Is the “Gay Life” Really Gay?

January 26, 2006
Articles of faith
The religious right¹s high-profile moral and ethical failures could be a
direct result of repressive religion
By Rev. Steven Baines

As someone who was raised and ordained as a Southern Baptist, I was
saddened, but not shocked, at news of the recent arrest of the Reverend
Lonnie Latham, a minister from Tulsa, Okla.., and executive committee
member of the virulently antigay Southern Baptist Convention. Reverend
Latham was arrested in Oklahoma City for alleged lewd behavior,
propositioning a male undercover police officer, in front of a motel known
as a high-traffic area for gay cruising. Unfortunately, Reverend Latham¹s
story is one repeated by those in the darkest corners of the closet, who
are trapped by the damaging teachings of misguided religious leaders.

The fall of this religious-right figure is part of an inevitable cycle of
scandal, as the self-appointed guardians of ³traditional values,² their
moral ships sinking from under them, find themselves in the lifeboat with
the rest of us sinners. The moral hypocrisy of many right-wing religious
leaders comes from their fundamental misunderstanding of religion as the
practice of a complicated and esoteric set of rules designed to restrict
human freedom, rather than a way of living that frees individuals to lives
of greater compassion and personal growth.

The incidences of national conservative religious leaders caught in
scandal are many, running the gamut from the tragic hypocrisy of the
closet to personal ethical lapses to outright crimes. Here are a few
recent high-profile examples:****

Ralph Reed

Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition, is
embroiled in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. He stands accused of
using funds Christian conservatives had donated to fight the spread of
gambling to actually promote Native American tribal casinos secretly in
the South instead, and vice versa.

Monsignor Eugene Clark

Clark used his pulpit at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and
program on the Eternal Word Television Network to blame gay priests for
the Catholic sex abuse scandal; to once denounce the United States as
³probably the most immoral country, certainly in the Western Hemisphere²;
and call for chastity and celibacy throughout the nation. He resigned in
August 2005 after an affair with his married secretary.

William Bennett

Bennett is the standard-bearer of the right-wing ³traditional values²
crusade, and he is chief propagator of one of the most damaging lies
spread about the gay community: the ³statistic² invented by a
psychologist¹s discredited data that a gay man¹s average age at death is
43. In 2003 it was revealed that Bennett had a gambling addiction, losing
a reported $8 million over 10 years.

John Paulk

Paulk is the former chair of ³ex-gay² group Exodus International (he
appeared on the cover of Newsweek in 1998 as an ex-gay) and founder of
Focus on the Family¹s ex-gay program Love Won Out. He was discovered and
photographed in September 2000 in a Washington, D.C., gay bar, where he
even bought drinks for patrons. Although Paulk left Focus on the Family in
2003 to pursue a ³new ministry opportunity,² Love Won Out continues to
hold events across the country.**

It is not my intention to cast stones of condemnation at these
individuals. We all have times when we need grace and forgiveness for our
ethical failings or inconsistencies, whether from religious communities or
from the community at large. There is, however, a profound need to
understand that when religion is used to bring repression and darkness
rather than liberation and light, it is toxic to both leaders and
followers. It is inevitable that those who pile so much guilt on the rest
of the world will sooner or later be crushed by it themselves.

The self-loathing that drives some public figures who have made careers of
espousing ³moral values² into lives of deception as they sneak into dive
bars, cheap motels, or gambling casinos for a night¹s escape from a life
of repression is the same fear and shame that causes them to lash out at
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. The life-altering message
that I and so many other LGBT people of faith have found is that freedom
comes not from lies and denial, but by recognizing our mutual connection
to all our neighbors, with honesty and humility, in the face of the
Creator.

Based in Washington, D.C., Rev. Steven Baines is an elder in the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) and a member of the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force National Religious Leadership Roundtable. He serves as chaplain
of Gay, Lesbian, and Affirming Disciples.
--
Pax Christi,
• Ninure Saunders aka Rainbow Christian

Jesus is my Shepherd and He knows I'm Gay
http://Ninure-Saunders.tk

My Yahoo Group
http://Ninure.tk

Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches
http://www.MCCchurch.org

The Bible Site - help provide free scripture
http://www.thebiblesite.org

To send e-mail, remove your hat