January 17, 2009
Posted by David Rothenberg on Saturday, January 17, 2009
Amidst the exhilaration and sheer joy of next week’s inaugural, the lone discordant note seems to be that Reverend Rick Warren will make the opening invocation.
Most of the angst has emerged from civil rights advocates, particularly some gay activists, protesting Warren’s seemingly homophobic posture and his opposing California’s Proposition 8.
Before commenting on the Rev and Prop 8, let me raise another issue. As a strong believer in the separation of church and state, I wonder why it is necessary to have a religious imprimatur to begin this or any presidency. The naming of Rev. Warren almost proves my point. For religion, once again, is the divisive – not the healing – ingredient which is so badly needed in our nation at this juncture.
People of traditional faith can attend their own churches and temples drawing the strength they need from their religious beliefs. But the nation as a political and social body does not benefit from those intrusions which divide rather than bind.
That being said…let’s look at the good Reverend Warren and Prop 8, which was a successful attempt to stop gay marriage in California. First, let me introduce some historic perspective, since a few – very few gay activists – are comparing this defeat of Proposition 8 with the struggle faced by Black Americans for 400 years. I never like entering into those pointless debates about which disenfranchised group has suffered the most…always part of the divide-and-conquer strategy of oppressive forces.
Gay marriage though was hardly an issue above the radar until six years ago. A Lambda Legal defense attorney, Evan Wolfson, brought it to the forefront and parlayed it into a national battlefront. During the Kerry-Bush presidential race many progressives felt the timing was poor since it brought out many religious conservatives who might otherwise have voted in their own best interest rather than succumbing to fears of gay marriage terrorists.
Actually, I am impressed by the California vote. After only six years, nearly 45% of the vote was supportive of gay marriage. Social justice is always a struggle. But to compare it with the plight of Black Americans, not only reveals a lack of historic perspective, it is grossly insensitive.
You cannot equate a proposition about marriage with a two century old battle against slavery and another 100 years fighting segregation. I suspect that only a few gay activists have expressed this perspective, but the media thrives on conflict and loves pitting gay activists against Black church groups. It serves the right wing quite well.
If gay activists want to reach the Black community in upcoming political fights perhaps they might find African-Americans who are gay and lesbian…have them return to their own churches and explain that they are their sons and daughters…brothers and sisters. It is important, also, to note that homophobic churches such as that headed by Rev. Warren would not have been open to James Baldwin, Langston Hughes and Bayard Austin among the most notable of gay African-Americans.
This does not happen too readily because of the separation and segregation of Blacks and whites that exists within the gay community. It is not that there is more racial insensitivity in the gay sub-culture than in the greater society, rather, the reality is that people bring mainstream baggage into their respective sub-cultures. Thus you have gay men and lesbians who are impervious to the Black struggle…just as there are African Americans indifferent to gay people who seek acceptance and dignity.
It has taken Black Americans over 400 years to achieve a modicum of mainstream acceptance. And let me remind you that the election of Barack Obama does not mean that we are in a “post-racial America” a term used glibly by media pundits. Don’t confuse the election of Obama as a measurement of where Black Americans fit into American
society. Our schools and prisons are a more accurate barometer.
Summing it up… If after 6 years, a proposal for gay marriage can gain 45% of the California vote, I would say that social change is moving rapidly in that arena. There is work to be done but by creating a chasm with the Black community is counter-productive.
The opposition to gay marriage is coming from many religious people who cite scripture to express their fears and misunderstanding about human sexuality. These are the same churches which for most of my early life opposed integration…with their doors being closed to people of color. The church groups which led the fight against Proposition 9 also battled early gay rights bills about fairness in housing, employment and public accommodations. The lyrics might change but the tune is the same. They use the Bible to define their fears and hatreds. You can only imagine what the Bible might say about immigrants…
Ignorance can be combated with information, compassion and a wise strategy. Rev. Warren’s chatter at the Inaugural is merely a blip on the screen.
Quite frankly, I can think of many persons outside the religious community who could kick off the Obama years with dignity, and with spiritual and inspirational strength. Much of organized religion, today, is the enemy of social justice.
Spiritual strength and guidance is a personal not a political matter.
I’m David Rothenberg…out on a limb.
Most of the angst has emerged from civil rights advocates, particularly some gay activists, protesting Warren’s seemingly homophobic posture and his opposing California’s Proposition 8.
Before commenting on the Rev and Prop 8, let me raise another issue. As a strong believer in the separation of church and state, I wonder why it is necessary to have a religious imprimatur to begin this or any presidency. The naming of Rev. Warren almost proves my point. For religion, once again, is the divisive – not the healing – ingredient which is so badly needed in our nation at this juncture.
People of traditional faith can attend their own churches and temples drawing the strength they need from their religious beliefs. But the nation as a political and social body does not benefit from those intrusions which divide rather than bind.
That being said…let’s look at the good Reverend Warren and Prop 8, which was a successful attempt to stop gay marriage in California. First, let me introduce some historic perspective, since a few – very few gay activists – are comparing this defeat of Proposition 8 with the struggle faced by Black Americans for 400 years. I never like entering into those pointless debates about which disenfranchised group has suffered the most…always part of the divide-and-conquer strategy of oppressive forces.
Gay marriage though was hardly an issue above the radar until six years ago. A Lambda Legal defense attorney, Evan Wolfson, brought it to the forefront and parlayed it into a national battlefront. During the Kerry-Bush presidential race many progressives felt the timing was poor since it brought out many religious conservatives who might otherwise have voted in their own best interest rather than succumbing to fears of gay marriage terrorists.
Actually, I am impressed by the California vote. After only six years, nearly 45% of the vote was supportive of gay marriage. Social justice is always a struggle. But to compare it with the plight of Black Americans, not only reveals a lack of historic perspective, it is grossly insensitive.
You cannot equate a proposition about marriage with a two century old battle against slavery and another 100 years fighting segregation. I suspect that only a few gay activists have expressed this perspective, but the media thrives on conflict and loves pitting gay activists against Black church groups. It serves the right wing quite well.
If gay activists want to reach the Black community in upcoming political fights perhaps they might find African-Americans who are gay and lesbian…have them return to their own churches and explain that they are their sons and daughters…brothers and sisters. It is important, also, to note that homophobic churches such as that headed by Rev. Warren would not have been open to James Baldwin, Langston Hughes and Bayard Austin among the most notable of gay African-Americans.
This does not happen too readily because of the separation and segregation of Blacks and whites that exists within the gay community. It is not that there is more racial insensitivity in the gay sub-culture than in the greater society, rather, the reality is that people bring mainstream baggage into their respective sub-cultures. Thus you have gay men and lesbians who are impervious to the Black struggle…just as there are African Americans indifferent to gay people who seek acceptance and dignity.
It has taken Black Americans over 400 years to achieve a modicum of mainstream acceptance. And let me remind you that the election of Barack Obama does not mean that we are in a “post-racial America” a term used glibly by media pundits. Don’t confuse the election of Obama as a measurement of where Black Americans fit into American
society. Our schools and prisons are a more accurate barometer.
Summing it up… If after 6 years, a proposal for gay marriage can gain 45% of the California vote, I would say that social change is moving rapidly in that arena. There is work to be done but by creating a chasm with the Black community is counter-productive.
The opposition to gay marriage is coming from many religious people who cite scripture to express their fears and misunderstanding about human sexuality. These are the same churches which for most of my early life opposed integration…with their doors being closed to people of color. The church groups which led the fight against Proposition 9 also battled early gay rights bills about fairness in housing, employment and public accommodations. The lyrics might change but the tune is the same. They use the Bible to define their fears and hatreds. You can only imagine what the Bible might say about immigrants…
Ignorance can be combated with information, compassion and a wise strategy. Rev. Warren’s chatter at the Inaugural is merely a blip on the screen.
Quite frankly, I can think of many persons outside the religious community who could kick off the Obama years with dignity, and with spiritual and inspirational strength. Much of organized religion, today, is the enemy of social justice.
Spiritual strength and guidance is a personal not a political matter.
I’m David Rothenberg…out on a limb.
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