current bishop, Scott Benhase, unfortunately is not a chip off the old Episcopal block in that diocese---he endorsed the Court's same-sex marriage ruling of last Friday. As he is from the very liberal Diocese of Washington (DC), I guess that is to be expected!
Father, I would assume ecumenical dialogue with Episcopalians in your area is in something of hard freeze?
No ecumenical relations at all.
Why would anyone talk with Episcopalians for any reason?
AA:
Here is one reason – because one is married to one. Now, you had better be very, very careful what you say now. In fact, you might be well advised to say nothing at all.
Well, I suppose if you are married to one that does require some communication…at the very least, "yes, dear" and "I agree, dear." LOL!
I can't speak concerning modern Episcopalians, but I'd love the chance to speak with the 17th century Anglicans that occupied the awkward and seemingly conflicting positions of having Reformed theology whilst preferring liturgical worship. I'm not sure such people even exist anymore.
Here is a very interesting take on the role of the Supreme Court in our constitutional system and on how the politicization of the process for confirming Supreme Court nominees during the last few decades has corrupted the character of the Court:
http://www.ozy.com/pov/the-problem-with-the-courts/6035
AA:
Now you are beginning to get the idea – communication. You should try it sometime.
Why Anon 2, I feel that my beliefs and opinions are perfectly clearly conveyed on this blog.
These people better read the bible. The bible states plainly that marriage is between a man and a woman. The bible speaks against homosexuality in Leviticus, Romans, Deutoromy, Jude and is probably in more scriptures than that.
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