March pushes moral agenda (Thousands March Against Gay Marriage - No News Coverage

Atlanta Journal Constitution ^ | December 12, 2004 | GAYLE WHITE

[Lance Romance]

March pushes moral agenda

By GAYLE WHITE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, December 12, 2004

Thousands of Christian soldiers marched through one of Atlanta's most storied neighborhoods Saturday, opposing gay marriage and promoting what they see as a moral agenda for the country — especially African-Americans.

Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, led the march arm-in-arm with the Rev. Bernice King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Long organized the demonstration and carried an Olympic-style torch lighted from the eternal flame at the King Center, where the march began.

Among the throng were a troupe of step-dancing young women clad in camouflage and many New Birth members, who wore black shirts with the words "Stop the Silence" written across the front. Some 40 members of the Nation of Islam, in their trademark dark suits and bowties, jogged down the sidewalk to add their support.

As the group marched through Sweet Auburn, the Atlanta neighborhood that nurtured the civil rights movement, about 50 counterdemonstrators lined Auburn Avenue.

The gay rights group sang, "In the name of Jesus, hate has to go," and chanted, "Not the dream of Dr. King." One person held a sign that read "Bigots Go Back to Lithonia."

But the march ended peacefully.

Long, whose church claims 25,000 members, told his supporters it was time for the black community to be heard.

SNIP

Some of Saturday's counterdemonstrators charged that Long and his followers are moving away from the high moral ground of the civil rights movement. The King Center had issued a statement Friday saying that it did not endorse the march.

Maressa Penderman, a lesbian who serves as deacon at Unity Fellowship Church in Atlanta, said she believes the Republican Party is using black churches as a "Trojan horse" because of the black community's homophobia.

"God is love, God is for everyone," Penderman said.

Keenun Thomas, 31, felt torn between the two groups. He said he is committed to Long's effort to empower the African-American community, but as a gay man, he can't accept Long's opposition to gay marriage.

"The church is well within its rights to deny marriage to anyone it chooses," said Thomas, who runs the nonprofit Minority Empowerment Foundation in Decatur. But he said Atlanta's black community should be working together.

[Lance Romance]

Maressa Penderman, a lesbian who serves as deacon at Unity Fellowship Church in Atlanta, said she believes the Republican Party is using black churches as a "Trojan horse" because of the black community's homophobia.

Maybe she doesn't remember the chilly response Bush got in Atlanta from Dr. Kings widow and the black community.

so much for that conspiracy theory.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

"Ohhhhhhh... SNAP!" :)

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

If the media won't cover major news like this, CANCEL subscriptions, GET REFUNDS (and tell them WHY) and then support worthy messengers and their worthy advertisers. Continuing to subscribe to media that stifle the Right's voice in the culture war is giving the enemy your wallet while your neighborhood blogger and Newsmax and WorldNetDaily etc. scrape by with less than full support.

[FairOpinion]

"Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, led the march arm-in-arm with the Rev. Bernice King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr."

THIS really upsets the liberals. She was one of the leaders and organizers of the march, and the media doesn't even want to mention it.

[FairOpinion]

Interesting quote from another related article:

"Long, whose New Birth Missionary Baptist Church has 25,000 members, said his goal was to re-establish an authoritative voice for the black church on a range of issues -- including protection of marriage, school choice, affordable health care and "wealth creation" for minorities."

(Martin Luther) King's daughter in anti-gay marriage protest
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1299283/posts

What is interesting, is that those are exactly the same values the Republican party stands for.

Will Blacks starting to turn to the Republican party, as the party more in line with their own values?

[FormerLib]

This is the Demonrats worst nightmare come true!

[.45MAN]

ping

[tuesday afternoon]

Polls show that almost three-quarters of African-Americans — a larger percentage than Americans as a whole — believe the nation is losing its "moral compass" by removing prayer from public schools and banning display of the Ten Commandments on government property.

A different AJC article on the subject is posted here. The previous article ended with this quote:

Bernice King, the Kings' youngest daughter, expressed how she felt her father would have responded while speaking at a church in Auckland, New Zealand, in October: "I know deep down in my sanctified soul that he did not take a bullet for same-sex unions."

[tuesday afternoon]

Here's an interesting post about a black pastor whose "church in Virginia recently released a paid magazine insert into The Washington Times and The Washington Post to tell people the truth about homosexuality": Church's Newspaper Insert Delivers Truth About Homosexuality