Gays Crash S.B.C.

A coalition of gay rights groups staged a protest at the meeting of the Southern
Baptist Convention on Wednesday, June 15.

As part of an umbrella organization called Faith in America, Dr. Jack McKinney
had announced earlier that his group would hold a "teach-in," followed by the
presentation of a petition (with some 10,000 signatures) to SBC leaders. He said
they would be seeking an apology for harm caused by Southern Baptists to the
lesbian, gay, bi and transgender community. Mr. McKinney (who is not gay) said
in a press release:

''We call on the Southern Baptist Convention to stop misusing the Bible to
promote religion-based bigotry and start recognizing the enormous pain and
suffering caused by its mistreatment of LGBT people, particularly vulnerable
youth.... History has not been kind to the Southern Baptist Convention's record
on minorities and it is making the same awful mistake today by perpetuating
abuse against gay people.''

SBC president Bryant Wright invited the group and the press to a half-hour
meeting.

Baptist Press reports that McKinney did ask Wright for the apology, which he
likened to a different apology put forth by SBC 16 years ago to African
Americans for its historical support of slavery and racist Jim Crow laws. SBC's
Wright replied that the two issues could not be compared. He insisted that SBC's
disdain for homosexuality was based on its beliefs about "sexual purity" -- that
sex outside of marriage for heterosexuals and homosexuals is "sinful" (Baptist
Press):

''Just as we have people attending our local church that are engaging in
homosexual activity, we have people attending our church who are engaging in
adultery. I don't hate those people when I speak about adultery. I am just,
hopefully, loving them enough to speak the truth about what God desires for the
best for that person.''

Wright asked the nine for respect for his views, and again invoked Jesus' name
after saying "...we're not going to be able to come to common ground."

Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary delivered another
message. According to a brief AP report, he said homosexuality is a sin
in the Bible, but it's "wrong to say it's just a choice," then added:

''Only the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ gives a homosexual person any hope of
release from homosexuality.''

The Convention voted overwhelmingly to adopt a
resolution supporting the Defense of Marriage Act, and called for
an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning marriage for gay and lesbian
couples (Baptist Press Blog):

Mohler's stated solution: indoctrinate "young people" who are not part of
Baptist families. Perhaps this is the motivation behind other news that SBC's
members voted to welcome more "ethnics" and to be more supportive of paths to
citizenship for illegal immigrants. See Chick's WHY NO REVIVAL.