October 29, 2007

The HomObamaPhobia Tour: Preacher Donnie Takes the Stage

Jesus wept.

Well, that seals it.

Believe it or not, some of us most appalled by Barack Obama’s refusal to dump Donnie McClurkin (not to mention all the other homophobes) from his “gospel concert tour” really did not expect McClurkin to sink below our lowest expectations during last night’s performance in South Carolina.

Some of us thought that somebody in Obama’s campaign (er, maybe Obama, who’s supposed to be calling the shots?) would have, at the very least, taken the little self-loathing homophobe aside and said, “No, we’re not dumping you, but listen — if you start spouting that ‘I’ve been saved from the curse of homosexuality by the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ!’ you’re gonna do Brother Obama more harm than good. So just can the ‘ex-gay’ sermon, sing your songs, and get your ass offstage.”

But did that happen? Nope. Pastor Donnie was given free rein, and free rein he took. He used half an hour of stage time to do the one thing this writer never thought he would do: After whining about being “maligned” for his virulently anti-gay views, he began to preach from St. Donnie’s Gospel of Homophobia.

Donnie McClurkin…

…served as master of ceremonies of a gospel concert promoting [Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama] Sunday night.

Master of ceremonies.

So much for the many arguments from Obama supporters that McClurkin was just going to sing a little and get offstage.

He approached the subject gingerly at first. Then, just when the concert had seemed to reach its pitch and about to end….

Rev. Donnie McClurkin, who headlined the final installment of the Obama campaign’s “Embrace the Change” Gospel concert series, did not comment on the controversy until the just before the concert’s finish, when he told the crowd of about 2,500 African-Americans: “I’m going to say something that’s going to get me in trouble.”

“They accuse me of being anti-gay and a bigot,” McClurkin said. “We don’t believe in discrimination. We don’t believe in hatred, and if you do you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s the whole premise of God. That’s the whole premise of Christ is love, love, love. But there is a side of Christ that deals in judgment, and all sin is against God.”

McClurkin has said that homosexuality is a choice and that he overcame homosexual desires through prayer, comments that drew fire from gay and lesbian activists and caught the Obama campaign, which has been using faith to reach out to African-American voters, off guard.

The Grammy-winning singer said Sunday his words had been “twisted.”

In between sermonizing, singing, and raving about Obama, McClurkin repeatedly defended himself.

“I just said yes,” he said of his invitation by the Obama campaign. “I didn’t know so much was going to happen. I didn’t know my yes was going to mean I was misunderstood and vilified. .. . Sometimes people can take your words and do this with them,” he said, making a twisting motion with his hands as the crowd shouted Amens and cheered for him.

After another song, he specially addressed the issue of homosexuality, saying he had been “touched by the same feelings.”

“Don’t call me a bigot or anti-gay, when I have been touched by the same feelings,” McClurkin went on. “When I have suffered with the same feelings. Don’t call me a homophobe, when I love everybody … Don’t tell me that I stand up and I say vile words against the gay community because I don’t. I don’t speak against the homosexual. I tell you that God delivered me from homosexuality.”

So much for the argument that Obama wasn’t going to be giving McClurkin “a platform for his views, or that he wouldn’t be “supporting the campaign as a spokesperson on these issues.”

McClurkin’s words drew raucous applause from the crowd, who had lined up around the block to get into the Township Auditorium in Columbia.

So much for the argument that McClurkin’s participation would “attract a large number of Democratic voters who are attracted to his voice, not necessarily his viewpoints (which presumably he won’t be given the opportunity to voice at the concert).”

Nearly all of the African-American concert-goers interviewed by CNN expressed support for McClurkin. Some referenced the First Amendment, saying McClurkin had the right to say what he pleased. Others agreed with McClurkin and said that homosexuality is a choice. Several more invoked the Bible and said homosexuality is simply wrong.

So much for building a bridge between homophobic Southern black churchgoers and the LGBT community.

Obama, while not present, appeared on a videotaped message to the crowd, saying, “The artists you’re going to hear from are some of the best in the world, and favorites of Michelle and myself.”

So much for Obama distancing himself from McClurkin and his hateful rhetoric.

Rick Wade, an Obama adviser who focuses on black outreach, gave what amounted to a sermon on Obama’s electability at the start of the concert.

“There are believers and there are non-believers,” Wade said. “Non-believers would say he’s the most qualified…but they won’t vote for him. He won’t win. Believers would say he will win. Non-believers would say ‘what can we do?’ Believers would say ‘we can do all things,’” he said, and paused before the crowd loudly responded “through Christ Jesus.”

He continued, “Non-believers would say America is not ready, believers would say we are ready.”

So much for the argument that Obama doesn’t inject religion into the political arena.

Obama’s campaign is making religious appeals a huge part of their South Carolina strategy. The concerts were the last part of a “40 Days of Faith and Family” that emphasized Obama’s faith as he seeks to win black voters, who could comprise up to half of the electorate in the Democratic primary. The concert was full of black women, who have become a key contested group between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Obama’s campaign has also held “faith forums” in the state where people hear from campaign aides about how the candidate’s faith plays a role in his life and then discuss how faith informs their own lives and their politics.

So much for Obama’s commitment to separation of church and state.

Aides gave reporters a three-page memo detailing McClurkin’s and Obama’s views on gay rights that noted in capital letters “MCCLURKIN DOES NOT WANT TO CHANGE GAYS AND LESBIANS WHO ARE HAPPY WITH THEIR LIVES AND HAS CRITICIZED CHURCH LEADERS WHO DEMONIZE HOMOSEXUALS,” with quotes detailing those statements from the singer.

The next paragraph then stated “OBAMA DOES NOT AGREE WITH MCCLURKIN’S VIEWS ON GAYS.”

So, if McClurkin doesn’t want to change happy gays, and Obama doesn’t agree with him, does that mean Obama does want to change happy gays? Into what, happy straights? Or unhappy gays?

That Obama’s campaign is so bollixed up, they didn’t even catch the irony in the juxtaposition of those two paragraphs is indicative of the hamfisted manner in which they’ve mishandled every step (or rather, misstep) of this whole ugly fiasco.

And what of Rev. Andy Sidden…

…the white, gay pastor added to the concert bill as a last minute compromise by the Obama campaign. Sidden’s appearance was notably brief and anti-climactic: He said a short prayer to the auditorium at the very beginning of the program, when the arena was only about half full, and then he left.

And this comes on the heels of the news that Barack Rejected Black Gay Ministers:

Rumor has it the presidential candidate’s incompetent staffers rejected at least two popular black gay ministers in favor of their current cracker, Andy Sidden. Via Rod 2.0:

Several sources inside and outside the campaign confirm the names of TWO openly gay black pastors suggested by the National Black Justice Coalition and the Human Rights Campaign were rejected in favor of Rev. Sidden. Those names are: Bishop Yvette Flunder, an outstanding pastor and orator from San Francisco and Bishop Tonyia Rawls of Unity Fellowship in North Carolina.

In addition, Bishop Carlton Pearson of Oklahoma, whose inclusive ministry welcomes the LGBT community, was also rejected.

As Sapphocrat wrote on DU today, Pearson:

• was dumped by the Church of God in Christ, and is now a bishop in the United Church of Christ — Obama’s own church!

• recorded with Beverly Crawford, one of the performers at this concert. I may not know much about gospel music, but it sure sounds to me like Pearson is hardly unknown to the gospel community.

Pearson pisses off a lot of people with his “Gospel of Inclusion” (he says queers are going to heaven, too! Oh, the horror! ) — but he would have been THE perfect preacher to offset at least some of the taint of the Bigot Tour. (And he’s not even gay.)

Plus:

A campaign source says Rev. Michael Eric Dyson, the so-called hip-hop intellectual, reportedly volunteered and was also rejected. Dyson is a prominent Obama supporter and very popular in hip-hop and with youth.

And:

On a somewhat related note, Obama disinvited his personal pastor from his presidential announcement. Why? Because his campaign feared pissing off white people and Jews.

This is so not over, folks. This is so not over.

Tip o’ the hat to ruggerson for coining “homobamaphobia”!