COLUMBIA, S.C., Oct. 26, 2007
Uproar Over Obama's Gospel Tour Continues
Gay Rights Groups Continue Campaign Against Donnie McClurkin's Scheduled Appearance In S.C.
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Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a fundraising event at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, N.J., Monday, Oct. 22, 2007. (AP)
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Obama campaign spokesman Kevin Griffis refused to talk about what was discussed on the call with Steve Hildebrand, Obama's early voting state strategist, and Joshua DuBois, who runs faith programs for the campaign.
Afterward, the South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement decided to hold a vigil outside the Sunday concert in Columbia to protest gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, said Tony Snell, the group's past president.
Snell listened to the call and said ll he heard was talking points and the campaign wasn't budging on McClurkin.
"This guy has a reputation. He has a past. It's well known," Snell said. "You guys should have researched this out," Snell said of the Obama campaign.
Snell said the call ended with the 15 gay and lesbian leaders making a final appeal to Hildebrand and DuBois to talk to Obama. "Please ask him one more time to stop Donnie McClurkin's appearance at Sunday's event," Snell said.
Griffis said McClurkin won't be booted from the program.
"The Obama campaign is trying to bridge real divides and bring people together. Two things are certain: We will never be able to bridge those divides if we are unwilling to listen to voices we don't agree with, and we will never change anyone's mind if we refuse to talk to him," Griffs said in a statement.
Obama's campaign invited the Rev. Andy Sidden, a South Carolina pastor who is openly gay, to appear at the same concert. But Snell said that doesn't right the program.
McClurkin is a Grammy Award winner who performed at the Republican National Convention in 2004. He told AP Radio in an interview that September that he was "once involved with those desires and those thoughts," but God turned him away from them.
Obama has spoken out against homophobia, including in the black community. He supports civil unions for same-sex couples but not the right for gay marriage.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 84 CommentsWonder what the headlines would be if a republican tried to pull a ''gospel'' tour? The ACLU would be suing him/her out of existence. What happened to separation of church and state?
Posted by Signof4 at 11:46 AM : Oct 26, 2007"
God knows (sorry, couldn''t help it) how much I am really in favor of strict separation of church and state.
But you have to read "state", meaning administration, public schools ...
As a candidate, Obama, like anybody, is perfectly free to express religious opinions during a campaign. We have freedom of speech, freedom of religion.
Are you calling Ministers dogs?
signof4,
The same Minister perfromed at the republican Convention and there was no controversy. You''re imagining inequity again.
If this Minister were preaching hate and intolerance I would be opposed to giving him a forum for promoting that hate. He may be ignorant in his personal view(I don''t personally agree that homosexuality is a choice), bur he isn''t preaching intolerance.
Secondly, as far as I can see, he''s not being given a forum to express his views, he''s going to be singing.
Perhaps these gay and lesbian leaders are the ones who need to do more research.
Are you calling Ministers dogs?
signof4,
Of course not. I''m calling the activists dogs?
Posted by Signof4
There is no separation of church and state.
Posted by mudrose at 01:29 PM : Oct 26, 2007
You and I know this. But most dems and every lib in America doesn''t.
Posted by mudrose at 01:28 PM : Oct 26, 2007
Some low-life is cutting and pasting my name to ''it''s'' posts. Not being done by me. There is no LOW a lib won''t sink to.
Posted by singinrick at 02:05 PM : Oct 26, 2007
Welcome to the culture war! Wonder what makes them think they can pull it off when every other country that tried it has failed? There''s a doctoral dissertation in there, somewhere.
Born this way - just like you were born hetero........
A study of 518 sexually-tinged mass murders in the U.S. from 1966 to 1983 determined that 350 (68%) of the victims were killed by those who practiced homosexuality and that 19 (44%) of the 43 murderers were bisexuals or homosexuals.(2)
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Posted by singinrick
Talk about CHERRY PICKING here - are you kidding me? Shall I copy and paste all the straight white males that have committed incest, serial killing and rapes? This comment board couldn''t hold them all........the same things you point out about the gay community can be pointed out about the straight community.
You hate runs deep.........you sure you don''t have anything to tell us?
Hey thought you might get a kick out of this. Someone actually chose the moniker "notmudrose". I tell ya I had a mini-me moment with that one. Lately, however, these people are really giving me the woolies. I''m starting to develop a tick.
In the United States the majority (73%) of serial killers have been heterosexual white males in their 20s, and usually from working class or poor backgrounds.
Can we morally remove them from our society? The world would be a nicer place.....less crime, incest, pedophiles........and rape.
The GOP, joined by a chorus from the religious-right and the neo-conservatives who have sought to advance Mr. Bush%u2019s power have all watched admiringly as he struts across the stage of America%u2019s political theatre. Lassoing and exaggerating the importance of three issues highly susceptible to emotion baiting and a charged current of fear and irrationality, clever men have hijacked the churches into believing they have taken the moral high ground in America.[60]
The churches laud Mr. Bush as a %u201Cmoral man%u201D simply because he is against any legal union between ***, against any abortion and essentially (for all practical purposes) against stem cell research.
Nor do the protestant churches have any excuse; they are shepherds over flocks living in the Bible belt where the towns, counties and states have the largest number of divorces in the nation. While Jesus was silent about homosexuals, he was not silent about divorce. He called divorce a sin unless adultery was the reason for it.
Sullivan says, %u201CA staggering 23 percent of married born-agains have been divorced twice or more.%u201D[71] And who has the most teen births? In the state where preaching against teen *** is the strongest%u2014teen pregnancies are the highest: Sullivan says, 16.1 percent of all births are teen births in Texas, but in liberal Massachusetts, %u201Cit%u2019s 7.4 almost half.%u201D
How dare the churchgoers think of themselves as a moral army, preparing America for their rule! Yet they protect pastors accused of adultery and homosexuality, while they condemn without mercy %u201Chumanists%u201D and %u201Cliberals%u201D in America who follow the teachings of Jesus and seek to protect and provide for the poor and do justice.
In the United States the majority (73%) of serial killers have been heterosexual white males in their 20s, and usually from working class or poor backgrounds.
Can we morally remove them from our society? The world would be a nicer place.....less crime, incest, pedophiles........and rape.
Posted by simonsez40
Always true to form, your nothing less than informative. Lets please do remove them from society, or at least pray hard for them. It was their choice they were born straight white males......
Posted by simonsez40
He''s not against stem cell reearch. He''s against embryonic stem cell research. If you read the Declaration of Independence that is, you will recall -- ...man is endowed by his "Creator" with certain inalienable rights - one being "life". There is nothing in the Constitution that supports same-s/ex marriage, abortion or embryonic stem cell research. The man''s following the constitution. Of course, the lefties prefer a living breathing Constitution whereby the judges, by fiat, can dictate new rights to accommodate the whims of the fringe.
Posted by singinrick
I think socialism has some good key points, I would even goes as far to say that I agree with Marx on a few things.
As far as the story at hand goes, I believe he made ammends by inviting the openly gay preacher to speak, thats a huge plus...he has an open forum to teach tolerance.
As far as the story at hand goes, I believe he made ammends by inviting the openly gay preacher to speak, thats a huge plus...he has an open forum to teach tolerance.
Posted by hippychicky
How wonderful. A point - counterpoint to McClurkin. Makes everybody h-a-p-p-y!
What, all 3 of them? LOL There are NO *** in SC!!! :)
Wonder if the call cost $1.99/minute?
%u201CMr. Bush has lied about his time in the National Guard, and lied about his criminal history. He lied about his relationship with Ken Lay, he lied about who would benefit from his tax cuts, and he lied about stem cells. He lied about his visit to Bob Jones University, he lied about why he wouldn''t meet with Log Cabin Republicans, and he lied about reading the EPA report on global warming. He lied about blaming the Clinton administration for the second intifada, he lies constantly about how he pays no attention to polls, he lied about how he loves New York, and he lied about moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He lied about funding the fight against AIDS in Africa, he lied about when the recession started, and he lied about seeing the first plane hit the WTC. He lied about supporting the Patient Protection Act, and he lied about his deficit spending, and now my wrist hurts.%u201D The Poor Man''s Blog.
Posted by simonsez40
Now you know why I call you a skinhead? You are a FairyNazi. Kill the Christians, Kill the Christians!
We need to ask the churches the following central question:
%u201CIs it moral to vote for an evil man (one who lies, who hates others and who employs coercion to impose his will upon others)%u2014because you expect that individual will vote the way you believe he or she should vote in office?%u201D
If the church elders respond, %u201CYes, it is moral,%u201D then we must ask why that church violates Christian doctrine and belief. See 2 John 1:9-11 where a Christian cannot encourage, accept or support someone, who in his actions is disloyal to what Jesus taught.
If the church elders respond, %u201CNo, it is not moral,%u201D then we must ask why the members of that church voted for an evil man for president and evil congressional candidates as defined in this essay by the Bush administration agenda.
Got to Wikepida and look up skinhead.........lol!
Posted by mudrose at 03:51 PM : Oct 26, 2007
Some are more ''endowed'' than others! LOL It''s a proven FACT that conservatives score higher on standardized tests than liberals do! Look it up!
And get your mind out of the GUTTER! LOL
Typically racist, antisemitic, anti-islamic, white supremacist, anti-gay and often neo-Nazi
Did you read that ANTI-GAY? LMAO.
I know full well what a skinhead is. Apparently the abstraction eludes you.
Posted by simonsez40 at 03:59 PM : Oct 26, 2007
Throw anti bed-wetting lib in there and you can sign me up!
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Do you see that word equal, tell me just how equal under the law am I to you?
And just FYI alittle medical facts
Embryonic stem cells are stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo known as a blastocyst. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4-5 days post fertilization.
I don''t think at that stage in fertilization a fetus is thinking of life, doppler can not even pick up a viable heart beat until 7wks out.
Its a mass of cells 50-150 imagine what kind of great medical research could be done, with fetuses..might as well use them for the greater good...
Posted by hippychicky at 04:03 PM : Oct 26, 2007
''A mass of cells.'' ''Use them for the greater good.'' You''re one of those people whose parents smoked a lot of dope, and you probably think animals have more rights than humans. Am I right? Be honest.
Posted by Signof4
Yeah the FemiNazis and the FairyNazis. Put this group together and you have radical, anti-life ideologues supporting a Culture of Death whether it be in the womb and now the concept of unnatural cominglings of the species. One kills the species, the other is barren.
The real topping to this issue that reveals the hypocrisy of the churches is the fact they have never believed a miscarried fetus is a sentient human, else they would have held funerals for them.
There are other aspects of the abortion debate that should be examined. In order to have made it an overriding issue for Catholics and many evangelical churches, the anti-abortion proponents had to lie that a zygote is a sentient human being. Obviously, the anti-abortion proponents believe that it is moral to lie because their ends (the bringing to term of all zygotes) justify their means; that is, lying leads to an allegedly pro-life end.
But biblically, he who lies hates the one he lies to. (Proverbs 26:28.) The scriptures then equate hating to be the moral equivalent of murder. (1 John 3:15.) So the irony is that biblically the anti-abortion proponents and followers who repeat the lies are the biblical equivalent to murderers. Yet there is no biblical injunction or punishment for abortion in the Bible. The issue of abortions is essentially a phony issue because humans abort%u2014they miscarry and the God of the Bible did not label an aborted zygote a %u201Csentient human being.%u201D Period. End of story.
***************************************************
Obama and his campaign is dead-on right on this one. You can''t exclude, you have to include. As long as everyone is under the tent, then they might just accidentally learn something, or make a new friend. *** are Americans and so are people that think it is a choice. Now trying to deny gay people equal protections, THAT is unAmerican, not disagreeing on why they are gay.
**********************************
There is nothing in the constitution that bars same *** marriage, on the contrary, it promises equality. There is no protection in the constitution for anyone until they are born. There is nothing in the constitution that prohibits stem-cell research. The word God is not in the Constitution.
If this gay movement is right...they are born this way, will murders, rapist, child molesters also be informed they were born this way and its OK. You can go and rape because you are born this way. You can molest the children because you can''t help you were born this way. You can''t help you kill, you were born this way.
God help our nation. Sorry but it''s a choice. May be hard to accept but its true.
If this nation does not learn this and soon, we will see the rest of this nation like California...destroyed for lack of knowledge (Godly knowledge). As a matter of fact, teaching the kids to accept unatural behavior at any grade level is wrong. Schools should teach reading, math, science and the fear of God. Even the animals know better that many humans.
I''m not a religious nut but I fear for our country and who''s incharge of making these ungodly laws. They have not heard the last of their decisions.
When the Bible was in school...gum was the main problem. Since the Bible has been taken out...guns are the problem with ***, drugs and sickness''.
We must repent and turn from our wicked ways.
End of story.
chuck
The Bible does say, "Before I formed you in your mothers womb, I knew you". ...God
Sorry, but murder is murder and it doesn''t matter if inside or outside of the mother. My Lord, over 52 million killed in this courntry since Roe v. Wade.
Can''t you hear the cry of the babies...listen. I pray you have a true dream of such tonight.
chuck
Posted by chuck19563
Oh yes, because its obviously the same things..how unthought out was that posting. I think we covered stastics on that if you would scroll down.
Quick spreading hate!
Since you know that the devastation in California is God''s retribution against those who don''t accept your consevative views, explain why the fires hit in the most conservative areas of the state. Tornado ally is highly conservative, is that God''s retribution? You''re talking hate, not common sense.
singinrick,
I''ll ask again..where did Jesus say that homosexuality was a sin or to condemn others for their sins? Jesus commands us all to deal with our own sins!
Everyone is responsible for their own spiritual path and no one else''s and part of each Christian''s spiritual path is to love your neighbor as yourself, ALL your neighbors.
You challenge the findings that homosexuality is genetic. You may be right and you may be wrong, you offer no science or studies of your own to dispute the
findings, and you make other unsubstantiated claims about conversion studies being successful, about converting a homosexual yourself,and, that homosexuals are a small part of the population(since many are in the closet how would you determine this?).
You have every right to your views and your faith but your scientific opinions like your scriptural interpretations are your and are not backed up by either independent science or the words of Jesus.
you asked, you received
Lev 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
what? Jesus didn''t say that? wanna bet?
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
there is your proof of Jesus Word.
Now your second part that Jesus DID NOT say to condemn others for their sins. He commanded us to REPENT of OUR sins. A true Christian will love, pray for, and encourage a sinner to change from a sinful behavior but anyone who try to force the changes does more damage to everyone around. God/Jesus gave all of us a choice and whatever choice you choose will determine where you will spend your eternal time. The Choices are accept God or Reject Him. When you accept Him your Life WILL change like McClurkin as God will not let you fight your "sin" alone. If you don''t want give up your life style which mean you love the sin and You rejected God.
It sound like those homosexual who rejected McClurkin are "Christiaphobo".
Light a candle for me. Light up the whole night sky of this gospel Hate-Fest!
http://www.deathbyhmo.com/images/animated_candle.gif
McClurkin,
Nail that CLOSET shut with 9 inch spikes, cuz if the LGBT community catches you tricking with a man,(and we WILL), you''ll think Larry Craig and Ted Haggard got off EASY. You and You alone are making Obama''s campaign something openly proud queers won''t support in 08''.
Rev Sidden,
You diminish yourself fronting for this BULLSH*T
Hillary = Lieberman with a fake laugh
Keep this up Democrats and you''ll succeed in LOSING another unloseable election
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