Christian moral values are pro-gay values,’ activists claim in new video targeting PCUSA
By Craig M. Kibler, The Layman Online, December 8, 2004
In the aftermath of a national election in which Americans said “moral values” ranked highest in deciding how they voted, a group of gay activists are claiming that “Christian moral values are pro-gay values” in a new video targeting members of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The video, “Project Hearts and Minds: Christian Values,” is a joint effort of More Light Presbyterians, a gay activist organization seeking to overturn the “fidelity/chastity” ordination standard in the denomination’s constitution; the San Jose, Calif., chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, which says that it “promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, their families and friends through support, education, and advocacy;” and Soulforce, an ecumenical gay activist organization.
“It’s precisely because we value morality that we support an end to all forms of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,” Peninsula/San Jose PFLAG president and Presbyterian elder Tom Henderson said.
“It would be a dramatic mistake for America to somehow conclude that the term ‘moral values’ is the property of a vocal anti-gay stream of Christianity,” he said. “There are many millions of gay-supportive Christians in America who anchor their love and acceptance of LGBT people in their Christian values.”
The release of the video, the third in what is billed as an ongoing series that promotes “equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,” was announced on the Web site of More Light Presbyterians. The new video includes interviews with Presbyterians, United Methodists and Mormons.
More Light Presbyterians co-moderator Erin Swenson said, “A thoughtful, well-discerned reading of the Bible shows that there is no credible Christian case for discrimination against LGBT people. The verdict has been in for decades: Christian moral values are pro-gay values. We’re pleased to have the chance to work with PFLAG and Soulforce to continue sharing that message of Biblical equality.”
Swenson is a PCUSA minister and family counselor in the Presbytery of Atlanta whose sex-change operation made her the first post-operative transsexual minister in a major denomination.
“Christian values always need to focus on the values of Jesus,” said Karen Weldin, the director of operations for Soulforce. “Jesus always showed compassion and inclusion for the outcast. Time after time he violated his own society’s traditions and prejudices to treat people who were the most despised in his culture with dignity and respect. To be consistent with the life and vision of Jesus in America today means to accept LGBT people as they are and treat them as equals.”