News
May. 07 - LGBT Families to Host Families from Lakewood Church
May. 01 - A Soulforce Open Letter to Members of the United Methodist Church
Apr. 24 - Soulforce Releases Letter from Bakker to Osteen
Apr. 23 - Black Clergy Allies to Show Support for LGBT Methodists
Apr. 11 - Soulforce Events Urge Methodists to Open Hearts, Minds, and Doors
Apr. 08 - American Family Outing Seeks to Dispel Divisive Tactics
The Latest Open Letters between Mel White and Jerry Falwell
1. Open Letter From Mel White to Jerry Falwell
June 5, 1999
Dear Jerry,
I've been reading your autobiography again. It still moves me. And I'm not just saying that because I wrote it. Strength for the Journey inspires and informs readers because you talk about your failures and not just your success.
I'm especially moved by those twenty short pages in Chapter Eleven that describe your transformation from 1964, when you were a staunch segregationist, to 1968, when you baptized the first black member of Thomas Road Baptist Church.
When I asked you what happened in four short years to change your mind about segregation, you told me stories about the African-Americans you had known and loved from childhood.
"It wasn't the Congress, the courts, or the demonstrators," you assured me. "It was Lewis, the shoeshine man, and Lump Jones, the mechanic, and David Brown, the sensitive, loving black man without a wife or family who lived for most of his adult life in the backroom of our large family home in Lynchburg."
It was obvious that you really cared about those black men, especially David Brown. "He was a good man," you told me. "He helped my mother with the cooking and cleaning. He cared for me and my brother Gene when we were children. He bathed and fed us both. He was like a member of our family."
Then, one day, you and Gene found David Brown lying unconscious and unattended in the lobby of Lynchburg's General Hospital. One portion of his head and face had been crushed from a severe blow with a dull pipe or the barrel of a pistol. He suffered cuts and bruises over his entire body; yet because he was black, he lay dying in that waiting room for forty-eight hours without medical help. You and your brother intervened but your friend was permanently damaged by the racist thugs who left him for dead and by the racist hospital policies that denied him treatment in time.
Do you remember how your eyes filled with tears when you told me, "I am sorry that I did not take a stand on behalf of the civil rights of David Brown and my other black friends and acquaintances during those early years."
I knew from the sound of your voice, Jerry, that you are still sorry that you did not take a stand for equality in those early years of ministry. Nevertheless, after condemning President Johnson's Civil Rights legislation as an act of "Civil wrong" and after preaching fervently against integration, you had the courage to acknowledge your sinfulness and to end your racist ways.
"In all those years," you told me, "it didn't cross my mind that segregation and its consequences for the human family were evil. I was blind to that reality. I didn't realize it then, but if the church had done its job from the beginning of this nation's history, there would have been no need for the civil rights movement."
Well said, friend. But now I have to ask you one more time. Has it ever crossed your mind that you might be just as wrong about homosexuality as you were about segregation? Could it be that you are blind to a tragic new reality, that the consequences of your anti-homosexual rhetoric are as evil for the human family as were your sermons against integration? Have you even thought about the possibility that you are ruining lives, destroying families, and causing endless suffering with your false claims that we are "sick and sinful," that we "abuse and recruit children," that we "undermine family values."
In the 1950s and 60s, you misused the Bible to support segregation. In the 1990s you are misusing it again, this time to caricature and condemn God's gay and lesbian children. Once you denied black Christians the rights (and the rites) of church membership. Now it's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Christians you reject.
For ten years we've been collecting samples of your dangerous and misleading rhetoric against homosexuals. We have file drawers filled with your antigay mass-mailings to raise funds and mobilize volunteers. We have audio and video collections of your antigay sermons and your antigay radio and television broadcasts. Coupled with your regular appearances on Nightline, Geraldo, and Larry King Live, and your ability to attract media attention (as you did with Tinky Winky) you have become one of the nation's primary sources of misinformation about homosexuality and homosexuals. You are saying things about us that are NOT true, terrible things with tragic consequences in our lives and in the lives of those we love.
Please, Jerry, hear your own words about segregation and apply them to my homosexual sisters and brothers. "I can see from the earliest days of my new faith in Christ," you told me, "that God had tried to get me to understand and to acknowledge my own racial sinfulness. In Bible College, the Scriptures had been perfectly clear about the equality of all men and women, about loving all people equally, about fighting injustice, and about obeying God and standing against the immoral and dehumanizing traditions of man."
The Scriptures are still clear about the equality of all men and women. The Scriptures are still clear about loving all people equally. The Scriptures are still clear about fighting injustice and standing against the immoral and dehumanizing traditions of man. Why can't you apply THOSE Scriptures to us instead of the six verses you misuse over and over again to clobber and condemn GLBT people?
For years you supported the "immoral and dehumanizing traditions" used to persecute people of color. Then, finally, the Spirit of Truth set you free. Now, you are a supporter of "immoral and dehumanizing traditions" used to persecute homosexuals. Please, Jerry, let the Spirit of Truth set you free again.
Thank you for meeting with me last year to hear the evidence that we are God's children, too, but it was obvious during our meeting (and in your avalanche of antigay rhetoric that followed) that you were not taking that evidence seriously.
Today, I begin a series of open letters to you reviewing the evidence one more time. Where I am wrong, correct me and I will confess my error. I hope you will do the same. Let this be a genuine public dialogue. I'm hoping that TOGETHER we can negotiate an end to your tragic misinformation campaign against us. If you refuse to hear the evidence again, if you insist on continuing your false and inflammatory rhetoric, then we will have no other option but to mobilize people of faith across this nation to conduct a serious nonviolent direct action against your Untruths in the spirit of Gandhi and King.
In this series of open letters, I'm going to do my best to summarize the psychological, psychiatric, scientific, medical, historical, personal and biblical evidence that demonstrates clearly that homosexuality is neither a sickness nor a sin. I'm putting all this material together one more time in the hopes that God will change your mind and heart about us. In the meantime, you learned that it wasn't data that changed your mind about segregation. It was knowing its victims and sharing their suffering.
How many lesbian or gay people do you know, Jerry? Have you invited closeted gay or lesbian members of your staff and congregation to tell you what it feels like to be ridiculed and condemned endlessly by their pastor? Have you invited closeted gay or lesbian students at Liberty or Liberty graduates to share the pain your endless attacks have caused them? We know at least one gay student who killed himself after being expelled from your university because of his sexual orientation. Your eyes filled with tears when you thought of a black man lying unattended in a Lynchburg hospital. How will you feel when you finally realize that you have been the source of even worse suffering in the lives of those you love and serve.
Please, Jerry, read Chapter Eleven of your autobiography once again. After years of blindly and enthusiastically supporting segregation, you heard God's voice, admitted your error, and changed your ways. Now, after years of blindly and enthusiastically supporting anti-homosexual ignorance and bigotry, will you stop long enough to hear God's voice again?
Sincerely,
3. Mel's 2nd letter in response to Jerry Falwell
June 29, 1999
Dear Jerry,
Yesterday, at a family reunion celebrating the 29th birthday of our son, Michael, (and my 59th) we received a call from a friend who couldn't wait to tell us the good news. "Reverend Falwell has answered your first OPEN LETTER TO JERRY," he said, "and on the front page of the July issue of his "National Liberty Journal."
All seven of us were there - son, daughter, son-in-law, grand-daughter, Katie, former wife, Lyla; and Gary, my partner of fifteen years. We gathered around the computer to read your response to my OPEN LETTER. They were stunned by the way you fictionalized our lives to make your point. "Mel abandoned his family, and his ministry," you wrote, "and moved in with his male lover." In the silence that followed those five pages of misinformation, Katie said softly, "Why did he say that you abandoned us, Grampa?" "Because he just doesn't understand," I replied.
There are so many things you don't understand, Jerry. But that's all right. You aren't alone. Millions of people are as confused and confounded by this issue as you are. For decades our family, too, was a victim of misinformation about sexual orientation. Thank God, our story has a happy ending, but far too many lives are wasted, too many families ruined, too many congregations torn apart because they don't know the truth about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered minorities and are victims of fear and ignorance instead.
When I appealed to you in 1996 you replied, "I am not interested in promoting your publicity stunts and/or media hypes." Jerry, I'm not interested in personal publicity or media hype. I'm not asking for a "debate" either. The "debate" has gone on far too long. We're just shouting at each other across an ever-widening chasm. Almost no one is listening. The whole country is divided. Let's begin a real conversation before more families are ruined and more lives are lost. If you and I are totally honest and lovingly frank, our public conversation could benefit everyone on both sides of this issue.
I'll start by admitting that you are right when you say that I sinned in leaving my wife, Lyla. Jesus is very clear that divorce is a sin. I have confessed my sin and been forgiven by God, by my former wife, and by my children. And out of their forgiveness and understanding, we have become a family again.
What you find difficult to understand is that the sin I committed in getting a divorce had roots in another kind of sin altogether, the sin of misinformation. In your first OPEN LETTER TO MEL you recall that you were, "...born and raised in a segregationist culture." And you admit frankly that as a young believer, "...this [misinformation about race] was one of the first things that the Holy Spirit began purging from my life."
I was born and raised in a culture misinformed about homosexuality. I was told that my feelings were a sickness and that to act on those feelings was a sin. "All you need," one counselor informed me, "is to marry a good woman." I did and from that misinformation, all kinds of suffering followed.
In my childhood and youth there were reasons to be convinced that homosexuality was a sickness and a sin. The American Psychological Association listed homosexuality as an illness until 1973 and the six verses in the Bible that referred to any kind of same-sex intimacy, seemed plainly to condemn homosexuality as a sin. Like millions before, we became victims of scientific and biblical misinformation. It took the Holy Spirit thirty-five years to purge it from my life.
In your letter, you say that I have "sinned against Scripture." Then you reprint an entire letter you wrote me in 1996 to explain your biblical opposition to homosexuality." However, in that long letter you didn't mention Sodom, or the 'holiness' passages in Leviticus. You don't even discuss Paul's writings in Romans, I Corinthians or I Timothy, the only passages used to support the biblical case against homosexuality. You only say: "Make no mistake about it. The bible in both the Old and New Testaments declares homosexuality to be a sin." Don't we both owe it to God, to the Bible, to each other, and to those we serve, to take time to see if your assumptions are true?
Before we do that, Jerry, I hope you will remember that whatever you feel about homosexuality and homosexuals, our right to equal protection under the law is a Constitutional, not a biblical issue. We are a democracy, not a theocracy. The laws of this land protect our right to disagree about these six biblical verses without being denied the basic rights guaranteed all Americans by the Constitution. Nevertheless, since you support your case against us on biblical grounds, let's use this second Open Letter to focus on the ancient story of Sodom in Genesis 19.
These are your words, Jerry: "God wiped Sodom and Gomorrah clean from the face of the earth! These two Old Testament cities were so filled with homosexuality and perversion that they were utterly destroyed...Will our nation face a similar fate because God-fearing moral people failed to stop homosexuality from becoming an accepted lifestyle in our churches, schools and public places?"
With all respect, I'm asking you to consider the possibility that you are missing the point of this ancient story altogether and in the process you've become a primary source of misinformation about homosexuality and homosexuals that leads to suffering and death.
With all the love I have for the Scriptures, I admit that the Bible can be a very dangerous book. In the 16th century, John Selden said, "These three words - 'Search the Scriptures' - have undone the world." He was right; yet we must go on searching them. The Bible's central theme is clear: God loves the world and is determined to rescue and renew it. Yet the misuse of the Bible's great love story has drenched the planet in blood and tears
The Scriptures have been misused to defend bloody crusades and inquisitions; to support slavery, apartheid, and segregation; to sanction the physical and emotional abuse of women and children; to persecute Jews and other non-Christian people of faith; to support the holocaust of Hitler's Third Reich; to oppose medical science; to condemn inter-racial marriage; to execute women as witches; to excuse the violent racism of the Klu Klux Klan; to mobilize militias, white supremacy and neo-nazi movements; and to condone intolerance and discrimination against sexual minorities.
You claim that God destroyed Sodom because of homosexuality. Yet Jesus and five Jewish prophets all describe the sins of Sodom without including homosexuality. Even your friend, Billy Graham, doesn't mention homosexuality on Sodom's list of sins.
"This is the sin of Sodom," said the prophet, Ezekiel. "She and her suburbs had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not help or encourage the poor and needy. They were arrogant and this was abominable in God's eyes, (Ez.16: 48-49)."
How could the prophet make it more clear? This story of Sodom is not about sexual orientation. It is a rather terrifying example of how God feels about a rich and selfish city whose citizens refused to feed the hungry, house the homeless, care for widows and orphans, or open their hearts and homes to strangers at the gate.
Is it fair to blame homosexuals for the destruction of Sodom when the prophets and Jesus make it clear that God destroyed that city because it refused to help the needy and the outcast? Isn't it equally clear that God decided to destroy the city long before its men and boys gathered in Lot's front yard? Isn't it possible that by using this story to condemn homosexuals we might also be missing the real lesson God wants us to learn from whatever happened in the darkness that night?
In Genesis 19:4-5, Moses tells us who had gathered on Lot's lawn. "All the men of the city, both old and young, all the men from every quarter." Jerry, not even in San Francisco could every man and boy be gay. So, what really is happening at Lot's gate? The only clues Moses gives us are the words shouted by the mob. "Where are the men who came to your home tonight? Bring them out that we might know them."
The Hebrew verb "to know" is rarely used to mean sexual intercourse. More often it is used exactly as we use it today when we ask, "Who are you?" A soldier on guard would say, "Halt! Who goes there?" A threatening phone call might be answered "Who is this?" In July, 1964, when the four boys from the Congress on Racial Equality were arrested for protesting segregation on your church steps, did anyone say it this way? "Who are these strangers? Why do they come here?"
No one might even have suspected that there were sexual overtones if Lot hadn't tried to appease the mob by offering them his virgin daughters. (Sexism and homophobia usually go hand in hand). But the girls weren't spared because the mob was gay. The bullies in that mob, like bullies throughout the centuries, wanted no outsiders in their neighborhood. This was their turf and the gang assembled to defend it.
The men of Sodom were demonstrating the very reason that God had decided to destroy that city. Whatever they feared, hated, or didn't understand, they sought to punish and eliminate. Think of Nazi Brown Shirts breaking Jewish shop windows, or the Klu Klux Klan burning a cross on a black family's lawn, or Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney murdering Matthew Shepard.
If Russell and Aaron had raped Matthew before they killed him, would you have assumed that the two boys were homosexuals? Gang rape, heterosexual or homosexual, is not about sex. It's about humiliating someone you hate, fear, or don't understand. It was common in ancient times for soldiers to dehumanize and demean the vanquished by raping them in the heat of victory. It is still happening today.
We all saw front page photos recently of Abner Louima, the young black immigrant from Haiti who was held down in a restroom by Officer Charles Schwarz while Officer Justin Volpe rammed a broken broomstick into Louima's rectum. These two men and the three other officers who covered up this outrage were not gay. This act was not about sex anymore than that threat in Lot's front yard was about homosexuality.
The phrase "f--- you" is not about having sex. It's an angry threat (if only symbolic) just like the mob's threat at Lot's house. The one finger gesture that often accompanies the threat isn't an invitation to make love. It is a threat to violate an enemy sexually. Jerry, if you believe this passage condemns any kind of sexual practice, it condemns gang rape and homosexuals are against gang rape as much as you are, maybe more, because we are so often the victims of that kind of mob.
The story of Sodom says a lot about what makes God angry and nothing at all about homosexuality or homosexuals. By misusing this story to argue about sex, we risk missing God's point altogether. Heterosexuals and homosexuals alike are both in danger of becoming "Sodomites" in God's eyes when we do not care for the needy around us and when we cause suffering to those we fear, hate, or do not understand.
When Jesus sent his disciples out into the world to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead," he ends his instructions to them with this clear command: "If a city or a house will not receive you, depart and shake the dust out of your sandals; for it shall be treated as Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, (Matt.10: 11f.)
Jesus doesn't condemn homosexuality. He condemns people who are unwilling to hear the truth, let alone to provide hospitality to those who have come to share it. But he blesses those who open their hearts and homes to the strangers in their midst.
So, in the spirit of those angels who visited Sodom with life-changing news, on the weekend of October 22-24, 1999, Gary and I are coming to Lynchburg to visit you and your congregation. We're not angels, Jerry, but we bring life-changing news and we're inviting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people of faith, their families and friends to join us.
Here's the idea. Though we disagree about sexual orientation, Christ has commanded us "to love one another." How can we say that we love each other if we refuse to listen to the other's side? We've heard your side, Jerry, in print, on radio and television, in newspapers and newsmagazines, on Geraldo, Larry King Live, and Nightline. Isn't it right for you (and for your congregation) to hear our side, too?
Would you open your church homes to Gary and me and to the strangers from across the nation who may join us in Lynchburg? Would you match up our gay and lesbian families with your church families at least for Sunday dinner at the church or in local restaurant? My partner and I would love to treat you and Macel to a meal and an honest, open conversation. Imagine what might happen if your people heard our stories and our people heard yours.
In the meantime, this is my promise to you. I will use the next four months to respond thoughtfully to every question you raise in our OPEN LETTER series. I'll review the biblical, scientific, and historic evidence that supports my premise that homosexuality is neither a sickness, nor a sin. When you prove me wrong or confused, I WILL ADMIT IT. I only ask that you take our questions seriously as well. I've linked my OPEN LETTERS to your web page. Why not link your OPEN LETTER responses to mine?
I remember the first time you told me about those four teenagers from CORE who demonstrated on the steps of your Thomas Road Baptist Church in '64. They carried a sign reading "Does God Discriminate? You had them arrested. Now you regret it.
"We resented those teenage boys," you said, "for their interference in the lives of our community. But looking back, they were courageous, and it is time that I for one admit it." Then you admitted something that makes me proud of you and gives me hope that one day you will change your mind about us. "The years of tradition that separated us were wrong," you said, "and the boys were right to point it out to us." Then you concluded with, "I just wish there had been another way for them to get our attention."
Isn't it ironic that while we argue about the sexual orientation of the mob outside Lot's house, we've almost forgotten the strangers inside? They had come from God with truth that could have saved the city. By refusing to grant hospitality to the strangers, the people of Sodom sealed their fate. Jerry, we offer you "another way" to confront our differences, the Soulforce way of truth, love, and nonviolence.
Sincerely,
PS: After reading your OPEN LETTER TO MEL the family took this picture to show you that we are together again just as you hoped. Enter into this dialogue with us, Jerry. Let's learn from each other. When you prove me wrong, I will admit it. Will you do the same? Notice the matching brown t-shirts. When my father, the Mayor of Santa Cruz, was proven wrong, he'd say, "Well eat my shirt." These t-shirts are dyed in Ghiradelli chocolate. It's the family's way of saying, "It's good to be wrong now and then. It's the only way we grow. So, if we have to 'eat our shirts,' we plan to enjoy it."
OK TO FORWARD, PRINT, AND/OR PUBLISH THE LETTER(S) IN THIS OPEN LETTER SERIES.
SOULFORCE, INC.,
P.O. BOX 4467, LAGUNA BEACH, CA. 92652
FAX: (949) 455-0959
4. The Third Open Letter To Jerry Falwell from Mel White
July 15, 1999
Dear Jerry,
Thank you for responding to my first open letter. In your response you say, "A gay minister named Mel White is circulating an 'open letter to Jerry Falwell' demanding that I stop preaching that homosexuality is sin...If I do not comply with his wishes, he then threatens to lead a 'Gandhi' type movement against me nationally."
I'm sorry that I wasn't clear. Let me try again.
I am not demanding that you stop preaching "homosexuality is sin."
I hope that one day soon you, too, will understand that homosexual orientation is just another human characteristic like the shape of your eyes or the color of your skin. In the meantime, if you must continue preaching that homosexuality is a sin, that is your right. We live in the oldest democracy on earth. Our Constitution guarantees us the right to disagree about the nature of homosexuality. I am not demanding that you stop sharing your biblical or psychological views on homosexuality. (In fact, I'm going to respond to your views with the latest in biblical and psychological research in the next few open letters.) However, I am demanding that you stop the preposterous things you are saying about homosexuals.
I am NOT threatening to lead a "Gandhi type movement against you..."
Quite frankly, our "Gandhi type movement" has begun, but it is not against you. It is for you. Gandhi and King never marched "against" anyone. Guided by the "soul force" principles of nonviolence, both marched to win the minds and hearts of their adversaries.
On October 22-24, 1999, Gary and I are coming to Lynchburg (with some of our friends and allies). We aren't coming to stage a noisy protest or to disturb your congregation. We are coming to present to you and to your people an exhibit of the preposterous charges you have made against homosexuals over the past decade.
If you can prove your claims, we will admit our error and go our ways. If you cannot prove your charges against us, we are hoping to negotiate an end to the false and inflammatory antigay rhetoric that flows out of Lynchburg and a beginning of a new kind of dialogue between us.
In your recent letter you also say, "Mel, as you already know, my rhetoric is not anti-homosexual. My rhetoric is anti-homosexuality and anti-heterosexual promiscuity. There is a huge difference...It is the ancient issue of hating sin and loving the sinner..."
Jerry, you may believe that you are against homosexuality (not homosexuals) and that you love us (but hate our sin). Our evidence proves it isn't true. The words that follow are your words, taken from just one of your regular antigay fundraising letters. Read slowly. Ask yourself, are these words against homosexuality or against homosexuals? Are they loving words or words that lead to anger, fear, and hate?
"...these perverted homosexuals who absolutely hate everything that you and I and most decent, God-fearing citizens stand for...Make no mistake. These deviants seek no less than total control and influence in society, politics, our schools and in our exercise of free speech and religious freedom..." Jerry Falwell
"...Someone must 'stand in the gap' for America's children. Someone must not be afraid to say, 'Moral perversion is wrong!'...If we do not act now, homosexuals will own America! They want total political approval and taxpayer money for their perverted political and social programs..." Jerry Falwell
"...Make no mistakes my friend, this is a battle between good and evil. And the consequences for America are clear: the judgment of Almighty God on our nation...If you and I do not speak up now, this homosexual steamroller will literally crush all decent men, women, and children who get in its way..." Jerry Falwell
"...For those of us who believe in traditional moral values and refuse to openly embrace homosexuality, it may mean penalties or fines...Preachers of the Gospel, like Jerry Falwell, who do not hesitate to call homosexuality a sin, may be imprisoned in the not-to-distant future..." Jerry Falwell
"...I must have your help if we are to be successful. The small, but outspoken and financially well-heeled, homosexual political lobby is a dangerous foe...They will stop at nothing, including violence, to secure their goals. I have been a target of their hatred many times." Jerry Falwell
"...Homosexuals want to use the power of the federal government to force this nation to adopt homosexuality as a legitimate lifestyle and homosexuals as a bonafide minority - which would mean hiring quotas, affirmative action and ultimately forcing churches to hire homosexuals on their staff!" Jerry Falwell
"...It doesn't matter that the America they demand...is a sewer of moral filth...a place of spiritual anarchy...an environment that's incredibly dangerous to our children...a culture that despises Christian faith and morality....As long as I am able, I will speak out against this wicked, perverse lifestyle." Jerry Falwell
Jerry, your preposterous charges in this letter aren't even true, let alone loving. And these untrue and unloving words pour out of your offices in Lynchburg on an almost daily basis. This week, on "Listen, America" you slandered James Hormel, our distinguished Ambassador to Luxembourg, and his partner [as you regularly slander us all], with comparisons of our loving relationships to pedophilia and bestiality. And always your false witness concludes with a request to send money.
Your fundraising letter that I quote above includes the photo (below) of twenty-six "openly gay" Clinton appointees. Although the President had to fill more than five thousand positions, you claim, quite falsely, that these twenty-six gay and lesbian Americans "...have an inside track to the massive federal bureaucracy." You claim, again quite falsely, that they "...seek no less than total control and influence in society..."
You show their faces and list their names. Have you met even one of these loyal, hardworking, public servants whom you call "radicals," "perverts," and "deviants?" Without even knowing these dedicated young men and women, you bear false witness against them. You accuse them of preposterous crimes against God and against the nation that they did not (and would not) commit. And your letter implies clearly that most homosexuals share the same preposterous goals.
The Ten Commandments say nothing of homosexuality or homosexuals. But Moses is clear about God's judgment on those who bear false witness against their neighbor. (Exodus 20:16.)
Jesus says nothing of homosexuality or homosexuals, but he reminds a religious leader who came to him by night that God still condemns those who bear false against their neighbor. (Matthew 19:18-19.)
For ten years, we have monitored your anti-homosexual rhetoric. We have all the evidence needed to prove that you are breaking the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus in your endless false witness against God's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered children.
How can we remain silent when your false and inflammatory rhetoric leads those who hear you to fear and hate us? How can we not protest when your untrue and unloving words lead to broken families and wasted lives? How can we stand by while your anti-homosexual campaign leads directly and indirectly to discrimination, intolerance, and even death?
Jerry, you must believe these preposterous untruths or you wouldn't repeat them year-in-and-year-out. That's why we're coming to Lynchburg, to help you understand who we really are. Meet with us, Jerry. Hear our stories. Review our evidence.
We do not "...hate what decent, God-fearing citizens stand for..."
We do not "...seek total control of society...nor spiritual anarchy..."
We do not "...advocate a culture that despises Christian faith and morality..."
We do not "...demand homosexual quotas or that churches hire homosexuals..."
We do not "...seek a society that is a sewer of moral filth..."
We do not "...promote an environment dangerous to children...."
We do not "...stoop to violence nor do we crush all people who get in our way..."
We are people of faith. We love God, too. We cherish our families. We honor our nation. We seek a loving society that protects its children, that is inclusive and tolerant, that seeks liberty and justice for all.
You can't know the truth about homosexuality, Jerry, until you know us homosexuals. That's why gay folk and our allies from across the country are sacrificing time and money to make this journey to Lynchburg, October 22-24, 1999. We're inviting those twenty-six public servants you condemned in the letter (above) to join us and to share their true stories as well.
We are hoping that you and your congregation will provide hospitality for the weekend. Would you ask families in your church to house my sisters and brothers for that October 22-24 weekend? We'll cover all our travel and incidental expenses. All we ask are rooms for the night and a chance to spend some time with you and your church families.
On Saturday afternoon, October 23, will you and your people consider our case, review our evidence, negotiate a solution that will allow you the freedom to continue preaching that homosexuality is a sin without making these untrue claims against homosexuals?
On Saturday evening, October 23, will you worship with us in a candlelight service on your church steps or in another location you prefer?
On Sunday morning, October 24, will you invite us to worship with you?
After the service, we want to treat our hosts to a Sunday meal in restaurants and cafes all over Lynchburg. Gary and I invite you and Macel to share your Sunday meal with us.
This simple request for hospitality is the first step in our "Gandhi type movement." We are confident that God will use this weekend together to teach us all new truths.
If you have any questions or suggestions about our plan, email, fax, or phone me. I'm sure we can work out any details.
Let's make history together. Let's cross the ever-widening gap between us. Let's show the churches of this country that we can end the war of words over homosexuality and lovingly seek truth together. In the meantime, let's get on with the job for which we were created: "to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God, (Micah 6:8)."
Sincerely,
5. The Fourth Open Letter To Jerry Falwell from Mel White
| |
This open letter responds to a press release posted at Jerry Falwell's web site in late September 1999 entitled "What We Believe: JFM's Definitive Stance on Homosexuality." That press release has twice been changed since and because of this letter. Falwell's press release was first changed on October 14 to provide some more detail on the statistics quoted. The first version said all data had come from NARTH. The new version noted that the unnamed, undated NARTH study had 882 participants, and noted which information was taken from Schmidt's book. Link here for the contents of that October 14 version of the press release. The press release was changed again on October 24. All reference to NARTH and Schmidt material were completely removed. Link here to the current contents: |
|
October 4, 1999
Dear Jerry,
In spite of our different beliefs about homosexuality, I'm delighted that we are meeting in Lynchburg on October 23 to take a united stand against "hate speech" that leads to violent acts. Unfortunately, after reading your recent press release, "Jerry Falwell Ministry's Definitive Stance on Homosexuality," I realized that I haven't made clear to you what I mean by "hate speech." Nor do I understand what "hate speech" means to you.
By my definition, your press release is a clear example of "hate speech." By your definition it is not. So, rather than condemn your "Definitive Stance..." and leave you confused as to why it made me sad and angry, I'm going to use it to explain why I believe it goes beyond the acceptable limits of "preaching your conscience" and becomes the very "hate speech" we are meeting to condemn.
When the Pharisees accused Jesus of eating food that was "unclean" he answered, "It isn't what goes into your mouth that defiles you. It's what comes out." Jesus made it clear that our words have power, that our tongues have potential for doing great good and great harm. He warned us that we are held accountable for every careless word. He says it is better to be silent than to risk hurting our sisters and brothers. He commanded us to let truth, love, and mercy to be our guides.
In one a recent sermon from the Book of Proverbs, you summarized the Bible's high standards for responsible speech. When our 200 delegates arrive in Lynchburg, we will be wearing buttons that quote your advice. Before they speak, you asked your congregation to answer these three questions: "Is it true? Is it loving? Does it need to be said?" We, too, believe in those standards, Jerry. They reflect the standards of Jesus and we are willing to judge our spoken and printed words by them. We hope you will do the same. Let's begin that process by asking these three questions of your press release.
First, "Is it true?"
At the heart of your press release is the claim that "Homosexuality is physically harmful." To support your view you quote a study that claims "...the following physical disorders would be present among ten randomly selected homosexual men in their mid-thirties: 3 (30%) are alcoholics; 5 (50%) have a history of alcohol abuse; 3 (30%) smoke cigarettes; 4 (40%) have a history of drug abuse; 5 (50%) regularly use at least one illegal drug; 3 (30%) are multiple drug users; 4 (40%) have a history of acute depression; 8 (80%) have a history of sexually transmitted diseases; 8 (80%) currently carry infectious pathogens; 3 (30%) are HIV-infected and 1 (10%) has AIDS." Jerry, I am convinced that these statistics are not true.
First, consider the source of the data. Your press release claims that this description of "a random selection of ten gay men in their mid-thirties" is based on a study by the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. It is not. I called NARTH offices in Encino. They said they had reprinted the study, but they had not conducted it nor verified its accuracy. This tragically misleading summary of the psychological and physical condition of my life and the lives of my gay brothers originates in "Chapter Six" of Thomas E. Schmidt's Straight and Narrow, published in 1995 by InterVarsity Press.
Apparently, Dr. Thomas Schmidt is (or was) a professor of New Testament Greek at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. Dr. Schmidt admits that his research for this particular chapter "lies outside my field of professional expertise." He then assures the reader that his data can be trusted because it was reviewed "by four physicians with relevant specialties" and that he documents every point of fact "only from scholarly, secular medical and social scientific publications.
One of the "scholarly" publications he quotes is Paul Cameron's discredited little pamphlet "Homosexual Molestation of Children." In 1984, Mr. Cameron was expelled from the Nebraska Psychological Association (NPA) and from the American Psychological Association (APA) for "violating the Ethical Principles of Psychologists." In 1985, the American Sociological Association (ASA) adopted a resolution condemning Dr. Cameron, publicly stating that he is "not a sociologist" and that he has "consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented sociological research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism." And yet Dr. Cameron continues to be quoted by pastors and televangelists like yourself who use Cameron's false data to support Schmidt's premise (and your own) that "for the vast majority of homosexual men...sexual behavior is obsessive, psychopathological, and destructive."
There are 131 footnotes on almost 15 pages of small type at the end of Chapter 6 alone. When gay men, their friends or families read Dr. Schmidt's book, they have no way of knowing which authority quoted is trustworthy, which data are accurate or which data were interpreted accurately? Thankfully, Dr. Schmidt's false and dangerous conclusions (however he reached them) are almost universally condemned by more than one million members of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Association of Social Workers.
Responsible research into the lives of lesbians and gays over the past twenty-five years has proven that homosexuals are as healthy in mind and body as their heterosexual counterparts. In 1994, for example, The American Psychological Association (with a membership of more than 150,000 professional psychologists) released a Statement on Homosexuality that summarizes in its opening paragraph a quarter of a century research on homosexuality and homosexuals.
"The research on homosexuality is very clear. Homosexuality is neither mental illness nor moral depravity. It is simply the way a minority of our population expresses human love and sexuality. Study after study documents the mental health of gay men and lesbians. Studies of judgment, stability, reliability, and social and vocational adaptiveness all show that gay men and lesbians function every bit as well as heterosexuals."
It is tragic that Dr. Schmidt's book has proven to be so popular with conservative Christians seeking to support their anti-homosexual views and that in the past few weeks you have shared that untrustworthy data with millions of Americans. One day you will realize that most gay men are not drug abusers, acutely depressed or dangerously contagious. Jerry, you say that we are sinners. The Ten Commandments, the Jewish prophets, and Jesus are all silent about homosexuality; but all three make clear that it is a sin "to bear false witness against your neighbor." You have sinned against us. Worse, your words lead people to fear and hate us. That is my definition of "hate speech," untrue words that lead to fear, hate, and even acts of violence.
Second, "Is it loving?"
I believe that you love us, Jerry. But you make it hard for me to convince others who have heard your sermons, watched you on TV, or read your web page or fundraising letters. They know that you are always careful to say "We love the sinner, but hate the sin." Instead of love, however, they hear anger, disgust, and judgment in your words. Maybe it's because you spend so much time and energy telling why you "hate the sin" and so little time showing exactly how you "love the sinner."
For example, in your press release you begin your attack in the opening paragraph by saying that you love us. Then you spend the next twelve paragraphs making these false and ugly accusations against us (from Dr. Schmidt's "research.") You describe our particular "sin" in lurid detail, demanding that we repent of our homosexuality, promising that we'll go to hell if we don't. Re-read your press release. Tell me if you feel love in your words?
Here are a few things you say about homosexual orientation in that press release. It is "an addictive sin..." that is "highly debilitating - emotionally, physically and spiritually..." that "breeds spiritual discontent..." that "destroys the sanctity and sacredness of family life..." that leads to violence and treachery..." that leads to suicide..."
Your press release also claims that homosexuals are people "trapped in bondage..." who have "let sin and the devil take control of their lives..." who became homosexuals "according to their sinful wills..." who are enslaved by their sin..." who are "unsaved people..." who "cannot and will not go to heaven..." who instead are "sure to go to hell..." because they are "guilty of a horrible and enslaving sin..."
Is it any wonder that your listeners often fear us, hate us, and don't want us near them or their children? Can't you see why so many people in your audience think that the nation, the church, even the family would be better off without us? Isn't it clear why an emotionally unstable person who has heard you say over and over again that we are sick and sinful might think he's doing good by killing us? Your words make our "sin" greater than all other sins and our "sinfulness" greater than any other sinners. Your rhetoric has turned us into lepers who might infect the entire community just by our presence.
You may believe sincerely that your anti-homosexual rhetoric is "tough love." I believe just as sincerely that it is "hate speech" that leads to tragic consequences for us all. One way to settle the argument is by testing the effects of your words in the lives of the people who hear them. It's "tough love" if your words lead to hope, healing, and reconciliation. It's "hate speech" if it leads to ruined lives, broken relationships, and divided families.
Let's consider the effects of your words on my homosexual sisters and brothers. In your press release you quote the following statistics to prove that homosexuality causes homosexuals to be miserable. You say: "More than 44 percent of homosexuals suffer from feelings of poor self-esteem and extreme loneliness." You also say: "Nearly 50 percent of homosexuals experience distress from homosexual thoughts and feelings."
You assume that homosexuality is to blame. In fact, it isn't homosexuality that causes these young gay Christians being counseled in ex-gay ministries to suffer from "poor self-esteem." It's the anti-homosexual rhetoric (like your own) that they've heard since childhood that makes their sexual orientation a sickness (to be healed) and a sin (to be forgiven and held in check.) It isn't homosexuality that makes them experience "extreme loneliness." It's the rejection they feel from Christian friends and family, pastors and priests. It isn't their homosexual thoughts and feelings that cause them to "experience distress." It's their confusion about those feelings that flows directly out of anti-homosexual rhetoric like your own.
I've spoken at more than a hundred university campuses in the past two years. I've met countless gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered students who have very little problem with self-esteem, loneliness or distress. Invariably, they are young people who did NOT grow up in a Christian home. What fact could be more tragic? These gay people of faith have been condemned so long and so often that they believe God hates them. No wonder they hate themselves. That's what I call "hate speech" unloving words that lead a majority to hate a minority and the minority to hate themselves.
Third "Does it need to be said?"
Jerry, even if you are convinced that what you say about us is true and loving, haven't you said it enough? On a recent Sunday, for example, you began and ended the Old Time Gospel Hour with comments about homosexuals. And in the middle of your sermon on Proverbs you found some reason to exclaim that the FBI would never have attacked David Koresh or his followers if "...they had been homosexuals." What is that about? It's beginning to sound like you're obsessed with us.
Count the number of words you use to condemn homosexuality in your average sermon, TV broadcast or fundraising letter; or the number of times you use homosexuals to illustrate sickness and sin; or the number of times you have warned the nation about our "sinful lifestyle" or our "dangerous gay agenda" on Geraldo or Larry King Live, in your National Liberty Journal and on your web page. Our archives are full to overflowing with examples of your words against us. The whole nation knows how you feel about homosexuals. Why do you need to say it again?
Your critics believe that you talk about homosexuals so often because your followers find the subject so alarming. Is it possible that you are appealing to their fears as a fundraising device? I know you believe what you say. I know you are sincere when you say it, but why do you need to condemn us so often and with growing fervor?
Our Soulforce archives are stuffed with your anti-homosexual pamphlets, posters, handbills, questionnaires, inserts, surveys, and petitions. Most anti-homosexual attacks contain a return envelope and a request to send in money. Unfortunately for us, to keep the money coming, your warnings about homosexuals must get more extreme with every mailing. So when we ask, "Does it need to be said?" how would you answer? Is it your concern for us and for our salvation that causes you to condemn homosexuals with such frequency or is effective fundraising the primary reason "it needs to be said?"
You remember how Jesus responded to the woman caught in an act of adultery? Whom did He condemn, the sinner or the religious leaders who hated her sin? When she was dragged before him, why didn't Jesus quote the Scriptures that condemned her? Why didn't he acknowledge that the Bible commanded that she be stoned? Why did he say to those who condemned her, "You who are without sin, throw the first stone?" Why did they stop demanding her death, drop their stones, and walk away? Jesus hated the sin of those self-righteous, religious leaders who made their living laying heavy burdens of judgement and guilt on the backs of sinners. And he loved the sinners they condemned.
Jerry, you have spent far too much time condemning us. Have you ever thought about the consequences of your words? The anti-homosexual rhetoric in your recent press release, rhetoric you have repeated with growing frequency over the past twenty-five years, cripples the spirits of my sisters and brothers, destroys their lives, divides their families, and gives the mob license to bash and murder us. That is my definition of "hate speech", Jerry; words that don't need to be said but that for some reason or other you go on saying them even if they lead to tragic consequences in the lives of those who hear them.
On September 22, in the Shasta County jail, Matthew Williams told his mother why he and his brother, Tyler, murdered Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder, a gay couple in Happy Valley, California. "I had to obey God's law rather than man's law," Williams said. "I didn't want to do this. I felt I was supposed to...I have followed a higher law...I see a lot of parallels between this and a lot of other incidents in the Old Testament...They threw our Savior in Jail...Our forefathers have been in prison a lot. Prophets...Christ...My brother and I are incarcerated for our work in cleansing a sick society...I just plan to defend myself, from the Scriptures." The Williams brothers believed the "hate speech" about homosexuals and did something about it. In the jailhouse interview they expressed surprise that religious leaders weren't supporting their bloody act.
We must never forget Abraham Heschel's words: "Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts out as a sound, ends in a deed." I know that our community is guilty of "hate speech" against you. I am doing everything I can to end it. I am grateful that you have invited us to meet with you on October 23 to take our stand against language from all sides that leads to hatred and violent acts. But you are confusing us. Even while we plan our historic weekend together, you continue your efforts to caricature and condemn us in this "definitive" press release, in the National Liberty Journal, in your sermons and on Listen America. Does it need to be said again? Isn't it time to stop preaching against us and time to confront the mob on our behalf in the name of Jesus who called you to preach truth, and love, and mercy?
Help us believe that you are sincere in calling for an end to irresponsible language from all sides. Help us understand why you believe that your recent attacks are not "hate speech." I'm standing firmly against "hate speech" aimed at you and your colleagues. Will you stand against the untrue and unloving anti-homosexual rhetoric that flows primarily from the mouths of preachers and priests, bishops and cardinals across the nation? Jerry, you have been a primary source of that rhetoric. Convince us that you are serious about our joint pledge against "hate speech" that we are about to make together. Lead the way. Let's sit down together and review the biblical and pyschological data about sexual orientation. Let's open ourselves to truth from both sides. Show the others that it is time to stop the anti-homosexual rhetoric, time to stop all "hate speech" against anyone, time to begin the work of healing this divided nation, time to build bridges of understanding between us, even when we disagree.
Sincerely,
OK TO FORWARD, PRINT, AND/OR PUBLISH THE LETTER(S) IN THIS OPEN LETTER SERIES.
Printable version
E-mail this article