This event is free and open to the public. Students, educators and church members are especially invited to attend. Advance tickets are not required.

Soledad O’Brien has worked on CNN special reports including “Black in America” and “Latino in America” and is currently working on a “Gay in America” special report for the network.

“Crisis” describes the personal, social and religious pain of growing up gay in America. It is told through essays contributed by 40 successful and well-known professionals as well as not-well-known younger people. The foreword is written by tennis great Martina Navratilova.

Gold is co-founder of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, a nationally recognized furniture manufacturer headquartered in Taylorsville, N.C. He is also the creator of Faith in America, an organization dedicated to educating people about the harm of religion-based prejudice against the gay community.

“I’m looking forward to interviewing Mitchell about a topic that is at the very heart of America’s culture war,” O’Brien said. “Mitchell does it in a manner that shows compassion for all sides.”

Gold published the book, co-edited with Mindy Drucker, in response to what he calls a silent mental health crisis among the more than 1.6 million gay young people in America. “They are at significant risk for suicide, addiction, depression, and violence, and yet those who should be helping them may very well be contributing, if not causing, their heartache and confusion,” he said. “There are teenagers all over the world today in crisis mode because they fear what will happen if others discover their sexual orientation.”

Like the other contributors to the book, Gold has lived through this experience. As a gay teen, he was suicidal. Eventually, with the help of a psychiatrist and support from his friends, he learned to accept himself.

Gold now calls upon others, especially those in the religious community, to take the lead in creating an accepting atmosphere for young people experiencing this same crisis.

Some of the book’s contributors include the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay man ordained by the Episcopal Church; acclaimed actor Richard Chamberlain; U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), chair of the House Financial Services Committee; and Hilary Rosen, a political analyst on MSNBC and political director for The Huffington Post.

The book also includes essays by two mothers of gay young people who died as a result of their sexual orientation. Another contributor to the book is former Reverend Jimmy Creech of Raleigh, N.C., who set out on a journey to study the Bible and science after one of his congregants came out to him more than 20 years ago.  He was defrocked by the United Methodist Church for performing a same-gender marriage ceremony.

Proceeds from the sale of “Crisis” are donated to non-profit organizations that help young people struggling with issues related to their sexual orientation.

The Visiting Writers Series is free to the public thanks to the support of sponsors. This year’s sponsors include Catawba Valley Community Foundation, UNC-TV, Hickory Public Library, United Arts Council of Catawba County, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Crowne Plaza hotel of Hickory, and WFAE 90.7 FM, Your NPR News Source.

For more information about the Visiting Writers Series at Lenoir-Rhyne University, go to http://visitingwriters.lr.edu or call 828-328-7077.

Established in 1891, Lenoir-Rhyne University is a private, coeducational university located in Hickory, N.C. It is affiliated with the N.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is open to students from all religious backgrounds. Undergraduate degrees include bachelor of arts, bachelor of science and bachelor of music education in more than 60 majors and concentrations. Graduate degrees are offered in business administration, counseling, occupational therapy and athletic training. The Web site is www.lr.edu.

Faith In America would like to remind Miss California Tami Farrell that in her refusal to voice her support for marriage equality for gay Americans she is allowing religion-based bigotry and prejudice to advance against them.

In a Larry King Live segment on June 10, Farrell was asked if she thought gay and lesbian couples should have the right to marry. She said she thought it was a civil rights issue and that individual states should decide the issue.

King in a follow-up question suggested California was in the process of deciding and that Ms. Farrell was a voter and then asked her how she would vote.

Ms. Farrell again refused to answer.

“We would hope that Ms. Farrell would take time to consider that by remaining silent, she is siding against the many gay and lesbian individuals who reside in California and all across the country,” said Faith In America Executive Director Brent Childers.

“You’re either for gay and lesbian citizens being treated equally or you are not.

“Religion-based bigotry and prejudice is the single greatest impediment to equality  for gay citizens – including the issue of marriage – and it brings immense harm to gay Americans, especially gay youth.

“You can’t be for full equality and against marriage equality.”

“We would also like to remind Ms. Farrell that our country has had a disastrous history of allowing individual states to decide the civil rights for others. It wasn’t that long ago that an African-American couple could marry in Illinois but not in 17 other states. Deciding on someone’s worth and dignity is not a state-rights issue.

“If you cannot say you stand for the equality and dignity of gay and lesbian Americans, you are taking a stand against them.”

Mitchell Gold, a home furnishings business owner and longtime civil rights advocate, founded Faith In America in 2005 to educate Americans about the harm caused when religion is misused to justify prejudice, discrimination and violence against people based solely on their sexual orientation. In September 2008, Gold published “Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America” to help bring awareness and understanding to one of the greatest moral failures of our time:  Misusing religion in a way that subjects gay teens to traumatic depression, fear, rejection, persecution and even physical violence.

Faith In America today challenged Miss California’s pastor to consider the disservice he does to her and others with his embrace and promotion of religion-based bigotry and prejudice toward gay Americans.

According to Carrie Prejean’s pastor, Rev. Miles McPherson, he contacted the Miss USA contestant just hours after she stated she did not believe gay Americans should be allowed to marry when asked a question during the April 19 Miss USA pageant. After being told that Ms. Prejean attends his church in California, McPherson said he sent her a text message as she was flying to New York the day after the pageant to be interviewed by the Today Show.

In his text message, McPherson stated that he was proud her – apparently for voicing her opposition to same-sex marriage during the nationally televised pageant. McPherson, who serves as pastor of The Rock Church  in San Diego, Calif., reportedly has continued to counsel the 21-year-old woman and had her appear at an April 26 service at his church. 

“We must ask Rev. McPherson if he would have been proud of Ms. Prejean if she had stated that she believes interracial marriage is wrong based on her understanding of certain religious text,” said Rodney Powell, a member of Faith In America’s board of directors who was active in The Civil Rights Movement. 

“McPherson during a recent Fox News appearance stated that civil rights for gay Americans cannot be compared with civil rights for Africans-Americans. As an African-American who marched with Martin Luther King and as a gay American, I can state unequivocally that the religion-based bigotry and prejudice once used against me as an African-American is the same bigotry and prejudice used against me today as a gay man.”

During the May 5 appearance on Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor, McPherson said that Ms. Prejean “honored her God” by voicing her opposition to same-sex marriage. He also stated during that interview that sexual orientation is behavior and discounted the possibility that anyone is born gay – even if gay Christians were to tell McPherson that their sexual orientation is the way God created them.

Mitchell Gold, founder of Faith In America, said he would like to ask McPherson a simple question:  “When did you decide to be heterosexual?”.  

“Science and common sense prove that sexual orientation is a natural part of a human’s being and not some promiscuous choice,” Gold said. “Rev. McPherson should consider the fact that many people of faith would respectfully disagree with his statements and many have come to reject attitudes based on prejudice and misunderstanding as attitudes that people of faith should honor or uphold.

“I sincerely ask McPherson, and other pastors across America who still hold such views, to consider the immense emotional, psychological and spiritual harm that is done to gay and lesbian Americans, particularly gay youth, when they hear religious leaders say that their sexual orientation puts them at odds with their God.”

Gold said that he has sent McPherson a copy of his book, “CRISIS: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America”, in hopes that McPherson will come to better understand the harm that is caused when religious teaching is used to justify prejudice, discrimination and violence toward gay Americans simply because of a person’s sexual orientation.

“Children at the age of 11 are taking their owns lives because they are hearing a message that gay Americans are unworthy, inferior and a threat to society,” Gold said. “To promote such attitudes is a grave disservice to people of faith and I sincerely hope that Rev. McPherson will consider the disservice that he has done to Ms. Prejean and many others with his promotion of this attitude and the fear and misunderstanding that is associated with it.”

 

Mitchell Gold, a home furnishings business owner and longtime civil rights advocate, founded Faith In America in 2005 to educate Americans about the harm caused when religion is misused to justify prejudice, discrimination and violence against people based solely on their sexual orientation. In September 2008, Gold published “Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America” to help bring awareness and understanding to one of the greatest moral failures of our time:  Misusing religion in a way that subjects gay teens to traumatic depression, fear, rejection, persecution and even physical violence. The book offers understanding to parents, teachers, and religious leaders about the harm being done and how society can end it. For more information, visit http://www.crisisbook.org.

]]> http://www.endtheharm.com/?feed=rss2&p=88 2 http://www.endtheharm.com/?p=87 http://www.endtheharm.com/?p=87#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:23:12 +0000 Brent http://www.endtheharm.com/?p=87 Dear Ms. Prejean,

 On a recent interview with FOXNews.com’s Courtney Friel, you stated that you did not mean to offend anyone when you stated your opposition to gay Americans having the right to marry.

 We believe you are sincere in that answer.

 But we are writing this letter in hopes that you will come to better understand why it does offend gay Americans, their families and their friends. It’s the kind of hurt that burrows deep within a person’s soul always there to remind them that there are those around them who deem them inferior, undeserving and unworthy to be treated like everyone else.

 Just imagine if the question had been about Mildred Loving’s marriage to her husband Richard?

 Mildred and Richard lived in Virginia, a state that banned interracial marriage at the time. So they went to the District of Columbia and married in 1958. Upon their return to their home in rural Virginia, they were arrested.

 Leon Bazille, the trial judge in the case, ruled in 1959 that the Lovings had violated what was considered at the time a religious tenant of civil marriage in America – that people of the opposite race should not marry because 

 “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages.” 

 Later in 1966, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the Lovings’ conviction, with then Chief Justice Harry Lee Carrico writing these words: “Marriage, as creating the most important relation in life, as having more to do with the morals and civilization of a people than any other institution, has always been subject to the control of the Legislature.”

 Sound familiar?

 It’s interesting that this month is the same month that the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the Loving case. The question before  them was basically the same question that we as a society face today in regard to marriage between two people of the same sex and in essence the same question before you Sunday night.

 Is it right to use deep-seated prejudice – even when such prejudice is widely accepted in society – to deny someone the same right that other Americans enjoy?

 The U.S. Supreme Court in 1967 ruling that Mildred should not be denied the right to marry the person she loved – despite the fact that interracial marriage was not widely accepted in America at that time.

 The most important question as it relates to your response to the question Sunday night is why was interracial marriage not accepted by a majority of Americans in 1967?

 It was because for years the church had taught what Judge Bazille referred to in his statement – that God did not want people of opposite races sullying the sanctity of marriage.

 I had the rare honor to meet with Mildred Loving in May 2007, just weeks before the 40th anniversary of that landmark Supreme Court decision. As we sat there in the same wood-frame house in which she and Richard resided, I asked Mildred what she thought about those people who had used their Bible to justify prejudice against her.

 She said it obviously offended her but that the pain didn’t penetrate deeply because she knew in her heart that God doesn’t want us to use religious teaching to look down upon others as inferior, unworthy or undeserving.

 In the FOXNews.com interview, you also stated that you considered your response Sunday night a test of your character and your faith.

 Mildred Loving in 2008 issued a statement which answers the question about gay Americans having the right to marry:

“Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the ‘wrong kind of person’ for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.”

 They are the words of an extraordinary and beautiful woman who possessed rare courage, strong character and unyielding faith.

 

Brent Childers

Executive Director

Faith In America

828.612.4682

 

]]> http://www.endtheharm.com/?feed=rss2&p=87 0 http://www.endtheharm.com/?p=84 http://www.endtheharm.com/?p=84#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 04:04:21 +0000 Brent http://www.endtheharm.com/?p=84 Faith In America today released a videographed open-letter to Rev. Rick Warren during which a civil rights activist says Warren’s pastoral leadership does not honor the late Martin Luther King Jr.
Warren is scheduled to speak Monday at a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration service in Atlanta.
The open-letter, which has been posted on YouTube and the nonprofit organization’s web site, features Rodney N. Powell, M.D., a member of Faith In America’s board of directors and a former student activist during the Civil Rights Movement.
The video can viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHmFhTuMpVU
Brent Childers, executive director of the organization, said Powell’s open-letter to Warren was released to remind Warren that his religion-based bigotry toward gay Americans is the same kind of religion-based bigotry toward African-Americans that King stood so adamantly against and which ultimately cost King his life.
Powell said he defends Warren’s right to hold and express his personal religious beliefs but that he does not respect him for doing so when such action justifies and promotes harm toward gay Americans, particularly youth.
“Your religious beliefs do not give you the right to oppress gay Americans and encode your religious beliefs into customs and codify them into laws that deny equal civil rights and first-class citizenship to other Americans,” Powell states on the segment.
“When you seek to enforce your views of intolerance on others, you are no different from racists, segregationists, sexists, antisemites and other bigots throughout America’s history of religion-based bigotry.”
Faith In America’s founder Mitchell Gold on Wednesday hand-delivered Powell’s segment to Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., along with a series of other videographed letters and printed letters that the organization collected from supporters.
Warren was presented a copy of Gold’s new book, “Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America” and a copy of “The Pastor’s Daughter,” a young adult novel by Tracey Zoeller, who along with Gold also speaks to Warren in a videographed open letter.
Gold said that there was a recent news report that Warren had visited a West Hollywood bookstore and some commentators suggested perhaps he made that visit to obtain materials that would help him better understand why many gay Americans were so outraged over his invitation to give an inaugural prayer. Others suggested the vsit was just a publicity stunt.
“I obviously do not know Rev. Warren’s motive in making that visit but it is my hope that some place within his humanity there is a small voice asking him to consider if perhaps this is yet another case – just as it was when religion-based bigotry was used to justify attitudes of rejection and condemnation toward African-Americans, women or interracial couples – in which traditional church teaching is being misused to justify a social injustice,” Gold said. “We have presented him with material which clearly show the harm is being done. The decision to open his heart and see the harm that is being done is now the decision he must make.”
Powell states in his letter that he is certain Martin Luther King Jr. would in no way condone Warren’s words and attitude toward gay Americans.
“Mr. Warren, I do not believe Dr. King would find your spiritual leadership unifying and I’m certain he would not find it part of his vision for America as a beloved community.
Faith In America also published an ad in the Washington, D.C.-based newspaper Politico this week which addresses Warren and the history of religion-based bigotry. (attached)
The videographed letters by Gold and Zoeller can be viewed here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvHY-Z7Aff0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbB6SsrUYzA
• • •
• As a medical student in Nashville from 1957 to 1961, Rodney Powell was a student protest leader in the African-American civil rights movement, where he had the honor and privilege to learn and apply the philosophy and strategies of nonviolent resistance under the guidance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Powell continues his activism, serving on the board of directors of Faith in America and supporting other organizations dedicated to achieving equality for gay Americans.
• Mitchell Gold, a home furnishings business owner and longtime civil rights advocate, founded Faith In America in 2005 to educate Americans about the harm caused when religion is misused to justify prejudice, discrimination and violence against people based solely on their sexual orientation. In September 2008, Gold published “Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America” to help bring awareness and understanding to one of the greatest moral failures of our time: Misusing religion in a way that subjects gay teens to traumatic depression, fear, rejection, persecution and even physical violence. The book offers understanding to parents, teachers, and religious leaders about the harm being done and how society can end it. For more information, visit www.crisisbook.org.
• Tracey Zoeller, is the author of the young adult novel, “The Pastor’s Daughter.” Much like the heroine in her book, Tracey grew up on the south shore of Long Island and was raised in a born-again Christian household in which religious rules and regulations governed everyday life. Tracey currently lives with her girlfriend in the south suburbs of Chicago and works as a social worker in a nursing home.
Faith In America, a national nonprofit organization, was founded in 2005 to educate Americans about the harm caused by religion-based bigotry and prejudice toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens by connecting the dots of religion-based bigotry’s history. www.faithinamerica.com
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