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Editor’s Notebook
Atlanta’s gay com
munity has ■; burst upon the
city’s polarized political life.
The city’s civic leadership
has attempted to use us in
their battles. Our leader
ship, often divided, often
unknown, is thoroughly
lacking in the ability to deal
with the ramifications of our
position. .
The people originally
packing tne Citizens for a
Decent Atlanta, I suspect
were not as morally offended
by. Mayor. Jackson’s Gay
Pride Day Proclamation as
they saw an opportunity to
attack;a black mayor.
Those people are not
particularly the real problem.
They unleashed the Bap
tists. The Baptists are now a
larger problem than the
political seven.
Howard Wells, Atlanta
MCC Pastor, said; “They are
preaching against us from
their pulpits. We must be
doing something right.’’
Wells might be correct. I
just hope that we will in our
own haphazard fashion be
able to continue to do things
right and get them to quit
preaching against us from
the pulpit.
They are among the
hardest of people with which
to deal. While many have
thrown away much of the Old
Testament and a lot of the
New, they are quick to sieze
upon the Old & New
Testaments pronouncement
on the sexuality of male with
male. Even though well over
1 in 4 marriages fail, they
preach that homosexuality
Letters
Tills jlettef .: -is written in
resppnsse ta pronouncements
. made recehfly from various
city pulpits ; and, in par-
tfculafc^vfd-the statement
adopt^^fri^ week of June
28th by' the Atlanta Baptist
pastor’s conference that
‘ ‘ horoosextfality is wrong
both; • because the Bible
‘unquestionably declares
homb&extfal acts to be
contrary to the will of God’
ah<i because such acts have
, been ‘adjudged unlawful by
the : action of Georgia
legislators’;”
gay and concerned
ievahge-iieal Christians
Vbommitted to the Lord Jesus
Christ and the full authority
of the Word of God, we are
concerned with the basic
questions, of inconsistency
produced when a; narrow
ultra-fundamentalist* Inter
op retati-o n prOnou nces the
judgement of God on what
are . construed . to be in
junct jo ns- against
homosexual orientation in
the. Levitical Code, but fails
to ; also denounce the eating
of catfish, ham and the
wearing of red
dresses which are also con
demned in the same code.
Such legalistic moralizing
encounters difficulty when in
the New testament one does
not End any mention of
homosexuality by Jesus or
anyone else in the four
Gospels.
Biblical legalists, in their
personal bias against sup
posed deviation, interpret
the writing of Paul out of
cultural context, but con
veniently ignore the, logical
conclusion of such in
terpretation that Paul must
also condone slavery and
oppose women missionaries.
The “travesty” per
petuated upon Atlanta is not
the recognition of basic
constitutional rights for
Atlanta citizens but that
respected Christian leaders
mount hysterical, unbiblical
Crusades against
homosexuality.; How much
more productive such
misdirected energy would be
helping those, often of their
own flock, who have quite
naturally developed along
homosexual lines to accept
themselves as Christ has
accepted them - just as they
are.
It is the responsibility of
all Christians to stop bearing
a false witness of negative
stereotypes and unwarranted
legal judgements against
their homosexual brothers
and sisters.
We earnestly hope that
Christian leaders will affirm
the divine gift of human
sexuality whether
heterosexual or homosexual,
and by doing so will help to
facilitate for gay as well as
non-gay persons alike the
sort of self acceptance and
self-love which necessarily
precedes loving others.
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e W.E.(Bill) Smith, Jr.
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will destroy the American
family unit. Serial
monogamy is accepted,
adultery forgiven, and
fornication accepted but not
discussed. Homosexuality is
forbidden.
Without logic or reason
this is the way the Baptist
World is. How does one deal
with such a group? It will
take organization, time, and
money. The Gay Pride
Alliance will hopefully be a
catalyst for such action. The
city needs it and appears to
be ready to take up the role.
What is
Gay Pride
In this “Bicen
tennial” year, the Gay Pride
theme has been “We Were
There”. We have always
been, and as you know, we
will always be here. Even
though our existence has
been “closeted”, no amount
of secrecy has been able to
halt our forces. From
creation, homosexuality has
been existant, whether
blatantly or experimentally.
Judeo-Christian “mores”
have kept us from obtaining
our rights, as individuals,
but you car^’t place all the
blame on them.
Pride, as defined in
Thorndike Barnhart’s
Comprehensive Desk
edition, is a high opinion of
one’s own worth or
possessions. It is also the
pleasure or satisfaction you
feel about yourself. Pride
can also be something that
you are proud of, concerning
you or yourself. But, Gay
Pride can be summed up in
one word, “unashamed”.
Are you proud of the color
of your eyes? Or, are you
proud of your hair color, or
weight, or height? These are
all characteristics of you, and
help make-up your per
sonality. You may not be
proud of any of these
features, but most of us
aren’t “ashamed” of them
either. You can change some
of these characteristics, if
you aren’t pleased with
them. But, if you have
accepted them as being a
part of ‘you’, you shouldn’t
be ashamed of them either.
So much of our op
pression, we have brought on
ourselves. Stand-up for your
beliefs, let them be known.
If you have “come-out”,*
evaluate this: Have you
“come-out”? Does your
next door neighbor know you
are gay? Do your co
workers? Does your em
ployer? How about your
family? Or, do you assume
that they know. It just isn’t
spoken about, right?
Why haven’t you let them
know? Are you frightened of
their reactions, or are you
more afraid of your own
reactions ;to theirs?
Whatever your reason is. We
must not be ashamed of
ourselves! j Have you done
something “wrong”? Are
you “sorry”?
T.C.
EISBUDSA
Cfjurcf) of tfCucfjaritft
SERVING p?HE SPIRITUAL, WORSHIPPING AND SACRAMENTAL NEEDS
| OF THE ATLANTA GAY COMMUNITY
Stop suffocating in the religious closets of ‘mainline-establishment 1 churches
Here is the opportunity to come out into all of the dignity, freedom and joy of
a true expression of the Church of Christ, where you may enter and worship
as yourself; openly and honestly... without fear of censure or discrimination.
ORGANIZATION MEETING
Take an hour to come by and learn more of our life and activities. Lend your
talents and abilities to making this truly a new spiritual reality for Atlanta.
HOTEL GEORGIAN TERRACE, AUGUST 13th. 7:30 P.M. Mezzanine Parlor A
+ .+ +
CELEBRATION OF THE
Hob iWass
AUGUST 15th. at 12 NOON
TEMPORARY CHAPEL at the HOTEL GEORGIAN TERRACE
(Terrace Room)
If you are ‘questing for the traditional catholic liturgical form of worship,
clothed in an enlightend theology, you should give serious consideration to
becoming a member of this new Atlanta Mission-Parish