Pastor Dewey E Smith recently preached about homosexuality at the House of Hope, Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church in Decatur GA. He accused homophobic leaders of doing to GLBT people “what the slave master did to us.”
Speaking to the ethos of the Black Church in the US, Pastor Dewey is a breath of fresh air to a tradition that is steeped in a culture of horizontal violence as African American folk treat the GLBT community, much as they have been treated through the centuries, all under the excuse that it isn’t the same thing.
“We demonize and dehumanize the same people that we use, and we don’t say nothing about the gay choir director because he’s good for business,” Smith said. “As long as the choir sound good, I ain’t saying nothing about his sexuality. We have done what the slave master did to us,” he stated. “Dehumanize us, degrade us, demonize us, but then use them for our advantage.”
Photo is a screen grab from the video.
Posted on YouTube 23 JUL 2015
All Content © 2017 Episcopal Café
Unfortunately, in subsequent interviews this gentleman backpedaled. (For some, he might have slid all the way to the bottom of the hill!) See http://www.christiantoday.com/article/viral.pastor.dewey.smith.does.not.support.same.sex.marriage.church.says/60346.htm
It’s a shame, however, because his points about the hypocrisy of many parishes are spot-on.
If that is sadly the case, then it’s just a kinder, gentler “love the sinner, hate the sin.” And Christians who would heed the real intent of this pastor’s message in their approach to GLBT folk are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Bro David
“We all need Jesus!” Jesus teaches the church that three important matters: to love God, to love neighbors, to love oneself.
Great post–made me think of James Baldwin & “Just Above My Head”.