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Owens
One person who was probably deliriously happy over the Democratic Party adding support of marriage equality to its platform was Rev. William Owens.
But probably not for the reasons you think:
From CNN:
A group of conservative black pastors are responding to President Barack Obama’s support of same-sex marriage with what they say will be a national campaign aimed at rallying black Americans to rethink their overwhelming support of the President, though the group’s leader is offering few specifics about the effort.
The Rev. Williams Owens, who is president and founder of the Coalition of African-Americans Pastors and the leader of the campaign, has highlighted opposition to same-sex marriage among African-Americans. He calls this campaign “an effort to save the family.”
“The time has come for a broad-based assault against the powers that be that want to change our culture to one of men marrying men and women marrying women,” said Owens, in an interview Tuesday after the launch event at the National Press Club. “I am ashamed that the first black president chose this road, a disgraceful road.”
CNN deserves kudos for telling the entire story about Owens and his fake group, including talking about comments which Owens made linking gays to pedophilia:
Owens has long been an opponent of gay marriage and consults with the National Organization for Marriage as a liaison to the black churches.
At the press conference, Owens said that Obama’s support of same-sex marriage tantamount to supporting child molestation.
“If you watch the men who have been caught having sex with little boys, you will note that all of them will say that they were molested as a child…” Owens said. “For the president to condone this type of thing is irresponsible.”
Owens later walked about those comments back, saying he didn’t think the president was condoning molestation.
CNN also did make mention of NOM’s wedge strategy, i.e. the group’s plan to play gay and black America against each other on the subject of marriage equality.
Between you and me, though, I wish that CNN had mentioned the fact that NOM has already endorsed Romney. But it’s just as well. I’m glad that the network did a thorough job in getting the story right.
A lot of eyebrows in the African-American community will be raised. Not because of President Obama’s support of marriage equality, but because of Owens’ group.
You see that is the important facet of the entire situation. I feel safe in saying the vast, vast majority of African-Americans do not appreciate being manipulated like pawns, whether or not we support marriage equality. Black people are not monolithic and we certainly aren’t stupid.
But here is what the gay community needs to do. Every time Owens and his group shows up in the media, the lgbtq community should remind folks of how they fit into NOM’s strategy of divide and conquer.
It is especially crucial that folks like myself – folks who are members of both communities – to take the lead in getting African-Americans and gays to recognize just who our true enemies are.
It’s not Obama. It is William Owens.
UPDATE – From my blogging pal Jeremy Hooper (the Arn Anderson to my Tully Blanchard) comes a delicious tidbit from today’s press conference. Listen to what happens when Owens is asked a reasonable question about polygamy and the Biblical definition of marriage:
Related post - Group endorsing Romney behind black pastor protest of Obama
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The organization that has been the most culpable in practicing and covering up pedophilia against boys is also against same-sex marriage: the Roman Catholic Church. So, take that, “Reverend” William Owens.
I guess I’m in the dark about sex, but it seems to me that being gay and being a pedophile are two separate issues. It seems that many pedophiles are married with children or, as we have seen, Catholic priests, or just plain strange. There are, of course, exceptions, but being gay has never seemed to me to be a big issue in pedophilia.
Oh please, black people have been hating gays for generations. From Eddie Murphy to Tracy Morgan to every rapper.
Omigod, protect Obama!
Why?
Just my two cents: that’s not an effective way to reach the people who may find Rev. Owens’ religious message appealing. Owens should be put on the defensive about the manipulation angle where there is little room for sympathy, but here in this question he is put on the defensive about religion and the Bible where there is much room for sympathy.
Okay, I’ll say it. Flame me if you want. But the Democratic Party is highly culpable for not, in consultant-speak, “distancing itself” from patriarchal, misogynistic black preachers. They are fishbones in the throat of progress and have been for a generation or more.
It’s not black preachers who are the problem here. It’s conservative preachers; black, white, latino, asian; whatever the race or creed. It’s the ocnservative mindset that is desperately trying to move America back to the stone ages. What’s funny to me is Owens, in working with these cretons, seems to either be ignorant of or ignores the fact conservative white preachers are the ones who supported slavery and segragation. Those same people supported laws making it illegal for blacks and whites to marry (Loving v Virginia) and also used the bible to support their bigotry. The biggest problem is the use of religious texts to support bigotry and hatred as Conservative Evangalican Christians, Conservative Mormons, Conservative Jews, Conservative Muslims, et. al, do today against gays, as the Klan did and still do against African Americans, and any other kind of bigotry you can name. The Roman Crusades was fought on the basis of the bible granting supremacy of Romans over other races. Bigotry is bigotry. No matter what the issue is, the bible, koran, tora, or any other religious text has been the weapon of choice. Why is it that a text proclaiming to represent all the benevolence of its creator is used to propagate such hate, bigotry, and violence against the minority of the day!
Owens is a Baptist.
Do you have any real evidence? (A list of scandals of rappers and sport stars isn’t evidence.)
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WOW……It’s not like in a general stance the gay community has been kind to Black gays.
There is a huge history of discrimination within this community.And we won’t talk about how folks love to always run after Blacks in regards to homophobia when actually every law that has been written and passed in congress to hurt gays has been done by Whites. And we won’t even go into The Melhman syndrome!
So sonofloud…..stuff it! And bring something CONSTRUCTIVE to the conversation!