SOULFORCE REPORT ON SOUTHERN BAPTIST ACTION IN INDIANA - ANTI-GAY RHETORIC CONTINUES

(Indianapolis) - For the 5th year in a row, Soulforce volunteers stood vigil outside the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting to confront the untruths perpetuated by Southern Baptist resolutions and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. The annual meeting, which took place in Indianapolis, attracted about 80 Soulforce volunteers, who gathered in Indy to try to help change the hearts and minds of the Southern Baptists and empower GLBT people to stand up against their own oppression.

For three days, in the heat and the rain, Southern Baptist messengers encountered Soulforce volunteers at the street corners and sidewalks, handing out literature and booklets, singing songs, and talking about the spiritual violence wrought by Southern Baptist rhetoric and policies.

Southern Baptist Convention passed resolutions supporting the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which is intended to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution against GLBT couples and their children by defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Earlier in the day, President Bush spoke by satellite praising Southern Baptists for their conservative views, and urging them to support the FMA.

In addition, the Southern Baptist Convention pulled out of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) because the SBC felt the BWA was increasingly anti-American and too tolerant of liberal theology, by accepting the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as a member in 2003.

On the final evening, Rev. Steve Gaines, pastor of First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Ala., railed against homosexuality, by saying, "God characterized homosexuality as an abomination in Leviticus 18, and He sandwiched it right between adultery, child sacrifice and having sex with an animal." He urged Southern Baptists to contact their congresspeople to lobby for approval of the Federal Marriage Amendment.

“The SBC continues to be a primary source of spiritual violence against us. It saddens and sickens me that they are so full of fear and condemnation. I know God loves gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people just the way we are, and some day, full equality will happen, and the church will have to apologize to us,” said Karen Weldin, former Southern Baptist, graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, and Director of Operations for Soulforce. “We will be in Nashville in 2005 for the next SBC annual meeting to continue our relentless confrontation of the shameful untruths.

“Our hope in changing the SBC lies with the youth,” said Jamie McDaniel, co-chair of the Soulforce Southern Baptist Denominational Team. Soulforce volunteers distributed a 48 page study guide geared toward Southern Baptist youth, entitled: Christian Youth – an Important Voice in the Present Struggle for Gay Rights in America. The guide was written by Soulforce youth and young adults and is available at www.soulforce.org/youth/youthstudyguide.pdf
Pictures taken at the action can be viewed at www.soulforce.org

Soulforce is a national interfaith organization committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Soulforce teaches and employs the nonviolent principles of Gandhi and King to the liberation of sexual and gender minorities. For more information, see www.soulforce.org

Remembering Reagan - June 2004

Reagan Roundup: Perspectives you may have missed
from Sojourners: Christians for Justice & Peace
Ronald Reagan: Still the Teflon President?
by Joe Strupp on AlterNet
"Maybe it's to be expected that the press, when covering a leader's death, will take a kinder, gentler approach. But in the interests of fair, accurate journalism - something that has become a leading issue in the media today - no former leader should be above a frank, complete, and balanced assessment." + Click to read more
Reagan, Race and Rememberance: Reflections on the American Divide
by Tim Wise on The Black Commentator
"Delusion is both the fuel that propels people like Ronald Reagan forward in political life, and then makes a rational assessment of his legacy impossible upon his death.... Reagan has been released from the lie, finally, and may his soul find peace among the millions of dearly departed victims of his policies around the world. Meanwhile, the rest of us must pull back the curtain on all phony heroes, Reagan among them, lest we create many millions more." + Click to read more
66 (Unflattering) Things About Ronald Reagan
by David Corn, on AlterNet
This list originally appeared in The Nation on March 2, 1998, after the renaming of Washington National Airport after Ronald Reagan, but, according to the author, remains relevant today as "a cheat sheet for those who dare to point out the Reagan presidency was not all that glorious." + Click to read more
The Reagan Legacy
by Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research
A list of articles followed by commentary evaluating the economic legacy of the Reagan years, which includes increasing inequality and decreasing real hourly wages for the typical worker. + Click to read more

Remember the Blood of Heroes...
If you haven't yet had enough of emotional 9-11 sites.