2006 - The Black Church Summit

2006 - The Black Church Summit

Should the African American church allow the white far-right to stymie the black community's political objectives by using homophobic rhetoric to fan the flames? What should the black church do?

The black churches who dared to discuss the question decided to unify. According to revcom.us, "The advance of the Christian fascist theocrats among the Black clergy and churches is extremely dangerous development..." and a step towards a solution was sponsored by the NBJC (National Black Justice Coalition), the Black Church Summit was held in Atlanta January 20-21 at the First Iconium Baptist Church. The conference tackled the homophobic rhetoric spewing from African-American church pulpits that provided fertile ground for far-right Christians to win elections for the GOP. Homophobic rhetoric increased the GOP's electorate from 8% to 12% in 2004. Recognizing this problem, nearly 200 black ministers attended the event, where the Rev. Al Sharpton and Bishop Yvette Flunder delivered keynote addresses.
Sharpton called on black churches to "break the backs of those who are trying to use homosexuality as a political weapon, " enabling them to steal minority votes from the issues that matter most to the black community. Flunder called for African Americans (and all Americans) to see value in developing "a nonpunitive discourse on human sexuality." Flunder further concluded that Black people must talk so we can close ranks and "eliminate the opportunity for others to defile and separate us." In an interview, Sylvia Rhue, who was in charge of religious affairs and constituency development at NBJC, said religious leaders must note LGBT contributions to their communities and understand how marriage discrimination harms not helps, African-American children and families.

Black preachers supporting the homophobic agender of the far-right is not in the interest of African Americans, for as revcom.us concludes: "...these pro-Bush preachers are reminiscent of the Judenrat under the Nazis--Jews who were given special privileges and power under the Nazis and who convinced themselves that things would go better for everyone if they rounded up their fellow Jews instead of forcing the Nazis to do it. The Judenrat told people not to resist and snitched on those who did."

The Black Church Summit
https://transgriot.blogspot.com/2006/01/

Sharpton: Sexually-based issues dividing black churches
https://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/07/05/sharpton.agenda/index.html

Blacks, Gays And The Church: A Complex Relationship : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2012/05/22/153282066

Black Church Summit Takes Stand Against Anti-Gay Discrimination
https://revcom.us/a/033/black-church-summits.htm

Black Church Summit 2006
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37alHFycspA

37alHFycspA