Revisited Beacon Baptist Church for their “Marriage Sunday” service .
They were bolder than I expected. Pastor Tim Rabon had no qualms about putting his prejudice in Jesus’s mouth, when he presumptuously said that “if Jesus were here today standing in this place on Marriage Sunday, he would say that he made [marriage] one man, and one woman.”
You might think he’d stop short of telling people how to vote on the anti‐domestic‐partnership amendment, but he was actually very explicit: “vote for this Marriage Amendment”. They even projected an image of the ballot referendum up on a projection screen, with the “For” oval filled in. And he encouraged us to encourage our neighbors to vote “For” it as well. [Ed.: And they hired a billboard, too.]
I asked him after his service if preachers should be telling people how to vote. He told me that telling people how to vote on a referendum was appropriate, but he’d never endorse a candidate or party from his pulpit, though he might in private conversation). He seems to limit his electioneering to referenda, so he won’t jeopardize his church’s tax‐exempt status:
Q: Do you think it’s appropriate for ministers and churches to, from the pulpit, tell people how to vote?
A: Absolutely, according to the Constitution it is. Freedom of religion; express what the Bible says. And historically, I’ve done that. So, nothing inappropriate, nothing illegal about it.
Q: I agree there’s nothing illegal about it. But —
A: You think it’s appropriate to say alcohol is wicked?
Q: Sure, I think that’s freedom of speech —
A: Well, then it’s appropriate to say God’s word says that a man with a man, a woman with a woman is an abomination.
Q: Sure, but I think when you start endorsing particular candidates or particular parties —
A: No, I didn’t — this is not a candidate or a party issue.
Q: No, you’re just supporting one side of a referendum.
A: That’s right.
Q: But you wouldn’t do that for a candidate or a party?
A: No way, not from the pulpit, I wouldn’t.
Though children of unmarried parents could lose healthcare benefits because of Amendment One, Tim claimed that opponents were wrong to say so. What Tim called the “biggest danger to children” was not accidents, nor cancer, nor abuse, nor neglect, nor teen suicide, but a “non‐traditional definition of marriage”, somehow.
Reminiscent of ex‐Senator Rick man on dog
Santorum, Tim speculated that a human marrying a non‐consenting animal could come next: “What is stopping them from re[de]fining marriage from a person and a beast? We’re not far from that.”
Tim also seems quite a gender essentialist, because he claimed we know from science that “men are right‐brained creatures”, while “women are a two‐sided instrument”. He said men cannot think emotionally unless they unengage their logical side. And that Rush Limbaugh is right when he says he has half his brain tied behind his back, because all men have half their brains tied behind their backs. Seems like at least one man does.
An usher, Marvin, noted my “vote against Amendment One” button, and admonished me not to disrupt the sermon. When I sat down, he came to me again where I was sitting, sat beside me, and started telling me their security people were prepared to eject anyone causing a disruption. (He seemed to be dwelling on the idea of throwing me out.) I assured him I had no intention of disrupting the sermon, and would listen and take notes, like every other time I’ve attended.
Though I hadn’t posted any reviews of their sermons till now, Marvin also told me, you know what you should put in the post you’re writing, you should put: “you only come when you know you’re gonna stir up an issue, that’s the only time you come!” (When I duly wrote that down, he wanted me to read it back to him!) However, Marvin also emphasized that they welcome everyone (including those they advocate discrimination against), and wanted me to mention that too. So noted.
Update, Sunday, 6 May 2012:
Tim concluded this morning’s sermon with another exhortation: “I want to encourage you to vote for it. Be on God’s side.” He emphasized it “as strong as I can”.
He also mentioned Huffington Post ridiculing his “person and a beast” remark, defending it by citing a Fox News story about a woman “marrying” a dolphin.
I was wearing my “My family is voting against Amendment One” T-shirt. (Protect All NC Families gave them out to participants in their get‐out‐the‐vote drive at OutRaleigh yesterday, directing Wake County voters coming to the street festival toward the Board of Elections a block away, where they could vote early.) Early in the service, when we were asked to stand up and shake hands with our neighbors next to us, a few congregants crossed a couple aisles to say hello to me. A nice woman apparently came clear across the auditorium to say “God bless you for being here.” I wondered whether her effusiveness was because she was glad someone else dissented with Pastor Rabon’s prejudice, or if perhaps she was excited to think a homosexual might be joining their congregation.
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