RELIGIOUS ISSUES
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1. Good News for Same Gender Loving Folk
2. Rev. Michael Eric Dyson Leads NBJC’s Religious Advisory Committee
GOOD NEWS FOR SAME GENDER LOVING FOLK:
What is the Good News?
The Good News about lesbians, gay men, and bisexual and transgendered people is that you are loved by God.
Does the bible have good news for same gender loving people?
The bible is silent on homosexual orientation and does not condemn same-sex love. The term “homosexual” was not a viable concept in biblical times. In fact, the word ‘homosexual’ was invented by an Austro-Hungarian named Carl Maria Kert-beny in 1869.The word, and therefore the concept did not reach American shores until about 1900.“Homosexual’ did not enter into biblical texts until 1946. The fact that humans have differing, innate sexual orientations is a relatively new concept and not known to the apostle Paul or the writers of Leviticus. The bible honors the love between Jonathan and David, Ruth and Naomi, and the two soldiers in the New Testament that slept together and was blessed by Jesus.
Was Jesus silent on the issue of homosexuality?
The majority of translations of the New Testament show that Christ did not mention homosexuality or same-sex behavior in any context. But one translation from the Aramaic (one of the languages that Christ spoke) does show that Christ condemned anti-gay sentiment or homophobia.
The text is Matthew 5:22 from “The Holy Bible” George M. Lamsa’s translation from the Aramaic of the Pehsitta texts: Christ is quoted:
” …and whoever says to his brother, you are effeminate (footnote abnormal) is condemned to hell fire.” It is homophobia that is condemned by Christ, not homosexuality.
Is there a credible case against homosexuals or homosexuality in the bible?
“No credible case against homosexuality or homosexuals can be made from the Bible unless one chooses to read scripture in a way that simply sustains the existing prejudice against homosexuality and homosexuals. The combination of ignorance and prejudice under the guise of morality makes the religious community and its abuse of scripture in this regard, itself morally culpable.”
Rev. Peter Gomes,
From “The Good Book”
We recommend that you explore these issues in depth by accessing the following links:
www.soulforce.org (Click on “resources”)
www.affirmunited.ca/goodnews.htm
www.christaingays.com/education.shtm/
www.mcctoronto.com/resources/bible_article_1.htm
Sacred Work
The Religious Affairs Program will help clergy and those of all faiths to calibrate the moral compass of their faith traditions more towards justice by becoming more affirming and welcoming of same gender loving and transgendered people and their families. NBJC will work with our allies who haves strong emotional and cultural connections to churches, synagogues, and mosques, and assemblies of all faith traditions to build bridges across belief systems and secular divides.
Religious-based hostility and animosity towards God’s lesbian, gay men, bisexual and transgendered children is a theology that is alien to the historical underpinnings of traditional black theology which is animated by love, welcome, compassion, understanding, justice, and emancipation.
Marriage equality is being fiercely fought on religious grounds. We are reclaiming that ground. Lesbian and gay people are forming lifetime covenants with one another raising families and contributing to faith and secular communities. These covenants with God, one another and their communities deserve our respect and protection.
This is sacred work, existing at the intersections of faith, justice, goodwill, and community. It is our prayer that homophobia in the black church will someday be an artifact of archeology, and not an article of faith.
What We Have Done:
- Established a Religious Advisory Committee which states as its creed:
“We affirm and acknowledge the divine image of lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgender people, and find them worthy of respect, including their relationships, their families, and their desire to marry.
Therefore,
- We lend our voices and visions for justice, equality and an end to the divisive use of faith
- We seek to find common ground to work together to create a more Beloved Community
- We resist all efforts to divide and conquer Black America through the machinations of a religious right-wing agenda
- We actively oppose discrimination and unjust legislation for same gender loving people and all other efforts to divide the black community with gay baiting and homophobia
- We affirm the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexual, and transgender people to marry the persons they love
- We will dialogue with black religious leaders on the effects of their homophobic pronouncements on society
In January of this year, NBJC conducted a two day “Black Church Summit” in
We established the Black Church Social Justice Community Action Network, designed to support on-going state, local and national actions intended to energize a pro-gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Black faith-based movement.
We energized a body of clergy, seminarians, and lay people to take same gender loving civil rights to a new level.
What We plan to Do:
- Organize the First Annual Faithful Call to Justice on Saturday, June 24 and Sunday June 25, 2006. This action is calling on clergy nationwide to give pro-gay sermons or have churches, synagogues and mosques have programs related to same gender loving civil rights
- Create materials/templates for the Black Church Social Justice Community Action Network to convene town hall meetings for same gender loving rights, marriage protections, and to challenge homophobia in black churches
- Organize follow-up meetings
- Develop a Seminary Project: Send pro-same gender loving clergy to seminaries to talk about same gender loving rights and marriage protections in a spiritually infused manner
How Can You Get Involved?
If you wish to join the Black Church Social Justice Community Action Network, send an email to: Sylvia Rhue at srhue@nbjcoalition.org with a request to join. Please send 1) Identifying information, and 2) Indicate the type of work you are most interested in.
Rev. Michael Eric Dyson Joins NBJC Religious Advisory Committee
Renown public intellectual, professor of Afro American and Religious Studies and Avalon Foundation Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Rev. Michael Eric Dyson has become the Chair of NBJC’s Religious Advisory Committee.
The National Black Justice Coalition established the Department of Religious Affairs to discuss, strategize and the challenges of anti-same gender loving religious-based effort to neutralize or eliminate same gender loving civil rights.
We recognize that we have a spiritual commitment to the value of and inclusion of lesbians, gay men and bisexual and transgender people in all walks of life. We believe in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ideas of a “Beloved Community” and we believe in the concept of “Equal Justice for Equal Souls”.
We are concerned with the legacy and the historical mission of the
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Here is a list of books that can be helpful in answering questions:
Unclutter: Cleanse Your Spirit and Claim Your Stuff by Pastor Kevin E. Taylor (www.kevinetaylor.com/)
The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart by Dr. Peter Gomes
Black Gay and Christian: An Inspirational Guide Book to Daily Living by Herndon Davis (www.blackgaychristian.com)
Love is Letting Go of Fear by Dr. Gerald G. Jampolsky, MD
Your God is Too Small by J. B. Phillips
One More River to Cross: Black and Gay in America by Keith Boykin (www.keithboykin.com)
Recovering from Bible Abuse by Dr. Rembert Truluck (www.truluck.com)
Sexuality and the
Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture by Bishop John Shelby Spong (www.bishopspong.com)
Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile by Bishop John Shelby Spong (www.bishopspong.com)
Living in Sin?: A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality by Bishop John Shelby Spong (www.bishopspong.com)
Saving Jesus from Those Who are Right by Carter Heyward
A Whosoever Church: Welcoming Lesbians and Gay Men into African American Congregations by Gary David Comstock
Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery by Naim Akbar
Is the Homosexual My Neighbor: A Positive Christian Response by Letha D. Scanzoni and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott
The Sacred Yes by Reverend Debra L. Johnson
Sister Wisdom by Patricia Reid-Merritt
