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Really Experienced
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2002
- Posts
- 147
STATEMENTS BY RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND ORGANIZATIONS
"In recent weeks in New York we have had a series of violent actions against persons perceived to be homosexuals. These actions were so brutal that they could have resulted in murder. As it is, one victim is still hospitalized in serious condition as a result of beatings with a baseball bat and a knife wound in the lung. I wish I had language strong enough to condemn this kind of cruelty. Anyone who performs such actions in the belief that he or she is in some way helping society is utterly stupid." Those who perpetrate violence against homosexuals "are doing violence against Christ Himself."
--New York Roman Catholic Cardinal John O' Connor, in a sermon given on September 11, 1988.
"Attacks on Americans based solely on their religion, race, sexual orientation or ethnicity are attacks on society as a whole. When our gay citizens are viciously attacked, our national commitment of basic decency and humanity is undermined. Compelling evidence shows that anti-gay violence is the most prevalent form of hate crime, and many perpetrators of anti-gay violence commit hate crimes based on religion, race and ethnicity."
--Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs Former Director Reverend Charles Bergstrom, Charles Bergstrom, testimony in favor of Federal Hate Crimes Act before the House Subcommittee on the constitution, June 21, 1988.
"Discrimination or violence directed against persons with AIDS is unjust and immoral."
--U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "The many Faces of AIDS: A Gospel Response," December 1987.
"These events at the University of Chicago (swastikas painted on a campus office that served gay students and other harassment) bear witness to the rising incidence of prejudice and violence against homosexuals on campuses nationwide, a trend that coincides with the dramatic rise in attacks against gays and lesbians in the country at large. Homosexuals have become the latest American scapegoats."
--American Baptist University of Chicago Minister Evan Drake Howard, in an article in The Christian Century, July 15, 1987.
"Over the last few years, gay and lesbian people in the united States have been the victims of a frightening increase in violent acts of crime.... As Christians, we must deplore every act of violence against gays and lesbians. We must respect their right to live in dignity, and reject every act that tries to force the contrary. We must be God to give us the grace to understand how to repent for so many years of sinful violence directed against gay and lesbian people."
--The Catholic Worker, article in May 1987.
"It is time -- indeed, the time has passed -- that the rights of homosexual and lesbian persons must be protected alongside the rights of all others who enjoy these rights in our society. The intimidation and violence against this segment of our society violate basic Christian teachings and the sense of justice of all persons of good will.... These persons are due protection of our society that they may live like all the rest of us -- in guaranteed freedom."
--Lutheran Bishop James A. Graefe, Metropolitan New York Synod to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, January 16, 1985.
"As a bishop who has had the opportunity to observe the first hand the kind of violence -- yes, savage almost maniacal violence -- as well as lesser, more subtle but nevertheless destructive forms of violence perpetrated against gay and lesbian people, I want to urge the U.S. commission on Civil Rights to take this matter seriously in its activities. It is no secret that gay and lesbian persons are frequently subject to indignities, harassment and physical abuse which, if perpetrated against more conventional members of society, would not be tolerated."
--Lutheran Bishop Philip Wahlberg, Texas-Louisiana Synod to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, January 11, 1985.
"Violence against any human being violates the teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Thus the increased incidence of violence against gay and lesbian Americans is indefensible and morally reprehensible. Anti-gay/lesbian violence is a crime qualitatively equal to violence against racial, ethnic or religious groups."
--United Church of Christ Board for homeland Ministries Executive Vice President Charles Shelby Rooks, January 4, 1985.
"One of the current human rights problems is acts of harassment and violence against persons of homosexual orientation. Such actions in our nation violate both our national standards of human rights as well as standards of Judeo-Christian heritage. They specifically violate one of the clear positions of the United Methodist Church, Which affirms the human rights of all persons, including those in this category."
--United Methodist Church Los Angeles Bishop Jack M. Tuell, to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, December 21, 1984.
"The most awful stain left by bigotry on American history -- and its most grievous affront against our country's ideals -- is the record of violence committed by haters against the hated, whose 'guilt' and vulnerability has been that they are 'different'.... I'm sure you have noted the recent harassment and violent assaults perpetrated against gays -- a development which we think might well be assessed as part of an overall study of bigoted crimes. Americans as individuals, however stereotyped as 'different,' have a basic right to be free from societal violence."
-Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith national Director Nathan Perlmutter to U.S. commission on Civil Rights, December 20, 1984.
"Nothing can justify attacks on homosexual persons, and the Church must clearly repudiate all such acts. Violence is not the way of the Gospel. Violence is not the way of the Church. Violence is not the way of Christ."
--San Francisco Roman Catholic Archbishop John R. Quinn, statement to all Deans, August 2, 1984.
"It is a dangerous repeat of history when the answer to have and violence against a group of people is virtual silence on the part of the hierarchy of the Roman catholic Church.... In view of the escalating assaults on lesbian women and gay men by fundamentalist Christians and others, it would seem imperative for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese to intervene, at least at the level of clear disassociation from the aims and tactics of such religious demagoguery."
--Archdiocese of San Francisco, Report of the Task Force on Gay/Lesbian Issues, July 1982.
"In recent weeks in New York we have had a series of violent actions against persons perceived to be homosexuals. These actions were so brutal that they could have resulted in murder. As it is, one victim is still hospitalized in serious condition as a result of beatings with a baseball bat and a knife wound in the lung. I wish I had language strong enough to condemn this kind of cruelty. Anyone who performs such actions in the belief that he or she is in some way helping society is utterly stupid." Those who perpetrate violence against homosexuals "are doing violence against Christ Himself."
--New York Roman Catholic Cardinal John O' Connor, in a sermon given on September 11, 1988.
"Attacks on Americans based solely on their religion, race, sexual orientation or ethnicity are attacks on society as a whole. When our gay citizens are viciously attacked, our national commitment of basic decency and humanity is undermined. Compelling evidence shows that anti-gay violence is the most prevalent form of hate crime, and many perpetrators of anti-gay violence commit hate crimes based on religion, race and ethnicity."
--Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs Former Director Reverend Charles Bergstrom, Charles Bergstrom, testimony in favor of Federal Hate Crimes Act before the House Subcommittee on the constitution, June 21, 1988.
"Discrimination or violence directed against persons with AIDS is unjust and immoral."
--U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "The many Faces of AIDS: A Gospel Response," December 1987.
"These events at the University of Chicago (swastikas painted on a campus office that served gay students and other harassment) bear witness to the rising incidence of prejudice and violence against homosexuals on campuses nationwide, a trend that coincides with the dramatic rise in attacks against gays and lesbians in the country at large. Homosexuals have become the latest American scapegoats."
--American Baptist University of Chicago Minister Evan Drake Howard, in an article in The Christian Century, July 15, 1987.
"Over the last few years, gay and lesbian people in the united States have been the victims of a frightening increase in violent acts of crime.... As Christians, we must deplore every act of violence against gays and lesbians. We must respect their right to live in dignity, and reject every act that tries to force the contrary. We must be God to give us the grace to understand how to repent for so many years of sinful violence directed against gay and lesbian people."
--The Catholic Worker, article in May 1987.
"It is time -- indeed, the time has passed -- that the rights of homosexual and lesbian persons must be protected alongside the rights of all others who enjoy these rights in our society. The intimidation and violence against this segment of our society violate basic Christian teachings and the sense of justice of all persons of good will.... These persons are due protection of our society that they may live like all the rest of us -- in guaranteed freedom."
--Lutheran Bishop James A. Graefe, Metropolitan New York Synod to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, January 16, 1985.
"As a bishop who has had the opportunity to observe the first hand the kind of violence -- yes, savage almost maniacal violence -- as well as lesser, more subtle but nevertheless destructive forms of violence perpetrated against gay and lesbian people, I want to urge the U.S. commission on Civil Rights to take this matter seriously in its activities. It is no secret that gay and lesbian persons are frequently subject to indignities, harassment and physical abuse which, if perpetrated against more conventional members of society, would not be tolerated."
--Lutheran Bishop Philip Wahlberg, Texas-Louisiana Synod to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, January 11, 1985.
"Violence against any human being violates the teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Thus the increased incidence of violence against gay and lesbian Americans is indefensible and morally reprehensible. Anti-gay/lesbian violence is a crime qualitatively equal to violence against racial, ethnic or religious groups."
--United Church of Christ Board for homeland Ministries Executive Vice President Charles Shelby Rooks, January 4, 1985.
"One of the current human rights problems is acts of harassment and violence against persons of homosexual orientation. Such actions in our nation violate both our national standards of human rights as well as standards of Judeo-Christian heritage. They specifically violate one of the clear positions of the United Methodist Church, Which affirms the human rights of all persons, including those in this category."
--United Methodist Church Los Angeles Bishop Jack M. Tuell, to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, December 21, 1984.
"The most awful stain left by bigotry on American history -- and its most grievous affront against our country's ideals -- is the record of violence committed by haters against the hated, whose 'guilt' and vulnerability has been that they are 'different'.... I'm sure you have noted the recent harassment and violent assaults perpetrated against gays -- a development which we think might well be assessed as part of an overall study of bigoted crimes. Americans as individuals, however stereotyped as 'different,' have a basic right to be free from societal violence."
-Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith national Director Nathan Perlmutter to U.S. commission on Civil Rights, December 20, 1984.
"Nothing can justify attacks on homosexual persons, and the Church must clearly repudiate all such acts. Violence is not the way of the Gospel. Violence is not the way of the Church. Violence is not the way of Christ."
--San Francisco Roman Catholic Archbishop John R. Quinn, statement to all Deans, August 2, 1984.
"It is a dangerous repeat of history when the answer to have and violence against a group of people is virtual silence on the part of the hierarchy of the Roman catholic Church.... In view of the escalating assaults on lesbian women and gay men by fundamentalist Christians and others, it would seem imperative for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese to intervene, at least at the level of clear disassociation from the aims and tactics of such religious demagoguery."
--Archdiocese of San Francisco, Report of the Task Force on Gay/Lesbian Issues, July 1982.
