Marriage equality is no civil right, according to the Southern Baptist Convention. The Associated Press reports that it almost unanimously approved an anti-marriage equality resolution Wednesday. The resolution stresses its belief that marriage consists of one man and one woman.
Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter
However, it goes a few steps further. The resolution states “all sexual behavior outside of marriage is sinful.” But the document, adopted during Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, alleged gay rights advocates “misappropriated” Civil Rights Movement rhetoric.
New Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter—their first African-American leader—made it clear in a CNN interview that he definitely doesn’t stand with President Barack Obama or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on this issue.
Historically, pro-slavery forces formed the Southern Baptist Convention. They broke off from the First Baptist Church in 1845. The denomination issued an apology, in 1995, for its support of slavery and segregation.
“God has specifically spoken about marriage,” Luter said. “Marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s biblical. No president, whether it’s a president in the White House, no governor, no mayor, no one can change that. God has already established marriage between a one man and one woman. So I would stand for that because that’s what the word of God says and that’s what I believe in.”
Southern Baptist’s gender issues national strategist Bob Stith, who also serves as a Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals representative, doesn’t believe being anti-gay is being prejudice, according to a Baptist Press story.
“President Obama again casts all those who have a genuine, biblically based belief that homosexual acts are sin as haters,” Stith told Baptist Press. “It is not prejudicial to say that certain acts which have been viewed as sin for over 3,000 years by all three major religions are still sin.”
Photo: bpnews.net
