Editors’
note:
This
is
the
third
of
a
continuing
series
of
articles
examining
similarities
and
differences
between
the
African-American
civil
rights
movement
and
the
gay
rights
movement.
In
the
debate
over
marriage
for
same-sex
couples,
evangelicals
typically
couch
their
opposition
to
gay
marriage
in
religious
terms.
In
“Eleven
Arguments
Against
Same-Sex
Marriage,”
Rev.
James
Dobson,
founder
of
the
Colorado-based
Focus
on
the
Family,
writes
that
the
family
“has
been
God’s
primary
vehicle
for
evangelism
since
the
beginning”
and
if
the
traditional
family
lineup
is
changed,
over
time
“that
responsibility
to
teach
the
next
generation
will
never
recover
from
the
loss
of
committed,
God-fearing
families.”
“The
younger
generation
and
those
yet
to
come
will
be
deprived
of
the
Good
News,”
Dobson
argues.
Congresswoman
Marilyn
Musgrave
(R-Colo.),
chief
sponsor
of
the
Federal
Marriage
Amendment
in
the
House,
said
in
an
August
2003
Agape
Press
report
that
religion
motivates
the
debate
over
the
FMA,
which
seeks
to
ban
gay
marriage
in
the
U.S.
Constitution.
The
FMA
was
defeated
by
both
House
and
Senate,
but
Karl
Rove,
President
Bush’s
chief
political
adviser,
said
Sunday
that
Bush
will
renew
his
call
to
ban
same-sex
marriage
via
constitutional
amendment.
“I
am
a
Christian
and
I
have
a
Christian
worldview,
but
I
think
we
should
be
aware
that
all
of
the
world’s
major
religions
—
not
just
Christianity,
not
just
Judaism
—
define
marriage
as
a
union
between
a
man
and
a
woman,”
Musgrave
said.
Earlier
this
year
as
the
Massachusetts
Legislature
held
contentious
debates
over
a
proposed
constitutional
amendment
to
ban
gay
marriage
in
that
state,
many
religious
leaders
—
particularly
black
pastors
—
often
injected
religion
into
their
arguments
against
marriage
rights
for
same-sex
couples.
Rev.
Gregory
G.
Groover
Sr.,
pastor
of
Charles
Street
African
Methodist
Episcopal
Church
in
Boston
told
the
Boston
Globe
in
February,
“As
black
preachers
…
our
first
call
is
to
hear
the
voice
of
God
in
our
Scriptures,
and
where
an
issue
clearly
contradicts
our
understanding
of
Scripture,
we
have
to
apply
that
understanding.”
Religion
played
a
similar
role
during
the
African-American
civil
rights
struggle
in
the
1950s
and
‘60s.
Both
sides
used
religion
to
deny
or
support
civil
equality
for
blacks.
Despite
attacks
by
social
conservatives
who
often
invoke
the
Bible
to
justify
their
opposition
to
gay
marriage
rights,
a
growing
number
of
gays
and
progressive
religious
groups
want
to
see
religion
become
a
part
of
the
argument
for
marriage
equality,
similar
to
the
way
it
was
used
to
argue
for
African-American
rights
in
the
last
century.
“You
don’t
have
a
choice
when
the
other
side
continually
invokes
religion
and
acts
as
if
they
have
a
monopoly
on
faith.
One
can’t
remain
silent
in
the
face
of
that,”
said
Charles
Keener
of
the
National
City
Christian
Church/Celebration
of
the
Spirit
Coalition.
“Not
all
people
of
faith
believe
gay
marriage
is
against
the
Bible
or
that
all
communities
of
faith
are
opponents
of
justice
for
the
gay
community.”
During
the
African-American
civil
rights
struggle,
the
progressives
used
religion
as
a
way
to
advance
their
case
for
equality
long
before
the
boycotts
and
sit-ins.
Mandy
Carter,
one
of
the
founding
members
of
the
National
Black
Justice
Coalition,
said
that
one
of
the
reasons
the
church
played
such
a
pivotal
role
in
the
struggle
for
African-American
equality
was
because
it
was
the
one
place
where
blacks
could
go
to
have
a
sense
of
community.
“The
church
didn’t
have
control
of
our
life,
that
is
why
—
culturally
and
organizationally
—
the
church
played
such
a
pivotal
role,”
Carter
said.
“That
legacy
has
not
ended.”
But
the
effort
is
complicated
for
gays
who
—
unlike
African
Americans
in
the
last
century
—
are
not
united
by
one
church.
Many
gays
feel
disenfranchised
and
don’t
belong
to
a
church
at
all,
while
others
are
spread
through
many
different
denominations,
whereas
blacks
attended
black
churches,
said
Mary
A.
Tolbert,
executive
director
of
the
Center
for
Lesbian
&
Gay
Studies
in
Religion
&
Ministry
at
the
Pacific
School
of
Religion
in
Berkeley,
Calif.
“The
critical
mass
is
not
nearly
as
great
as
it
was
for
black
churches,”
Tolbert
said.
“On
the
other
hand,
there
is
much
organizing
going
on
amongst
gay
members
of
faith
but
it’s
a
different
kind
of
organizing.
That’s
one
of
the
salient
differences
between
the
civil
rights
struggle
for
blacks
and
gays.”
And
the
black
churches,
even
before
the
civil
rights
movement
of
the
1950s
and
1960s,
were
both
political
and
religious,
yet
the
politics
weren’t
obvious
to
outsiders,
according
to
a
2002
African
American
Review
article.
The
civil
rights
movement
had
many
“revivalistic
forms
and
tendencies,”
including
“a
collective,
region-wide
enthusiasm
for
charismatic
preachers,
belief
in
miracles,
and
emotional
conversion
experiences
either
described
in
public
‘testimony’
or
enacted
directly
before
an
audience,”
accoring
to
the
African
American
Review
article.
These
“tendencies”
brought
a
“once-in-a-lifetime
moment
touched
with
divine
significance”
feel
to
the
movement.
When
asked
why
the
Montgomery
Bus
Boycott
of
1955-1956
was
a
success,
one
of
the
boycott’s
principal
organizers
said,
“Because
God
sent
us
that
man,”
referring
to
Rev.
Martin
Luther
King.
Another
organizer
called
King
“a
modern
day
Moses”
and
“truly
a
God-sent
man,”
according
to
the
African
American
Review.
Today,
social
conservatives
express
similar
sentiments
about
President
Bush.
Recently,
when
evangelist
Jimmy
Swaggart
said
that
gays
who
want
to
marry
...
