Michigan Pastors Hold Press Conference Opposing Homosexual Agenda

Stacy Swimp, whose articles we’ve reprinted on BCN, joined other pastors in Michigan to oppose the legislature’s attempt to amend the state’s civil rights act to include “sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.”

In the video, Swimp makes an excellent point: the original intent of the law was to protect the civil rights of black Americans, discriminated against because of the color of their skin. Swimp also notes the differences between the history of blacks in America and homosexuals. His points are valid, but I’d argue that regardless of that history, race and sexual behavior are not the same or even similar, and shouldn’t be treated as so.

From a Christian perspective, it is not unbiblical for a pastor to marry a man and a woman of different races. It definitely would be for that same pastor to “marry” two men or two women. The behavior between the former pair, united in matrimony, isn’t sinful. Sexual behavior outside this union, regardless of race, is fornication.

From a secular perspective, outlawing marriage between a man and woman based on race had its roots in keeping the races apart and maintaining a subordinate class. The same can’t be said of two men who want to call themselves married. Individual homosexuals have the same civil rights as everyone else. What they want are special rights and rewritten definitions to accommodate behavior.

I hope many more pastors around the country gather together and publicly push back. From the Michigan pastors’ press release:

“We, the undersigned Christian Pastors of the State of Michigan declare our opposition to adding sexual orientation, gender identity or other similar designation to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.” — Pastor Doug Levesque, Immanuel Baptist Church, Corunna, Michigan, reading a pastor’s joint statement.

“The homosexual agenda is an anti-freedom movement which has led to the persecution of pastors and Christian business owners across the nation, whose freedom of speech and freedom of religion are being taken from them, under the guise of so called gay rights. There is nothing civil about that!”– Minister Stacy Swimp, President, National Christian Leadership Council.

“Those wanting special rights for sexual orientation are seeking to rewrite the traditional moral fiber of our society.” — Tim Berlin, senior pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Warren

Some Christians were concerned that allowing the homosexual lobby to gain power would result in violations of our religious freedom. They were right. As we’ve seen, the city of Houston demanded that pastors turn over sermons mentioning the sin of homosexuality. Houston’s lesbian mayor claimed to have no prior knowledge of this. Christians fought back, and the city backed down, but it doesn’t bode well for the future. The onslaught will continue.