The Washington Post
reports that recently in Middlebrook, Virginia:
someone broke into St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ. The perpetrator smashed a window of the fellowship room, then crawled in and set fire to a pew and the choir platform where the organist plays. The only clue to motive was anti-gay graffiti spray-painted on the red brick wall in the rear.
The arsonist's message - and ire - broke through a hodgepodge of poor spelling and abbreviations: "Gays lover," "Lesb hell," "UCC siners" and "Sinner."
Just five days before the attack, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ announced its endorsement of same-sex marriage, though its decision is not binding on individual churches.
In all likelihood, the church wsa attacked by gay-haters who
took literally the rantings of the religious right. But certain
other quarters are just as intolerant. The Post
also reports that a prominent Washington, D.C.,
African-American pastor and civil rights activist, Willie F.
Wilson, in a July 3 sermon:
warned that lesbianism is about "to take over our community" and asserted that one reason women become lesbians is because a "lot of the sisters [are] making more money than brothers." He went on to describe a gay sexual encounter in explicit and derogatory terms.
Wilson is the national executive director of the Millions More Movement, which is organizing a march on Washington in October to mark the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March. The Post states that "several leaders in the gay community said Wilson's remarks might set back efforts to make the new march inclusive." Well, I guess so. But "other march organizers appeared at the church to offer Wilson strong support."
In other words when push comes to shove, guess whose rights are
dispensable.
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