In marked contrast to the some US and Scottish Catholic bishops, who oppose permitting gay marriage in the name of religious freedom, a Baptist congregation in North Carolina is using the same principle to oppose a ban on gay marriage. The Baptists are on surer ground: there is nothing in marriage equality, anywhere, that compels anyone to marry the same sex, or to officiate at a same - sex wedding, or to hold a gay marriage on church premises. But a ban on gay - marriage directly restricts the right of churches that believe in justice, equality and inclusion as important Gospel imperatives, from exercising ministry for all on without discrimination.
About 100 people attended a statewide rally Feb. 25 at a Baptist church to oppose an upcoming vote to ban gay marriage in North Carolina.
The gathering at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., was the first of three events planned by progressive Baptists to defeat Amendment One, which would add to the state constitution the words: “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.”
“The classical argument for support of Amendment One is that it will strengthen traditional marriages,” said Ricky Woods, senior minister at Charlotte’s First Baptist Church-West.
“The greatest threat to traditional marriage is divorce, and the reasons for divorce most often have to do with infidelity and financial problems,” Woods said. “So let’s outlaw unemployment and infidelity.”
Stephen Shoemaker, pastor of Myers Park Baptist Church, framed opposition to the amendment in Baptists’ historic commitment to the separation of church and state.
“From the beginning of our nation’s history Baptists were among those who were very interested in writing separation of church and state into the law of the land,” Shoemaker said. “We had Baptist fingerprints all over the Virginia statute that later became the First Amendment to the Constitution.”
via Associated Baptist Press
One of the arguments used by opponents of marriage equality, is the claim that it will protect “family values”, against the horrors of the gay / lesbian lifestyle. I particularly liked the description by pastor Angela Yarber of her “lesbian lifestyle”:
Angela Yarber, pastor for preaching and worship at Wake Forest Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., said that it wasn’t until 1869 that the words “homosexual” and “heterosexual” were first used in public discourse, let alone in reference to the Bible and religion.
Yarber, a lesbian, described her “homosexual lifestyle” humorously as “my incredibly threatening regimen of waking up, exercising, going to work as a pastor, returning home to eat a vegetarian dinner with my partner, maybe watching ‘Glee,’ and going to sleep only to repeat this threat to traditional family values the next morning.”
“I believe that the time is past for the LGBT community to continue tolerating being treated like second-class citizens,” she said.
As a pastor, Yarber said she would vote against the amendment because of the effect it would have on members of her church ranging from a couple who risk losing their health insurance to a kid who gets bullied at school to a gay man kicked out of his home by homophobic family members after the death of his partner of 35 years.
