Black Pastor Dismisses Liberal Clergy's Chatter as Political Spin
by Ed Thomas
July 3, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Bishop Harry Jackson, a pastor and co-founder of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, says the comments at a Dallas conference for black clergy last week were political spin ahead of the coming November elections.
Ministers Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Joseph Lowery were leaders among the black clergy to gather in conference in Dallas, vowing to oppose Christian conservatives and their efforts to distract black voters from social justice issues. Bishop Jackson, an African-American who helped form the High Impact Leadership Coalition (HILC) two years ago to merge Christians on biblical righteousness and social justice issues, says Democrats like Sharpton are simply worried about losing more black voters.
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Bishop Harry Jackson |
"This is a great strategy on their part to try to minimize the continued erosion of support behind the Democratic/liberal moral agenda," says Jackson, the pastor of Hope Christian Church in Maryland.While it may be "great strategy," the HILC leader says it is a failing effort to encourage black voters to separate biblical righteousness issues from social justice and come over to the Democrats' political umbrella. Says Jackson: "And they're trying to make us choose 'either-or' instead of 'both-and.'"
Sharpton was quoted as saying the Christian conservatives' agenda against same-sex "marriage" and abortion were used to distract black voters -- and were not issues relevant to them, such as poverty, voting rights, and affirmative action. But Jackson says any black clergy who do not acknowledge the relevance of opposition to homosexual marriage and the killing of unborn children are out of touch with their ethnic communities.
The fact that 35 percent of abortions performed in the U.S. each year takes the lives of black babies is not irrelevant, says Jackson.
"Over a four-year period, that's two million kids. That is a genocidal trend," he emphasizes. "So where in the world have Al Sharpton, Joseph Lowry, and Jesse Jackson been sleeping? I mean, they are certainly fast asleep. They aren't in touch with the needs."
Bishop Jackson points out that black churchgoers are also the second-largest group standing in opposition to same-sex marriage, right behind white evangelicals.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
