Open Forum: McClurkin Turns Obama Gospel Concert Into Ex-Gay Harangue
At Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s gospel concert in South Carolina this weekend, singer and ex-gay activist Donnie McClurkin had an opportunity to take the high road: Show good will and extend an olive branch toward his gay co-singers and audience members.
Instead, according to the New York Times political blog, The Caucus, McClurkin took the low road.
The whole controversy might have been forgotten in the swell of gospel sound except Mr. McClurkin turned the final half hour of the three-hour concert into a revival meeting about the lightning rod he has become for the Obama campaign.
He approached the subject gingerly at first. Then, just when the concert had seemed to reach its pitch and about to end, Mr. McClurkin returned to it with a full-blown plea: “Don’t call me a bigot or anti-gay when I have suffered the same feelings,” he cried.
“God delivered me from homosexuality,” he added. He then told the audience to believe the Bible over the blogs: “God is the only way.” The crowd sang and clapped along in full support.
As XGW has noted previously, pro-tolerance advocates do not object to McClurkin’s decision to identify as ex-gay and to refrain from homosexual behavior. They object because McClurkin:
- told The 700 Club — a Christian media outlet — that same-sex-attracted persons are child-killers and vowed to wage “war” — not peace nor Christian outreach — against gay people
- mischaracterizes his ongoing sexual attraction to men as if it were fully overcome and declines to discuss his lack of significant attraction to women
- asserts that because a handful of individuals with unstable or fluid sexual attraction claim to change, anyone can
In reaction to the initial controversy, Obama sought to deflect charges of antigay bias by including a gay Christian representative in the tour. But Obama passed over two black gay pastors and two black gay-affirming pastors and instead hired a white gay pastor, the Rev. Andy Sidden. According to CNN’s Political Ticker blog, Sidden appeared only briefly at the concert, before much of the audience had even arrived, and refrained from mentioning sexuality.
South Carolina African-American gay activist Alvin McEwen attended a small protest outside the concert and wrote his observations:
No matter how many times it was emphasized that none of us care about McClurkin’s personal decisions regarding his orientation, folks have continued to claim that we are angry at McClurkin’s belief that he is “ex-gay” rather than his statements against the lgbt community.
Hat tip: AmericaBlog
Let me first recognize that we are getting into some pretty specific Christian doctrine here. That’s fine, but I don’t want to drag everyone through it too long – I’m sure it matters only to a slice of our readership. Thanks for your patience.
I’m not sure if I totally agree with what both you and Timothy have said Ken. I feel that Timothy is more concerned with those who blindly claim something is a command from God without really ever having investigated scripture to know if that is what it says. To question the authority of scripture because some misuse it is throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater to me.
By the same token, inspired does not mean that God wrote the book directly, so there most certainly are issues of culture and chronology which the reader must take into consideration. Otherwise you have things like slavery and concubines being a Biblical mandate, when I feel certain they are not. Suffice to say, just because it is mentioned in scripture does not mean it is a command.
I’ve never looked to scripture for my science, and I don’t think it was meant for that. There is only vague mention of things that, when taken extremely literally, could suggest that the earth is flat (four corners of the earth – but we still say that and know the difference) and the sun circling the earth (sun rises and sets, again we use that). As for the Catholic Church, well I don’t agree with the idea of purgatory either
Again, I think that is too broad. Opposed by some, yes. Opposed by some who may have idolized scripture, yes. But indicting all who “rely on the Bible as the Word of God?” I don’t think that is fair.
I have no doubt He still speaks – God is not dead. But I personally challenge whatever I hear against the Word. If something conflicts with what God has said in there, I question it. I have no other way to guard against the counterfeit. Senses can be mistaken, emotion can cloud the mind, but I trust the Word. God provided it for a reason.
Those are my thoughts on the subject.
Perhaps a more accurate statement would have been:
“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. And, if you let the devil deceive and puff up your mind believing sensual knowledge is higher than what God said you will be lost because science will never trump God. God created the principles we call science.Therefore Gods’ Knowledge is higher than our science and infinitely further ahead. All that I’m hearing here is a bunch of lawyering to try to weasel out of believing what God said in His word. But it won’t work. I say this out of a concerned heart not condemning. Concerned for your eternal state, because God is going to judge and He’s not going to be swayed by the things that are deceiving you. This is not the U.S. supreme court where law is subject to the opinions of highly esteemed men, were talking about judgement where everyone is subject to THE LAW. Law that will never change. Those found in violation will perish. God even esteems his Word above his own name. How much more should we esteem it above ours. Don’t look at the deeds of men as the example you should follow. The bible does speak in some detail about the err of men, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob,David, Solomon Etc… But, that does not mean that we do as they did when they erred, We should infact avoid it. The wages of sin is death. Homosexuality is sin it’s cost is death eternal.
Jesus was quite clear that he came not to destroy THE LAW but to fullfill it. If we are still bound by THE LAW then why did God offer Jesus up as a sacrifice once and for all time? Paul even states that if you are going to observe THE LAW then you will be judged by it. Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross brings us freedom and in that freedom and sacrifice he fullfilled THE LAW. THE WHOLE LAW. And as Paul states love fullfills THE LAW – Romans 13 v. 8-10
THE LAW brought the knowledge of sin and eternal death. But Jesus brought us freedom and eternal life.
Do we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Jesus said: “If you love me keep my commandments”. Now you must die and be reborn. Die to your own ways and embrace Gods’ way and he will deliver you. Even from homosexuality. Even from drug and alcohol addiction. He did it for me
Yield to His righteous ways and you will never be the same again. believe it or not I look back on my past life with regret because I was so twisted and decieved, and also with thanksgiving because God loved me even then and was able to save and deliver me as He promised.
The commandments Jesus was referring to was love of God and neighbor. Which fullfills the whole LAW.
I have been reborn, but I’m still gay. Hammering at us about our sexuality is nothing more than self-righteous arrogance IMO. Some Christians live in a black and white world. One that I refuse to live in. There is color out there my friend!
It’s wonderful that you got away from drugs and alcohol. Those things damage not only your body but the relationships around you. I’m glad you came to know Christ and was delivered from such addictions.
I will praise God with my entire being, including my sexuality. As I have stated here on XGW several times, I have been in God’s presence and he has spoken to me. So I do not fear and I remember that he chose to speak to me before I even accepted him as Lord and Savior.
God does work in his own way and in his own time.
T.H.: Escaping into any form of sexual activity, even hetero marriage, is a tough road to travel. Escaping into drug and alcohol addiction is an even tougher road to travel. Escape and/or addiction is not what is being advocated at all by the vast majority of writers here.
You wrote,
Like others, I am glad for you too. Like a man that worked for me, who is an alcoholic no longer drinking, you may need to refrain from even rum-flavored Christmas fruitcake. It perhaps struck him as ‘madness’ that we others could debate the best flavors for fruitcake. Please continue to use the strict rules that are moving you into a close relationship with our Lord. Sincerely; Caryn
“I will praise God with my entire being, including my sexuality.”
Cain offered something to God and it was rejected. God determined your sexuality. If you are male then you carry seed. If you are female then you carry eggs. The seed and egg come together through sexual intercourse, hence our sexuality established. We have free will and we can choose to be against God. The devil is a deciever and homosexuality and sexual perversion in general highlights some of his most deceptive work. I suppose then, If a father raises his child up to enjoy sexual relations with him and they continue on as the child enters into adulthood can they go on and glorify God with their sexuality? They’re not hurting anyone and they are both consenting adults. I don’t think so. God spoke to me too before I finally accepted Him as Lord, and when He did I was a mess: sexual perversion, drugs, alcohol etc… was what I did, but the idea is that you move from that to what God is calling you to. He is calling you to holiness and the only way to get there is to yield all of your ways to his way and let Him change you and make you new. His word says that homosexuality is sin. Now, you agree with God and say the same thing and let Him rescue you from the devils lies. Anything that you won’t let go of that God says is evil you have made your god and it is a god that will not be able to save you. I wrote this in love for my fellow man
T.H., you’ve gotten some latitude because of the general direction this thread has taken, but this is not your pulpit. Please curb the preaching and comment more directly to the topics if you wish to comment. Thanks.
What was it Timothy said about love that only other believers of the same type recognize as “love?” None of the things T.H. has said apply to me dogmatically because I’m Jewish, and I’m sure most of the Christians on this blog would be loathe to agree with T.H.
T.H.
There is nothing you can say that will convince me to believe as you do. I cannot. It would go against my conscience. But thank you for your words.
I beginning to understand more and more the ways and coercive tactics of the evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. Conservative Christianity would be a stumbling block for me, T.H. if I embraced your belief system. Even if I was straight I could not. For me, it lacks the act of love IMO. I would have to reject love being the fullfillment of the LAW and embrace legalistic and hateful rhetoric towards those I feel that I am superior to. I will not take on such beliefs. And the more I see your type of comments coming out from the mouths of those that say they love me, it sickens me to think that in order to be accepted and loved by you and others that believe as you do I must deny who I am and live a life of total misery. I cannot. I will not. I am not called to do so. I have been called to be free in Christ. To be guided by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit has guided me to some wonderful things. Sorry, I cannot embrace what my conscience is telling me is the opposite of true love.
As for holiness, you may try your hardest to get there. However, you will never get there. No one on Earth will. Oh, you may feel that you are there but you are truly not. Remember God himself is holy. We cannot achieve a statis that is only reserved for God himself while on Earth. We will always be sinners striving to do good until we die. But we will never achieve holiness while on Earth. That will never happen. I’ve never bought into that belief. Good yes. Holy no.
We will finally achieve holiness when we die and are in the presence of God for all eternity.
The things that I write are not of my own “belief system” but instead what God said. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God”. When I tell you the truth I don’t do so out of hate but out of love, even if the truth may hurt a little. Tough love, if we’re honest, we know is love we all need in our lives. I will always speak the truth but even more so I will hear it. Gods truth only, because only Gods’ ways are true and He wants what’s best for me. He knows a lot more about me and life in general than I do. He created everything even this spinning thing we live on. If you’re about to step into a pile a dog leavings, and I exhort you vehemently not to take another step in the direction you are going, I’m not doing so out of hate but out of love. Even if you might think I’m trying to control you or that I’m using coercive tactics, I’m just trying to help you keep your shoes clean
God Loves you and He loves right where you are, but He wants to change YOU. He doesn’t want to leave you the same, He’s got something better for you. He wants to mold you and shape you and establish you in the purpose HE has called you to. But, there is a cost, a small price to pay even if some think it’s huge, I’m on the otherside now so it seems a very small thing, give your life to Jesus. Your WHOLE life. Pray this prayer and mean it with all of your heart: Lord Jesus, have your own way in my life. Amen. my exhortations are not to make you feel inferior or to make myself seem superior. On judgement day, if it were not for Jesus, I would be just as guilty as anyone. So, I come to you as a soldier wearing the same uniform you are wearing because we are fighting the same war against the same enemy, and just as a soldier in this world warns his comrad who is about to step on a mine, I warn you: Choose for yourself this day whom you will serve. Mr. McClurkin chose to serve God over homosexuality and abolished it from his life through the Power Of Christ as did I and many others. Praise God. Hallelujah!!!
“We will finally achieve holiness when we die and are in the presence of God for all eternity.”
1Peter
13Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Holiness comes from God and is available to us by faith. Faith in what he says.
Romans
17For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Second warning, T.H. Please respect our requests.
Ken R. et al ==> Heads
This debate ==> Banging Against
T.H. ==> Brick Wall
This whole discussion proves the point that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. The problem with fundamentalist thinking is that there is no room for disagreement or honest questioning, because one’s faith is based upon emotion, not reason. That’s why fundamentalists often scream and yell, and throw out threats of Hellfire and damnation if you disagree with them.
Fundamentalism, a relatively recent phenomenon of Christianity, is deeply anti-intellectual, and places a high value on the rejection of critical thinking. It also appeals to people who need an authoritarian figure to run their lives (because of the emotional security it provides). It is also based more on a fear of Hell than a love of God.
What’s ironic is that Christ’s apostles never appealed to emotions or tried scaring people into making a decision for Christ. Not once. They always used reason when making evangelical appeals, by either pointing to the miraculous (healings, the infilling of the Holy Spirit), prophetic Scriptures or a person’s recent first-hand knowledge of Christ’s life and ministry… depending on the audience.
But a fundamentalist doesn’t care to hear this. Just give them their list of “dos” and “don’ts” and they’re happy. Sad, really, but there’s not much else you can do. They have all their answers, so there’s no point in continuing the dialogue. Unless you want a bloody forehead.
Christopher,
I must admit I wasn’t sure what a fundamantalist was but now I know that, in terms of being a christian, I am indeed a fundamentalist. Anyone who is truly of the faith must be also. Strict adherence to what God says is my paraphased definition of the word. So, as a fundamantalist will I always see myself with Gods help. Your statements suggest that you are either a liar, hypocrite, or very decieved. I say that only as an opinion based on what you said, not as an insult. You are saying things that, to me , shows that you’re not really sure about what you are saying. You couldn’t possibly be. And, you have to admit it if you are honest. Infact you are indeed speaking from your emotions, the very same thing that you are accusing us fundamentalist of. Talk about anti intellectual, there are people who claim to be christians but think that what God says is subject to committee and majority rule. That’s foolishness from where I’m standing. If God, Creator of Heaven and Earth and you and me, came to you today, saturday, and told you that YOU have it wrong it’s wednesday, will you continue to believe that it’s saturday? Would you get a today is saturday committee together and vote that God is confused? As I said in an earlier post God determined and established your sexuality: If you are male you carry seed, female you carry eggs, and the idea is egg and seed get together through sexual intercourse. Hence your sexuality firmly established. listening to the devil you learn that there is more than one way to skin a cat. You can achieve sexual stimulation to the point of climax with a person of the same sex, or under age person, or mom, dad, sister, brother, sheep etc… and have a very close comfortable committed relationship with them while doing it. But, God said those things are not right and you should not do them. People foolishly believe that because the devastating results of sin are not always immediate that God must be lying. But, hell is coming and it’s not me threatening you, it’s not me speaking out of fear. God will not override your free will and He has given sufficient warning. Follow Him and live, don’t follow Him, and you’re like a man who believes gravity is a myth a jumps from the empire state building, even after warnings that the ground would be coming up hard and fast. The law of gravity is not changing because you we are decieved, and neither is Gods’ righteous law changing . He will continue to reward the good and expose and punish evil. Thanks be to God for that, Right? I love God because He loved me first, and I see that His ways are right , and I also love my fellow man because God asked me to and it is my reasonable service as a fundamentalist christian. Really you can leave the fundamentalist off, a real christian is a fundamentalist automatically.
T.H.
It’s all about your beliefs. You claim your beliefs are correct and anything and anyone that gravitates away from your interpretation is a liar and deceiver. You firmly claim your truths are “true” because of your interpretation of the bible. There are many who interpret the Bible differently. However, if those interpretations don’t line up with the Bible the way you interpret it, they are going to Hell. This is typical fundamentalist thinking. Your views are right and all others are wrong.
I’m sorry, but I cannot continue this conversation with you T. H.. I am not a fundamentalist or would ever be one. The mentality I must have in order to be one must be one of self-loathing and bigotry against others in order to feel superior and demand that others believe as I do or the final outcome will be my judgement of Hell against my neighbor. I will not do it. It goes against my very conscience.
For even Paul says (Romans 14):
What Paul was saying in Romans 14 was that if my conscience is bothering me, in anything, I must act according to my conscience. If I believed being gay was wrong and yet I have gay relationships then I am committing a sin because I know in my heart it is wrong. However, if my conscience does not bother me and I feel blessed in my relationship with another man as I walk with Christ then it is not a sin because my conscience does not bother me. Paul was not only referring to food but in all things. Even that Catholic Church teaches that Catholics cannot go against their own consciences even if it means it goes against Church teachings.
I will worship the Lord in peace and joy. In hope and love for God and neighbor. He has revealed to me that Love is the most important of all. And because of this I no longer get angry, self-loathe or hate others as I once did. I have found peace. True peace. Something that I could not find within Fundamentalism. Being gay is not all about sex. Its about mutual love and commitment towards one another.
While you and I don’t see eye to eye T.H., I pray that one day we can at least call each other Brothers in Christ.
Peace
Ken R
Comments like those of T.H. make me ponder… what if I were transported to ancient Egypt and were to find myself confronted with a priest who insisted that I throw my child to the Crocodile God. He would be absolutely certain that it would cause the crops to grow and that my failure to do was was an affront to the gods.
It would not matter in the slightest that I disagreed, his faith and certainty would not waiver. But at least I would know it not to be true.
But, what if instead of being transported, I was born in that time and place. What would allow me to determine what to believe? Would I simply accept the writings of the Book of the Dead as holy and irrefutable? Or would I measure these writings against that which my conscience (and, I believe, the direction of God) told me was good and right and true?
I would like to believe that I would reject the pagan trappings and search for the truth of the one true God. But it’s impossible to know.
But I am here now today. And I have a choice.
I can either measure Christianity in its various forms against what I know to be true, based on my observations, my reading, my study, and on the directions of my conscience or I can blindly cling to what I have been taught… because it is what I have been taught.
T.H. will cling blindly. And based on what has been written here, I believe that T.H. would have thrown his/her child to the Crocodile God.
Are you saying that celibacy is a sin? Just because a man can get a woman pregnant doesn’t mean he should. More than that, just because he is a man doesn’t mean he can get a woman pregnant. If he does not respond sexually to the female form, then what is he supposed to do? Get married anyway and fake it? The only proper option, in my opinion, is celibacy. The Bible, too, sees celibacy as something that is good and proper. Doesn’t that go against your arguments though? By your strict adherence to “natural law,” you seem to be saying that just because every human can be sexually active then they should be.
The Bible disagrees with you there. Sexuality is not firmly established through external features. Even if it was, what would be your response to people who are born intersex? Are they not of God because they are neither male or female? Every good Christian is not a fundamentalist. God gave us a mind so we could use it. If we went by every little detail the Bible said (which is what fundamentalists do), we’d still be thinking that the world was flat.
Didn’t Christopher™ admit to that much in the first sentence?
Opposite?
Just because a man can get a woman pregnant doesn’t mean he should.
Ah but a good fundamentalist knows he has an OBLIGATION to impregnate some women. For example, if his brother’s widow is without children he must have sex with her until she’s pregnant. Remember Onan?
Thankfully my brother did his husbandly duty!! And not just because she is a worman, she really is not a pleasant person.