With strong support from the pastoral community, including the St. Paul Archdiocese, the Church of God in Christ and Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis, the National Organization for Marriage held a rally for marriage at the St. Paul Capitol.The pastors, virtually ignored by the press, included Pastor Bob Battle (left) of the Church of God in Christ, Father Michael Becker (bottom) of the St. Paul Arch Diocese, Pastor Sam Crabtree (below) of Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis and Pastor Brad Brandon.
Pastor Bob Battle spoke to equality and civil rights saying, "Civil rights, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed, are rooted in the natural law. People of every faith and every community can rally around the truth written on the human heart and visible to reason.And the right of children to have both a mother and a father.
"Unions of husbands and wives are uniquely good and uniquely necessary to the common good. These are the unions that make new life and carry up into the future an embody the idea that children have the right to the love of both a mother and a father.
The African American church is firm and steadfast on the biblical principle of one man, one woman marriage."Now I know that some in the press were impressed by the strong support of the Catholic Church, yet for some reason, refused to report it along with the remarks of the other pastors that stood for marriage. Conversely, coverage of the counter rally included pictures and quotes from the clergy.
I believe this bias is do to the fact that it's hard to stereotype pastors, and their denominations as hateful, mean-spirited homophobes.
