WashPost Website: Black Pastors Against Same-Sex Marriage on 'Wrong Side of History'
Apparently the Washington Post's website editors have little patience for African-American ministers who pledge fidelity to the Bible over that to their usual political allies like Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).
"Black pastors take heat over stance against Maryland gay-marriage bill," reads a teaser headline on the washingtonpost.com front page. "As Maryland legislature passes bill, church members warn clergy that they're on the wrong side of history," the subheadline adds [see screencap below page break]. "Black pastors take heat for not viewing same-sex marriage as civil rights matter," reads the online version's headline.*
But the article itself, by the Post's Marc Fisher, is a fairly sympathetic story for the ministers in question, who defend their stand on the basis of their call to be faithful to Scripture.
"We're all sinners... Christ never turned anyone away. People come to us all the time with issues, some with a stealing demon, some with urges and desires. But love doesn't mean you go along to get along. I counsel them by showing them God's word; some receive the word, and some reject it," Baptist minister the Rev. Nathaniel Thomas told the Post.
"Take the word 'marriage' out of the bill, and we're pretty much in agreement," Thomas was quoted later in the article. "Everyone should have full legal rights and would have them with civil unions."
Only once in the article did Fisher cite actual black church parishioners who question their pastor's stance, and that was when Fisher noted Thomas had "a couple of young women in his church" who asked him if "it's not so bad to allow two women to join together because, in many cases, men are not in the home."
That's the extent of specific parishioner disagreement that Fisher cited in his entire 28-paragraph front-page story. What's more, no polling data were given by Fisher as to where the average black churchgoer in Maryland stands on the issue of same-sex marriage.
*The print edition headline was much less antagonistic than the online version: "For black clergy, issue is not a civil rights one."
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Comments
An idea for the writer
Submitted by Mike Dean on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 2:15pm.
Allow the pastor to show the scriptures that explicitly states that it is wrong. Allow people to have legitimate biblical differences to a homosexual lifestyle without labeling them as people that hate them.
"the wrong side of history" raised eyebrow??
Submitted by lotr on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 2:19pm.
Not to mention, the "parishioners" in question didn't seem to make any mention of neolib-phrase "being on the wrong side of history" (a phrase coined into the mass lexicon by Mr. Obama), whatever that means. This means that the Post injected its own political framing into the article's headline.
Ironically, I find the use of this phraseology in this particular case to be quite queer (pardon the pun). For history, all of it, from the dawn of civilization to the modern era, across all cultures and races, never recognized the oxymoronic notion of "same sex marriage." It would seem, therefore, that it's just the opposite as to who's "on the wrong side of history."
Bill Clinton used the phrase
Submitted by redfish on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 8:26pm.
Bill Clinton used the phrase too.
Why am I not surprised?
Submitted by lotr on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 9:30pm.
Why am I not surprised?
Seems like history is actually on their side
Submitted by bkeyser on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 2:39pm.
Maybe you could say they're on the wrong side of the present (if you support gay marriage) but history? Not so much.
BK
Submitted by stratman on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 7:23pm.
Leftists are malcontents, never happy with the present, miserable about the past, and forever fantasizing about the future to cure their inadequacies.
Living for the moment, a favorite refrain of these enlightened ones, seems to always pass them by.
California
Submitted by djaymick on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 2:42pm.
This should be a winning issue for the GOP come November. When Prop. 8 in California was put on the ballot, people turned out to vote on either allowing gay marriage or not. Surprisingly, in liberal CA, the people elected not to allow gay marriage. The biggest bloc of voters wanting the ban turned out to be the black community. So, with the liberal rags throwing everyone to the wolves who don't agree with them, it's time to let the people know that the liberals will use them for their own person benefit and castigate them when they don;t tow the line.
Can we see an advertisement showing how Obama is willing to throw the black community under the bus if they don't "do as he says". Talk about a plantation mentality.
djay
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 4:11pm.
They did turn out for that ballot measure, but they also put Moonbeam Brown back into the Governor's mansion.
As to any Black American that disagrees with Obama or Liberal theology, they aren't really "Black" anyway.
All across the spectrum - says NO
Submitted by Tomorama on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 3:02pm.
NOWHERE that was allowed to voice their vote at the ballot box has Gay marriage been approved - NOWHERE.
But yet we read and hear all over that the anti-gay marriage folks are in the minority.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I am still waiting for Obysmal to finish "evolving".
Same tactics, different issue
Submitted by c5then on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 3:25pm.
The left are using the same tactics that got abortion legalized as a "privacy issue" in trying to force gay marriage on the majority who don't want it. Make up numbers and try to make it seem as if those who oppose the idea are in the minority. Claim that there are 10 times the number of people affected as there really are.
Remember the "98% of catholic women" number used by Pelosi as a justification for forcing Catholic institutions to pay for services that were against their religious teachings and beliefs? Same tactic.
Who are the black clergy taking heat from? Not their parishioners. It's from the liberal press.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
"Wrong side of history"?
Submitted by CO2Maker on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 5:46pm.
Ooh. that rebuke's gonna leave a remark.
I mean, if the pastors were white, they'd be homophobes. And if they were Catholics, they'd be predatory, misogynistic homophobes... and racists, too.
The liberal press really does have a hard time getting its orthodox mindset around protected classes who act so ... unprotected!
Kinda like the dilemma the greenies and environmental protectors faced when they didn't know whether to root for the endangered eagles on the Columbia River in Oregon or the protected salmon the eagles were eating!
You need a racing tout to give you the right odds and the point spread that separates a racial minority and a sexual preference minority.
⇒ What would you expect
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 9:37pm.
When do the Liberals NOT know what's best for black people?
Pretty sad that WAPO has the nerve to tell preachers to get back on the porch.
What would MLK do? Mahalo Jesus teachings...
Submitted by upcountrywater on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 10:04pm.
Theology. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University in 1955, after receiving a Bachelor of Arts from Morehouse College in 1948 and a Bachelor of Divinity from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951.
You Didn't Build That.
farce
Submitted by sngnsgt on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 11:44pm.
May the ghost of George "Kingfish" Stevens permeate your very souls. Man/woman - that's it.