Rev. Al Sharpton on faith-based homophobes

[babylonsister]

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=9020

Quote of the day - Sharpton on faith-based homophobes
by: Pam Spaulding
Tue Jan 13, 2009


OMG. I usually don't agree with him on a host of issues, but what an epic serving of truth LGBT ally Al Sharpton placed on the table at the Human Rights Ecumenical Service held at Atlanta's Tabernacle Baptist Church, where he gave a keynote that smacked down the homobigoted, hypocritical slice of the religious community. It was no coincidence that the event was held to welcome the Alliance of Affirming Faith-Based Organizations.

Can you feel the burn?

"I am tired," he went on, "of seeing ministers who will preach homophobia by day, and then after they're preaching, when the lights are off they go cruising for trade...We know you're not preaching the Bible, because if you were preaching the Bible we would have heard from you. We would have heard from you when people were starving in California--when they deregulated the economy and crashed Wall Street you had nothing to say. When {accused Ponzi scammer} Madoff made off with the money, you had nothing to say. When Bush took us to war chasing weapons of mass destruction that weren't there you had nothing to say.

"But all of a sudden, when Proposition 8 came out, you had so much to say, but since you stepped in the rain, we gonna step in the rain with you."

And this...

"There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end brutality and poverty, but to break into people's bedrooms and claim that God sent you. It amazes me when I looked at California and saw churches that had nothing to say about police brutality, nothing to say when a young black boy was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when they overturned affirmative action, nothing to say when people were being {relegated} into poverty, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to stop consenting adults from choosing their life partners."

[ColbertWatcher]

1. Go Al!

I remember his speech at the 2004 convention!

[Richard Steele]

A big K&R!

[Sultana]

2. Kick some asses Sharpton

:D

[Still Sensible]

3. When he's right, he's right

Thank you Reverend Al

[readmoreoften]

4. Sharpton was my #1 choice in the 2004 election. He was pro-LGBT before Kucinich was pro-choice.

He's a mensch. Love the guy.

[ms liberty]

37. I loved the high speed rail idea he promoted in that primary...n/t

[cliffordu]

5. K&R Go get 'em Al !!!

[ThomCat]

6. Yes! When Al Says it right, he says it right!

This is why the man is still around and will hopefully never go away. He gets it where so many others don't!

[ColbertWatcher]

7. I would rather hear Reverend Al than Smilin' Bigot Warren. n/t

[Luminous Animal]

8. So what is it? Is Sharpton whining or pouting

or ruining DU?

Oh that's right, he's irrelevant because, according to Obama, Sharpton is part of that political excess of the past (snort).

Funny how these "excessive" folks... you know, those who pushed and fought for a real progressive agenda, were, then, on the good side of civil rights history, as they are, now.

[babylonsister]

10. Huh? What's your problem? He deserves props for this.

Your disgust is odd and not related to anything in this thread.

[Luminous Animal]

12. I'm giving him props, He is on the right side of history.

That is why I said this about Sharpton, "Funny how these "excessive" folks... you know, those who pushed and fought for a real progressive agenda, were, then, on the good side of civil rights history, as they are, now."


I put the word excessive in quotes to denote sarcasm. My disgust is pointed to those who regular advise civil rights activists (i.e., the DU LGBTQ community) to STFU and also who will read the OP.


I am a great fan of Sharpton. I am not so much a fan of those who would characterize his life work and ongoing efforts as partisan and an excess of the 60s.

[Divine Discontent]

33. they sound to be in disgust on behalf of Al in their post & in agreement he is awesome. This was

VERY Godly of Al, standing up for others not like himself - what a GODLY man!

Standing up for the downtrodden, and judged in society! What a bold man of God.

GOD BLESS YOU AL SHARPTON!

[ellacott]

20. Obama never said such a thing like that about Sharpton

I wish yall would just stop making up shit.

Sharpton was a supporter of Obama from the beginning but never came out publically until the primaries were nearing an end. He said the reason he didn't come out publically is because his endorsement might hurt Obama in the eyes of those who don't like him. They talked frequently behind the scenes and if you ever listened to Sharpton on black radio he referred to Obama as Mr. President whenever he called in.

Obama never placed Sharpton in that category because it doesn't apply to him.

[rosesaylavee]

9. Say it Al. n/t

[kdmorris]

11. Kudos to him for this!

Oh and :kick:

[Political_Junkie]

13. Oh yeah!

:applause:

[1776Forever]

14. Al got it right! Check this out: Did Rick Warren Do Enough to Stop Torture?

Did Rick Warren Do Enough to Stop Torture?
Tuesday December 16, 2008

http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/12/rick-warren-and-bushs-torture.html

One of the great unwritten stories of the Bush years is why religious leaders remained so quiet on torture. Most conservative Christian leaders were mum.

Rick Warren, a.k.a. America's Pastor, did make a statement against torture a couple of years ago but I was curious whether he did anything beyond that. Here's what he said in the new interview with Beliefnet and The Wall Street Journal:

(snip - video on site)

He says torture is deeply immoral and that the Bush administration did appear to torture - but declines to describe the Bush policy as a moral failing. He says he didn't mention his views on torture because (implausibly) he didn't have the opportunity. Then he said it was inappropriate for him to raise it with Bush because he only offers spiritual support.

It seems to me that Warren is still trying to figure out how and when to exert influence. He can steer entirely clear of controversial issues, playing a purely pastoral role. Or he can be a moral leader advocating for or against causes. But if he weighs in on behalf of some causes -- opposing gay marriage and abortion, for instance -- then he can't well say it would have been inappropriate to campaign harder against torture.

It should be noted: Though I'm chiding Warren for not doing more, he actually went farther than most religious conservatives. Shouldn't there be a certain amount of soul-searching going on among religious conservatives on this issue -- especially now that it's become clear that the administration they supported authorized, laid the groundwork for, and in some cases, directly encouraged torture?

..........

Amen Al! People like Warren speak out when they want their bigoted ideas accepted - Not when it is the right thing to do!

[tuvor]

15. K/R

[LWolf]

16. I've appreciated Sharpton

since '04. I like him better than most "leading" Democrats. It doesn't surprise me that he nails this one.

He would have made a great choice to give that invocation. Even better, as press secretary.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

17. Blame the bible.

The homophobes are reading it right, and Sharpton is reading it wrong.

He's may well be a better person, but they're probably better Christians.

[FreeState]

22. Hu? So what is the bible saying then that is being read wrong? n/t

[Donald Ian Rankin]

32. That homosexuality is immoral.

"Detestable" is the word St Paul used.

The Bible was compiled by 3rd or 4th century religious leaders, based on the writings of 1st and 2nd century religious leaders about the teachings of a highly-religious 1st century Jew. They were a long, long way from being progressive.

A lot of modern Christians believe in interpreting some parts literally and others not. Sadly, it is far more likely that the part meant to be taken figuratively was the part about loving thy neighbour rather than the part about condemning homosexuality.

[FreeState]

34. Most sectarian scholars would disagree...

http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6289

To most readers, the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans contains the Bible's clearest condemnation of same-sex relations--both male and female. Recent scholarship, though, reads the same text and finds just the opposite--that homosexuality is innate and therefore normal, moral, and biblical.

Reconstructing Romans

In Romans, Paul seems to use homosexuality as indicative of man's deep seated rebellion against God and God's proper condemnation of man. New interpretations cast a different light on the passage.

Paul, the religious Jew, is looking across the Mediterranean at life in the capital of Graeco-Roman culture. Homosexuality in itself is not the focus of condemnation. Rather, Paul's opprobrium falls upon paganism's refusal to acknowledge the true God.

It's also possible Paul did not understand the physiological basis of genuine homosexuality. John Boswell, professor of history at Yale, is among those who differ with the classical interpretation. In Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality he writes:

The persons Paul condemns are manifestly not homosexual: what he derogates are homosexual acts committed by apparently heterosexual persons....It is not clear that Paul distinguished in his thoughts or writings between gay persons (in the sense of permanent sexual preference) and heterosexuals who simply engaged in periodic homosexual behavior. It is in fact unlikely that many Jews of his day recognized such a distinction, but it is quite apparent that--whether or not he was aware of their existence--Paul did not discuss gay persons but only homosexual acts committed by heterosexual persons.<1>
Paul is speaking to those who violate their natural sexual orientation, Boswell contends, those who go against their own natural desire: "'Nature' in Romans 1:26, then, should be understood as the personal nature of the pagans in question."<2>

[catrose]

38. I thought the word Paul used

meant using boys for prostitution, not a consenting adult relationship.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

42. What do you mean by "sectarian" in this context?

A large majority of Christian scholars believe that Paul's condemnation of homosexuality means exactly what it says, and people like Boswell are trying to deliberately misinterpret in order to square the Bible with the facts.

So unless you're using "sectarian" in a sense I don't understand, that "most" isn't close to being right.



Paul is fairly clear and explicit - he says that homosexuality is detestable (modulo translation); if he wanted to say that homosexual acts between heterosexual persons were detestable he would have said that, not what he did say.

And unlike Christ, there's a fairly high (albeit not 100%) chance that most of what Paul said has been accurately recorded.

[Creideiki]

23. I'll let Lewis Black do the talking here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGrlWOhtj3g

Too many Christians are relying too heavily on the Old Testament, the book of his people, and that book wasn't good enough for the Christians, was it?

[Tindalos]

18. k&r

[IsItJustMe]

19. I love Al. He get's it wrong half the time, but man, when he gets it right, he hits the nail on the

head.

[Karenina]

21. . .

:kick:

[noiretextatique]

24. tawanna brawley

:sarcasm:

kudos to mr. sharpton :7

[nichomachus]

25. I've been wondering about that lately

The whole Brawley incident has the earmarks of a Karl Rove-type operation. (I'm not saying Rove did it, but it's the same type of affair.) You give someone like Sharpton enough evidence to go off on a tear. Then, you pull the rug out from under him and he will be tainted for life. Any time he tells the truth, all you have to do is yell "Tawana Brawley" and he's discredited.

This is what Rove did to Dan Rather on the TANG affair -- same MO. I've been wondering whether Sharpton wasn't set up.

[noiretextatique]

26. you have to wonder about that

just like i wonder about the "rioters" in oakland last week at the BART shooting protest. i'm sure some of them were just angry folks, but i wonder if some were agent provocateurs.

[Karenina]

27. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!

:loveya:

[noiretextatique]

29. i haven't seen it yet

so i thought i'd post it so others don't have to :loveya:

[nichomachus]

30. That's the same laugh the Freepers use about Rather

and he was definitely set up

[firedupdem]

28. Good For Him!! He may be no angel himself but what he said

was right on the money!

[cynatnite]

31. I loved this so much I tried to rec it a second time n/t

[mdmc]

35. read mdmc!

:kick:R to find...

[ms liberty]

36. K&R. Al Sharpton tells it like it is...again, and it's why the M$M treats him so dismissively . n/t

[Lost-in-FL]

39. Whaaa?

:wow:



:patriot:

[Cabcere]

40. This.

"There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end brutality and poverty, but to break into people's bedrooms and claim that God sent you."

:applause: I wish more people understood this...

[Politicub]

41. Wow - very powerful words - and true

Thank you rev. Sharpton!

:kick:

[fortyfeetunder]

43. Preach it Al!

He is absofrigginlutin right about that. I share his disgust.
And I am wearing my white knot next week.

www.whiteknot.org

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

44. The irony is, I'm not sure Sharpton is that sympathetic on a personal level...

...But he sure carries a strong LGBT sympathy on the social and political stage.