News: Petition-Nat. Park Service showing offensive video!

Jim,

It's funny you should mention Berry, because it was the gay/lesbian students there and the support of the Chaplain (and religion faculty) that helped me to study the issue of homosexuality honestly.

As for oppression:

- gay/lesbian people cannot serve openly in our military
- gay/lesbian people cannot get healtcare benefits through their spouse's place of employment in many situations
- issues of property ownership and other surviorship benefits are very difficult (if not impossible) for gay/lesbian people to resolve after the death of their spouses
- gay/lesbian people have considerable difficulty establishing that they are their spouse's next-of-kin when their spouse is hospitalized, transferred, sent on active duty, etc.
- gay/lesbian people are denied full participation in many communities of faith
- gay/lesbian people are expected to hide their relationships with the people they love and share their lives with in many circumstances.

Someone who's gay or lesbian could probably give you many more examples. These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. The Human Rights Campaign has some excellent links and resources if you want more information.

Joshua

 

Joshua,

You have confirmed my worst fears about Berry, especially its religion dept.

You wrote -

As for oppression:

- gay/lesbian people cannot serve openly in our military

I was pastor of a church made up of primarily military folks when Bill Clinton established his Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Morale at the local Air Force Base took a nosedive. End result was that the Executive Order oppressed the majority of military personnel who felt their Commander in Chief had let them down.

- gay/lesbian people cannot get healtcare benefits through their spouse's place of employment in many situations

You are assuming that gay/lesbian "marriage" or "union" is or should be legal. I'm glad to say that's not the case and that many companies and institutions have not bowed to the pressure of the homosexual lobby.

- issues of property ownership and other surviorship benefits are very difficult (if not impossible) for gay/lesbian people to resolve after the death of their spouses

This is a myth that the Homosexual lobby perpetuates. These are legal issues that can be solved with a simple Will that any Lawyer can draw up for a small fee. What the homosexual lobby wants is legalized marriage.

- gay/lesbian people have considerable difficulty establishing that they are their spouse's next-of-kin when their spouse is hospitalized, transferred, sent on active duty, etc.

And rightly so since the Federal Government and the Military does not recognize their partner as their next of kin.

- gay/lesbian people are denied full participation in many communities of faith

All sinners are welcome in my Southern Baptist Church. If Gay/Lesbian people would confess their sin and get right with God I'm sure more opportunities for service would open up as they matured in the faith.

- gay/lesbian people are expected to hide their relationships with the people they love and share their lives with in many circumstances.

Could it be because thinking people know their gay relationship is abnormal and unnatural?

Sorry, but this is One Berry Grad who's not buying into this Big Lie.

 

Thanks Diane. I signed the petition.

Rev. Josh, you never cease to amaze me with your continual defense of sin. May God open your eyes.

 

Jim,

One little side note. I was on active duty when "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" came out, and I don't remember any drop in morale at all. I do remember one of the senior NCO's I worked with saying that some of the best soldiers he had known had been gay.

Joshua

 

Don't be sad, rsr, here's a Fox News Link about it:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77963,00.html

or you can google. No sound bytes available though, from what I could find.

 

From the Fox article:

Exactly.

 

Exactly what?

That's no excuse to revise history to fit one's political agenda...a popular ploy with the left. Good Grief!

 

There's no revisionist history to it. The Lincoln Memorial is where people gather to express displeasure with the status quo in this country. The video honors that, and they don't need the permission of baptists on the far right to do it. In fact, since the President they honor went against the very identity of the Southern Baptist Convention (which repeatedly used the Bible to justify their sinful ownership of other human beings) by abolishing slavery, I would think the Park Service would be skeptical of the opinions of those same Southern Baptists who are now petitioning.

Joshua

 

When you put words in a dead man's mouth and he cannot say, "Yes, I agree", or "No, I would not have said that.".....You are revising history and doing an injustice to a great man's memory.

I read about Abraham Lincoln fighting to free the slaves. I do not read about him fighting so homosexuals can marry or so women can murder their babies.

 

The video isn't just about President Lincoln, it's about the memorial. Part of the memorial's heritage is that it is a place where people who feel their voices are not heard in the government can gather and speak. The fact that you may not like what some of those groups have said or stood for does not invalidate the role the memorial has played or their significance in American culture.

Pretending that those movements didn't exist would be rewriting history.

Joshua

 

Josh...some people jump on anything to make a fuss..take it with a grain of salt.

karen