Hurray for Al Sharpton!
Sharpton: Churches Spend Money to Persecute Gays But Ignore Poverty
On Sunday, Rev. Al Sharpton slammed major faiths for using their resources and power to pass California's Proposition 8 while showing indifference to issues affecting Americans such as poverty, social inequality and economic sabotage. The Church, he said, was silent until California affirmed marriage rights for its same-sex couples.
Sharpton was the keynote speaker at the Human Rights Ecumenical Service held at Atlanta's Tabernacle Baptist Church to welcome the Atlanta-based Alliance of Affirming Faith-Based Organizations, whose mission is to unite gay-friendly churches.
"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," Sharpton told a full house on Sunday.
"It amazes me," he said, "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."
As a presidential candidate in the 2004 election, Sharpton made his stance on marriage equality clear while opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment and defending the LGBT community against what he saw as "gay-baiting" for votes by the Bush campaign. "This is an issue of human rights," he said. "And I think it is dangerous to give states the right to deal with human rights questions. That's how we ended up with slavery and segregation going forward a long time...Whatever my personal feelings may be about gay and lesbian marriages, unless you are prepared to say gays and lesbians are not human beings, they should have the same constitutional right of any other human being."
Another memorable Atlanta visit for Sharpton was as keynote speaker for the National Black Justice Coalition's first annual Black Church Summit in January 2006. There, he criticized black denominations that preached against their gay and lesbian members rather than embracing them.
It's time for African-American leaders to follow Al Sharpton's example and stand up to the anti-gay bigotry in their community and churches.
Al Sharpton was one of only 3 Democratic presidential candidates (with Kucinich and Gravel) to publicly support same-sex marriage.
Too Bad Obama didn't stand up for his beliefs about marriage equality:
President-Elect Obama Once Supported Gay Marriage
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1 comment:
I've always thought that there was more to Al Sharpton than people realized. He has often been unfairly dismissed as a buffoon because of his brash manner, but he often has the guts to say things that few others will. His comments here are strong, direct, and very badly needed. Here's hoping that people listen to him, but, sadly, the close-minded often have no willingness to hear or respond to intelligent criticism.
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