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Romano: Mayor is right not to condone MLK speaker's anti-gay views

 
Published Jan. 7, 2016

The man on the phone is sincere. And passionate. He is sharp and reasonable, persuasive and kindhearted.

He is also wrong. Unfathomably wrong.

That last description is debatable, of course. He would argue — and did argue — that it was me who was on the wrong side of reason. And I would bet there are many, many people who would side with Greater Mt. Zion AME Pastor Clarence Williams in this regard.

He and I are discussing the rampant disappointment among St. Petersburg's African-American churches with Mayor Rick Kriseman's decision not to award a key to the city to the Rev. Jamal Bryant before he speaks at this month's Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration.

Kriseman's office was apparently uncomfortable with Bryant's outspoken opposition to same-sex marriage. As it turns out, I completely agree with Kriseman's decision.

And the pastor completely disagrees.

"As a mayor," Williams said, "you can't govern by your own set of moral values."

Okay, I'll buy that.

But I don't think this is simply a moral issue. Or totally a religious issue. Or, even remotely, a political issue. This is a civil rights issue.

This is a question of whether it is acceptable to deny a basic societal right to a group of people based on the person they love.

Now that doesn't mean you have to approve of gay marriage. It doesn't mean your church has to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies. It doesn't mean you aren't entitled to your own opinions, beliefs or bumper stickers.

But it does mean that supporting the denial of another person's rights is a passive-aggressive form of discrimination.

"I'm a black man who grew up in Bartow, brother. I know discrimination better than most, believe me," Williams said. "I would never advocate any kind of discrimination against anyone, anywhere, for any reason. But I'm also a minister of the Gospel."

And this is why Williams and I seem destined to forever disagree.

He defends Bryant's anti-gay sermons as a duty to his calling. The Bible condemns homosexuality, Williams said, and so a God-fearing person has little choice in the matter.

I have some basic problems with that argument. First of all, the Bible has a lot of other views that are routinely ignored by Christians today.

The Book of Leviticus does say homosexuals should face a death sentence, but it also suggests that children who curse their parents should be put to death, too.

The point is that people have been using the Bible as their excuse to punish, torment and discriminate against people for centuries. Pastors in the South used to quote the Bible as justification for slavery in the 19th century. Women's rights were subverted in the name of the Bible. Even in recent times, the Bible was used to condemn mixed-race marriages.

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This may sound like an attack on the Bible, but that's not my intent. Instead, it is a suggestion that the Bible not be used for convenience's sake.

You can't follow some sections literally and view other portions more liberally. At least not when it comes to the denial of basic rights for an entire group of people.

I believe Pastor Williams when he says he would stand up and fight for anyone being bullied or discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. And I believe he is entirely sincere when he says there are many same-sex couples who would make better parents than many heterosexual couples he knows.

He would probably disagree with this description, but he seems to me to be caught between knowing what is right in his heart and what he is told is wrong in the Bible.

So I have no desire to criticize the man. I also don't think the Rev. Bryant's invitation needs to be rescinded. While I believe their views are misguided, I don't begrudge their faith.

But the MLK celebration is a citywide event.

And the mayor cannot condone the views of someone who advocates the denial of civil rights, no matter what the person's justification.