”The sins that keep you out of heaven are not the just those sins of being gay, those are sins of lying, murdering, unforgiving, all kinds of sins. When you look at anyone you believe is not living a life along the principles of Christianity, you pray for them that they will one day see the error in their ways and change, but you don’t exclude them because Christ died for everybody. So when you look at someone who is gay, you see them as someone Christ died for and you look at them as if they are in fact committing sin and that sin will keep them out of heaven. But you don’t hate the person, you hate the sin they commit. And you continue to love the person, and you hope one day the person will see the error in their ways. That is the same for someone who is a drug addict or child molester or someone who is a murderer. I don’t want you to take these words and say I’m analyzing gays with these kinds of people. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m talking about a sin.”
Vallejo, California Mayor Osby Davis‘ further quotes printed by the New York Times. The Times had previously printed some of Davis’ remarks about gays living in sin and therefore not getting into heaven. He has been heavily criticized, and the New York Times apparently felt compelled to put the remarks into context, so they published the entire interview online yesterday. The article and the subsequent clash over Mayor Davis’ remarks are a prime example of how intolerance on behalf of religious communities is clashing more and more with LGBT members of the community as they stand up for their civil rights in their neighborhoods, cities and states. The worst aspect, as is being observed by many, is the painful race and class divisions between those who are seeking equality through the political process and those who are pushing their agenda based on twisted interpretations of religious text. It’s reported that 50 angry supporters of the gay community held a protest outside the Council building this week, most of whom were not racial minorities. But inside the Council chambers, 100 supporters of the mayor chanted, cheered and prayed, and most of them were racial minorities. (New York Times)
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