Houston Ministers Speak Out Against Perry Hate Service

As you know Governor Goodhair is hosting a prayer service in H-town on August 6 at Reliant Stadium in which he has invited the nation's governors to attend.   So far only Sam Brownback (R-KS) has confirmed he will do so.   It's also being sponsored by the American Fascist (oops Family) Association.

And to add more fun to this right wing hate fest, it's being protested for some yet unannounced reason by the Phelps Phamily.   My educated guess is because of who's sitting in the mayor's chair right now.

If you have a problem with me calling it a hate fest, too bad.  The American Family Association that is sponsoring this event is a documented hate group  

So as I continue to tell you peeps, some Texas cities are oases of tolerance in our red state full of conservafools   Houston is one of those oases of tolerance and this statement calling out the event was recently released by the Houston Clergy Council

June 13, 2011

As Houston clergy, we write to express our deep concern over Governor Rick Perry’s proclamation of a day of prayer and fasting at Houston’s Reliant Stadium on August 6th.   In our role as faith leaders, we encourage and support prayer, meditation, and spiritual practice.  Yet our governor’s religious event gives us pause for a number of reasons:

We believe in a healthy boundary between church and state.  Out of respect for the state, we believe that it should represent all citizens equally and without preference for religious or philosophical tradition.  Out of respect for religious communities, we believe that they should foster faithful ways of living without favoring one political party over another.  Keeping the church and state separate allows each to thrive and upholds our proud national tradition of empowering citizens to worship freely and vote conscientiously.  We are concerned that our governor has crossed the line by organizing and leading a religious event rather than focusing on the people’s business in Austin.

We also express concern that the day of prayer and fasting at Reliant Stadium is not an inclusive event.  As clergy leaders in the nation’s fourth largest city, we take pride in Houston’s vibrant and diverse religious landscape.  Our religious communities include Bahais, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Unitarian Universalists, and many other faith traditions.  Our city is also home to committed agnostics and atheists, with whom we share common cause as fellow Houstonians.  Houston has long been known as a “live and let live” city, where all are respected and welcomed.  It troubles us that the governor’s prayer event is not open to everyone.  In the publicized materials, the governor has made it clear that only Christians of a particular kind are welcome to pray in a certain way.  We feel that such an exclusive event does not reflect the rich tapestry of our city. 

Our deepest concern, however, lies in the fact that funding for this event appears to come from the American Family Association, an organization labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  The American Family Association and its leadership have a long track record of anti-gay speech and have actively worked to discriminate against the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.  The American Family Association and its leadership have also been stridently anti-Muslim, going so far as to question the rights of Muslim Americans to freely organize and practice their faith.  We believe it is inappropriate for our governor to organize a religious event funded by a group known for its discriminatory stances.

As religious leaders, we commit to join with all Houstonians in working to make our city a better place.  We will lead our communities in prayer, meditation, and spiritual practice.  We ask that Rick Perry leave the ministry to us and refocus his energy on the work of governing our state.

Signed,

Rev. Dr. Jeremy Rutledge, Minister, Covenant Church, Alliance of Baptists/American Baptist Churches

Rev. Douglas Anders, Conference Minister, South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ

Rev. Paul Beedle, Unitarian Universalist

Rev. Dr. Ginny Brown Daniel, Minister, Plymouth United Church, UCC

Rev. Beth Ellen Cooper-Davis, Minister, Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church

Rev. Michael Diaz, Director of Connections, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church

Rev. Pat Farnan, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church

Rev. Lura Groen, Pastor, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Rev. Teddy Hardy, Minister, St. John United Church of Christ

Rev. Lori Keaton, United Church of Christ

Rev. Harry Knox, Senior Pastor, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church

Rev. Janice Ladd, Executive Pastor, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church

Rev. Dr. Becky Edmiston-Lange, Co-Minister, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church

Rev. Mark Edmiston-Lange, Co-Minister, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church

Rev. Dr. Margie Latham, Minister of Administration, Covenant Church, Alliance of Baptists/American Baptist Churches

Rev. Mona Lopez, Volunteer Staff Clergy, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church

Rev. Laura Mayo, Minister, Covenant Church, Alliance of Baptists/American Baptist Churches

Rev. Dr. Daniel O’Connell, Senior Minister, First Unitarian Universalist Church

Rev. David Pantermuehl, Grace United Church of Christ

Rev. Adam Robinson, Assistant Minister, First Unitarian Universalist Church

Rev. Ken Richter, Senior Minister, First Congregational Church, UCC

Rev. Bill Royster, United Church of Christ

Rev. Sam Schaal, Transition Minister, Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church

Rev. Robert Tucker, Executive Director, Foundation for Contemporary Theology

Rev. Ernie Turney, Pastor, Bering United Methodist Church

Rev. Bonnie Vegiard, Unitarian Universalist

We add our names in support of the Houston Clergy Council statement released June 13, 2011

Rev. Katherine Fox, Christ United Church of Christ, Garland, TX

Leif Hatlen, Board Member, Houston Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State

Michael Pardee, Executive Director, Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University

Dr. Linda Piper Price, Houston, TX

Rev. Paul Walley, National Campus Ministry Association

Rev. Kevin Young, Pastor, Linden United Methodist Church, Linden, TX

I Live A Life Of Service

TransGriot Note: Guest post from Rev. Joshua Holiday 


Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exemplified what it means to serve others.  He led a movement that opened doors for many people who had been denied basic freedoms.  We consider Dr. King to wisdom to be one of the world's greatest citizens.  He is quoted as saying, "Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.  You don't have to have a college degree to serve.  You only need a heart full of grace.  A soul generated by love."  We honor Dr. King because of his service to humanity.

Today, my heart is full of grace and my soul is generated by love as I make the decision to serve others.  I follow the footsteps of all who have made a difference in the lives of others.  I recognize that I can share my gifts, talents and resources to serve others.

Thank you, Life-in me, through me, as me, around me, in the name of Jesus the Christ.  And so it is.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, by means of reasonable services."  Romans 12:1 (Lamsa's Aramaic Translation)

LGBT Peeps and Liberals Need To Stop Hatin' On The Christians In Our Midst

Christianity isn’t the private property of right-wing zealots. It’s past time for those of us in the GLBT community who are Christian to proclaim it, stand up to those thugs and take our faith back from the Pharisees who are using it as a baton to beat us down with.       

Monica Roberts  IFGE Trinity Award acceptance speech, April 7, 2006

That paragraph triggered one of the three standing ovations I received during that Trinity peech.

It expressed mine and many African-American transpeople's frustrations about the anti-Christian attitudes expressed in LGBT circles.

Sadly they are still just as prevalent in 2010 and not just in the GLBT community..

Yes, I am a Christian.   I was baptized at my home church here on August 2, 1972 and strive to live my life in a way that is based on the Golden Rule and principles of Kingian love.    I'm not perfect, but at the same time being a Christian doesn't mean I meekly take any crap from anyone either.

And as you TransGriot readers know, I'm not 'scurred' to call your butts out on it.. 

I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, not the Apostle Paul.   If I'm sitting in a unfamiliar church and I hear the pastor utter the words, 'The Apostle Paul says,"  I'm immediately getting up from the pew and breaking for the door so quickly the late Florence Griffith-Joyner would be marveling at how fast I moved with heels on.to come close to reaching her still unbroken 100m world record.

That being said, I realize that the Forces of Intolerance haters that oppose our inevitable gaining of our civil rights primarily are the same white conservative haters that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.faced back in the day in Christian drag.

They are now joined by Black and Latino sellouts, and have not only been long. loud, vocal and wrong in doing whatever it takes to keep the inevitable triumph of TBLG civil rights from happening, they have violated the Ninth Commandment ad nauseum in doing so

In case you're wondering what the Ninth Commandment is, it states:  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

And boy do they engage in that and other anti-Christian shenanigans on a regular basis.


So yeah, I understand the righteous anger that is directed at the Religious Reich.   I get it.

But far too many times your anger at the fundies is directed at your allies in the liberal and TBLG communities that are Christian   Just as the LGBT and liberal progressive communities aren't monolithic, neither is the faith community.  

You have to recognize that there are GLBT Christians like myself. .   There are 'Big C' Christian allies who reject the lies and nekulturny behavior of the fundamentalists who have hijacked our faith for their nefarious political agenda and despise the fact they have  turned the word 'Christian' into a synonym for bigot.

And yes, there are gay, trans and lesbian pastors..

Liberals and BTLG community, you need to do your part to recognize there are Christians who support our human rights struggles    

While bashing all Christians may make you feel better in the short term,  it's disrespectful to your Christian allies who have hosted HIV/AIDS and TDOR services, open their doors and provide church homes to TBLG members, and are standing tall and being vocal in forcefully pushing back against right wing hate ministers

So yeah, BTLG peeps and liberals, you need to back up off the Christians in your midst and focus on your real enemy, the 'little c' so-called ones who mistakenly believe that WWJD stands for 'Who Would Jesus Diss' instead of What Would Jesus Do?