Opposition to Same-Sex 'Marriage' Will Not Be Silenced, Says FRC's Perkins
by Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
June 25, 2004
(AgapePress) - A pro-family leader says an attempt to bully churches into ignoring the teachings of the Bible is intensifying -- but so is the effort to help churches that desire to stand for the truth of God's Word.
The issue of same-sex "marriage" has been on the front burner for well over two years now, but the heat has been turned up in recent months with events in Massachusetts and California and the pending debate in the U.S. Senate on the Federal Marriage Amendment. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council says advocates of the legalization of same-sex marriage know they must stop their critics.
"For this to succeed, they must silence the opposition -- and the opposition comes from the churches," Perkins explains.
According to the FRC president, those advocating for recognition of homosexual unions are using intimidation and the threat of losing tax-exempt status to try to silence those in the pulpits. He says that is why he is supporting a measure sponsored by Congressman Walter Jones protecting the freedom of speech for houses of worship.
"This bill by Congressman Jones would make it very clear that churches have a right to speak feely," Perkins says, adding that churches will not keep silent.
Traditional Marriage -- A Critical Social Issue
The Senate debate and vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment is slated for the week of July 12. Perkins says while there are perhaps "easier routes" to protect marriage -- such as "Hostettler Bill," which would prevent federal courts from ruling on the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -- they are not long-term solutions because they lack the permanency of a constitutional amendment.
"Only an amendment to the U.S. Constitution will protect, once and for all, the institution of marriage from black-robed tyrants sitting on both state and federal courts," he says.
"Marriage is too important to play politics with," Perkins continues. "We can lose a Republican majority in the House. We can lose a Republican majority in the Senate, and even lose the White House and survive. It's happened before. But if we lose marriage, it's over." He says that is why FRC has "drawn the line" on the issue.
Meanwhile, leaders of some of the nation's largest black denominations are lobbying Congress to pass the constitutional ban on homosexual marriage. Bishop P.A. Brooks of the five million-member Church of God in Christ was joined at a press conference by pastor and entertainer Marvin Winans and leaders of black mega-churches from across the country this week. While Brooks warned that same-sex marriage threatens children and the family, Rev. Keith Butler, pastor of Word of Faith International Christian Center of Southfield, Michigan, had a warning for members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"Most of them are elected with the support of black clergy members in their district," Butler stated. "We would like for [the members of the Caucus] to take note of this point: their support of the gay-lesbian agenda runs crosswise to the vast majority of the black clergy in the United States."
And the clergyman from Michigan said quoting the Bible's condemnations of homosexuality are not like past use of the Bible to defend slavery. "Most black ministers in the country are Bible-believing Christians. We do take the Bible literally," he said. "And the fact that some whites use it as justification for slavery doesn't affect the fact of what we're doing today. The Bible is very clear on this issue."
Rev. Bill Owens, president of Coalition for African-American pastors, said it is ominous that homosexual advocates are accusing traditional Christians of discrimination. "It's going to be the law that if we as pastors do not perform marriages that they, at one point, will be able to affect our tax-exempt status," Owens said. "The ramifications of the same-sex marriage are deep and far -- and the homosexual community has done a good job of brainwashing America."
1.5 Million Signatures ... and Counting
But a pro-family group in Mississippi has also done a good job. The American Family Association (AFA) reports it is nearing the 1.5-million mark of signatures on petitions supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment.
According to AFA founder and chairman Dr. Don Wildmon, the petitions are currently being sorted by state and will be delivered to those states' respective senators right before the Senate debate and vote on the amendment. But the group's efforts will not stop there, he says.
"We intend to follow-up with this effort by letting individuals know how their senators vote [on the amendment]," he says, explaining that AFA will score the votes by the senators in the November elections. "A vote against the amendment is a vote for homosexual marriage. A vote for the amendment is a vote for traditional marriage between one man and one woman."
The signatures have been gathered through the website NoGayMarriage.com, which is sponsored by the American Family Association. Wildmon says the goal is to reach two million signatures by the time the petitions are delivered to Capitol Hill.
