GAY TRUTH

English: Slaves Waiting for Sale - Richmond, Virginia. Oil, 20¾ x 31½ inches. Painted upon the sketch of 1853 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew Vines, another proponent of gay marriage and author of   God and the Gay Christian , writes, “In the 19th century , experience played a key role in compelling Christians to rethink another traditional—and supposedly biblical—belief. This time, the issue was slavery” (15).  Vines claims that Christians have made pivotal decisions based on the principle of good fruit and bad fruit. For example, the early church decided to include Gentiles . Likewise, 19th-century Christian abolitionists “appealed to conscience based on the destructive consequences of slavery. A bad tree produces bad fruit” (15). So, for Vines,  the church was basically supportive of slavery throughout history until the 19th century, when “experience” brought about a reinterpretation of Scripture.  But is this a fair historical account? Most importantly, does it do jus

Scars of a whipped slave (April 2, 1863, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. Original caption: "Overseer Artayou Carrier whipped me. I was two months in bed sore from the whipping. My master come after I was whipped; he discharged the overseer. The very words of poor Peter, taken as he sat for his picture." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In the aftermath of President Obama’s announcement that he supports redefining marriage to include same-sex couples, many news outlets featured stories that compared the desire of gay couples for marriage to the plight of the American slaves. In fact, it became a common theme that black churches who opposed gay marriage were guilty of cultural and biblical hypocrisy. Many of these articles even expressly stated that the use of the Bible to limit marriage to heterosexual unions is tantamount to supporting the kidnapping, sale, and perpetual ownership of Africans as slaves. After all, some slave owners used the Bible to defend the institution of

Will President Obama's support for same-gender marriage have repercussions within the African American community, specifically the historical black church? Some African American pastors stated last week that their congregations would stay at home on Election Day. How can you say same-gender marriage not impact the church in any tangible way? This is moral issue and Leviticus and Romans clearly states homosexuality is an abomination. Jesus himself endorses marriage is between a man and a woman solely to the exclusion of all others. The debate also centers on civil marriage , an institution that is supported by the tax dollars of all Americans but also experienced and originated by Christianity in particular.   Marriage itself was established by God and has been managed by the State and open to the public within guidelines. Countless numbers of atheists have also used civil marriage to join in matrimony. Why stop with gays and lesbians? Shouldn't any movement all