Otis Moss III
Senior Pastor
Trinity UCC, Chicago
My Brother,
Tell your brethren who are part of your
ministerial coalition to “live their faith and not legislate their faith” for
the Constitution is designed to protect the rights of all. We must learn to be
more than a one-issue community and seek the beloved community where we may not
all agree, but we all recognize the fingerprint of the Divine upon all of
humanity.
There is no doubt people there are people who are
same-gender-loving who occupy prominent places in the body of Christ. For the
clergy to hide from true dialogue with quick dismissive claims devised from
poor biblical scholarship is as sinful as unthoughtful acceptance of a
theological position. When we make biblical claims without sound interpretation
we run the risk of adopting a doctrinal position of deep conviction but devoid
of love ethic. Deep faith may resonate in our position, but it is the ethic of love
that forces us to prayerfully reexamine our position.
The question I believe we should pose to our
congregations is, “Should all Americans have the same civil rights?” This is a
radically different question than the one you raised with the ministers, “Does
the church have the right to perform or not perform certain religious rites. R.I.T.E.S”
There is difference between rights and rites. We should never misconstrue
rights designed to protect diverse individuals in a pluralistic society versus
religious rites designed by faith communities to communicate a theological or
doctrinal perspective. These two questions are answered in two fundamentally
different arenas. One is answered in the arena of civic debate where the
Constitution is the document of authority. The other is answered in the realm
of ecclesiastical councils where theology, conscience and biblical mandates are
the guiding ethos. I do not believe ecclesiastical councils are equipped to
shape civic legislation nor are civic representatives equipped to shape
religious rituals and doctrine.
The institution of marriage is not under attack
as a result of the President’s words. Marriage was under attack years ago by
men who viewed women as property and children as trophies of sexual prowess.
Marriage is under attack by low wages, high incarceration, unfair tax policy,
unemployment, and lack of education. Marriage is under attack by clergy who
proclaim monogamy yet think nothing of stepping outside the bonds of marriage
to have multiple affairs with “preaching groupies.” Same-gender couples did not
cause the high divorce rate, but our adolescent views of relationships and our
inability as a community to come to grips with the ethic of love and commitment
did. We still confuse sex with love and romance with commitment.
My father, who is a veteran of the civil rights
movement and retired pastor, eloquently stated the critical nature of this
election when speaking to ministers this past week who claim they will pull
support from the President as a result of his position. He stated, “Our
Ancestors prayed for 389 years to place a person of color in the White House.
They led over 200 slave revolts, fought in 11 wars, one being a civil war where
over 600,000 people died. Our mothers fought and were killed for women’s
suffrage, our grandparents were lynched for the civil rights bill of 1964 and
the voting rights act of 1965…my father never had the opportunity to vote and I
believe it is my sacred duty to pull the lever for every member of my family
who was denied the right to vote. I will not allow narrow-minded ministers or
regressive politicians the satisfaction of keeping me from my sacred right to
vote to shape the future for my grandchildren.”
Gay and lesbian citizens did not cause the
economic crash, foreclosures, and attack upon health care. Poor underfunded
schools were not created because people desire equal protection under the law.
We have much work to do as a community.
To claim the President of the
United States must hold your theological position is absurd. He is President of
the United States of America not the President of the Baptist convention or
Bishop of the Sanctified or Holiness Church. He is called to protect the rights
of Jew and Gentile, male and female, young and old, Gay and straight, black and
white, Atheist and Agnostic. It should be noted the President offered no
legislation, or executive order, or present an argument before the Supreme
Court. He simply stated his personal conviction.
If we dare steal away from the noise of this
debate, we will realize as a church we are called to “Do justice, live mercy
and walk humbly with God.” Gay people have never been the enemy; and when we
use rhetoric to suggest they are the source of our problems we lie on God and
cause tears to flow from the eyes of Christ.
I am not asking you to change your position, but
I am stating we must stay in dialogue and not allow our own personal emotional
prejudices or doctrines to prevent us from seeing the possibilities of a
beloved community.
November is fast approaching, and the spirits of
Ella Baker, Septima Clarke, Fannie Lou Hammer, Rosa Parks, A. Phillip Randolph,
James Orange, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther, King Jr. stand in the balcony of
heaven raising the question, “Will you do justice, live mercy and walk humbly
with our God?” Emmitt Till and the four little girls who were assassinated in
Alabama during worship did not die for a Sunday sermonic sound bite to show
disdain for one group of God’s people. They were killed by an evil act enacted
by men who believed in doctrine over love. We serve in ministry this day
because of a man who believed in love over doctrine and died on a hill called
Calvary in a dusty Palestinian community 2,000 years ago.
Do not let the
rhetoric of this debate keep you from the polls, my friend. Let us stay in dialogue my brother.
Sincerely,
Your Brother
Otis Moss, III
Senior Pastor
Trinity United Church of Christ
Senior Pastor
Trinity United Church of Christ
