Baptist Ministerial Association Finds It Impossible To Love Thy Neighbor

WWJD?

Apparently, in the minds of the Memphis Ministerial Association, He would scream, threaten and bully.

In fact, if we’ve ever seen the antithesis of Christ-like behavior, it was in the reception that the preachers gave their Congressman, Steve Cohen.

While a guiding principle of the Gospel normally is “love the sinner and hate the sin,” apparently, in Congressman Cohen’s case, his main sin was being white and tolerant.

It’s About Character

As members of the group channeled a brand of intolerance and misinformation that would have made the late Jerry Falwell proud, Congressman Cohen tried to explain the proposed hate crime bill that is pending in Congress. Apparently, some in the audience were concerned that the law would prevent them from preaching hate from their pulpits. It won’t.

It's a sad commentary on how hollow the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist preacher who truly lived his faith, sometimes seem today. These days, for some, it apparently is all about the color of someone's skin, not about the content of their character.

Just imagine the indignation of Rev. Robert Poindexter of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church if a white person had said: "Harold Ford Jr.'s not white so he can't represent me. That's just the bottom line." Any person who would make such a comment would be rightly vilified and attacked, but sadly when the roles are reversed, there seems to be an astounding lack of empathy and self-reflection.

Civility MIA

Of course, we need to keep all of this in balance. Not all of the ministers were rude or lacked good manners, if not civility.

Some in attendance were just as embarrassed by this rude behavior as any other Memphian of good will, but most held their tongues as Congressman Cohen was chastised, scolded and upbraided – and even called “boy” - by some members of the Baptist Ministerial Association. It's a troubling trend in our city these days, but moderate and progressive African-American leaders often seem unwilling to call down the unreasonable, outrageous comments of their colleagues, whether it is the Ministerial Association, Memphis City Council or the Shelby County Board of Commissioners.

In all of those bodies, the majority of members are reasonable and civil, but remaining quiet results in the strident members and their coarse rhetoric becoming the “face” of the organization to the world. It’s unfortunate and unnecessary.

Speaking Out

We seem to still be in a period of transition in Memphis as mainstream African-American leaders come to grips with a central fact of life - they are now in charge – and because of it, when they criticize someone of the same color, it is not an act of treason but a test of leadership.

But back to the Memphis Ministerial Association’s meeting with Congressman Cohen: It was so clearly political in nature, tone and attitude that it should raise questions about the organization’s IRS status. If it was not political but philosophical, we assume that the ministers will now publicly condemn Rep. Ford's support of the same hate crime bill when he was in the U.S. Congress. And while they’re at it, they can upbraid the NAACP, PUSH, and Urban League.

Most troubling to us, however, is the undertow of ugly anti-Semitism in all this. One Ministerial Association member has even told his congregation that "someone who doesn't believe in Jesus shouldn't be representing us." Of course, the fact that Jesus was a Jew seems to elude him as much as the basic knowledge of his own religion.

Rocky Start

For ministers of a religion built on the premise that only people without sin should cast the first stone, many in the Memphis Ministerial Association need a rock pile for all they’re throwing these days – and all because a federal law suggests that inciting violence against gays should be against the law. It’s a strange church that doesn’t already have that on its list of sins.

Based on the comments about gays by Rev. LaSimba Gray of New Sardis Baptist Church, we’re just glad he wasn’t alive at the same time as his Savior. Surely, he would have been the first to criticize someone who roamed the countryside with 12 other men – a little too Village People for sure.

But in truth, this isn’t funny. It isn’t entertaining. It is, in short, appalling that the members of the majority race of the majority religion should have so little regard for the backbone of our society – fair play, equality, brotherhood and tolerance. In a way, however, we owe the ministers our thanks, because for just a few minutes, all of us trapped in our white skin felt a little of what it’s like to be gay.

Tucked In The Closet

Most of all, all of this certainly illuminates why so many African-American gays and lesbians live their lives deeply in the recesses of the closet.

Just as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson mistakenly believed that God had taken sides in presidential elections, our own Baptist ministers mistakenly believe that he has taken sides in the values wars. To most of us who become spectators to these kinds of events and the regular pronouncements about “family values,” we end up feeling like our faith is being stolen and it’s time to reclaim it.

As a result of the kind of behavior shown at the Memphis Ministerial Association meeting and the kind of anti-gay vitriol spewed by some prominent Christian leaders, there is a misperception by the news media that somehow these views represent Christianity and that these people represent our faith. The truth is they are uniformly 180 degrees from what our faith means.

Civil Dialogue

To us, the essence of Christianity calls on all of us to ensure that gay and lesbian partnerships have legitimate legal protection, regardless of our individual views on gay marriage. These are matters of fundamental civil rights, and it’s disturbing that those who have felt the sting of inequality are not now leaders for equal rights for every American.

As Sojourner magazine has wisely said, let’s not worry about taking a position on gay marriage right now, but commit ourselves to the civil dialogue between Christians who understand that their faith is anchored in justice and compassion. If the heads of our churches can’t lead that kind of discussion, we are doomed.

As for us here, we continue to believe that the legalities of marriage should be separated from the church – as they once were. Couples, whatever their gender, should be free to receive civil union papers from the government. These would protect basic rights, such as inheritance, ownership of property and health insurance. It’s then up to individual churches to conduct marriage ceremonies, and each of them can decide whom they are willing to marry. We have no quarrel with churches who believe that marriage is a sacrament between a man and a woman, as long as they do not interfere with the churches that offer blessings on same-sex couples.

The Secret Lives Of Gays

There’s just something strange about the Church taking a stand against people who want to make life-long commitments. With the 50-50 chances of heterosexual marriages succeeding, certainly same-sex ceremonies can’t do much injury to the record of straight couples. After all, the weakening of marriage is solely a creation of heterosexuals.

Here’s the dirty little secret about gays and lesbians – the values they exhibit in their daily lives are no different than the rest of us. They are committed to their neighborhoods, they love their family, they follow the law, they volunteer to charities, they try to be good citizens, they want meaningful relationships and most remarkably of all, they are religious.

As George Lakoff points out in his book, Moral Politics, the religious right is based on a “strict father” metaphor of morality, in which a wise father (whether church or political leader) sets the rules and the children (the people) do what they are told. These black-and-white moral values exist, in the father’s view, not just to help people behave morally but to maintain social order and discipline.

Threatening Power

Adherence to these rules implies the legitimacy of the “father,” who often is treated or sees himself as speaking for God. As a result, the people who move away from that established order are doing much more than misbehaving or acting immorally. More to the point, they are threatening the rules by showing that other paths are possible and calling into question the “father’s” authority.

We don’t do the theory justice here, but clearly, the Memphis Ministerial Association is so invested in this father-child view of the world that even a hate crime bills becomes a threat. It’s too bad, because in the end, anytime we strengthen the rights of every one in society, we strengthen our own. In fact, there’s no greater lesson from the civil rights movement than that.

In the end, these ministers have to know in their hearts that the hate crimes act isn’t really about eroding their First Amendment rights – unless they are urging members to create violence – and all in all, it’s just a little too reminiscent of the firebrand preachers in too many Southern churches who gave their congregations permission to hate blacks during the civil rights struggle.

Support Hate Crimes Bill

The Baptist Ministerial Association is calling on people to write the offices of Congressman Cohen to oppose the hate crimes bill. We urge you to do just the opposite, and for that reason, here’s the congressman’s mailing address:

1004 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-3265 and fax: 202-225-05663

If you want to send an email, click Contact me on his website at http://cohen.house.gov/.

Hopefully, before the Baptist Ministerial Association meets with him again on this issue, they take a verse from their own book: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”