RENWL

Slave Masters Children Back With Bible In Hand: This Time Black Women And Abortion Rights

We wonder just how many anti same sex marriage Christian black folks in California actually had the delusional thought that them and theirs wouldn’t be next?  We wonder just how many of these black folks actually thought that the slave masters’ children carrying the same bible that they used to defeat No On 8 would not at some point turn on you? Cause that’s exactly what’s about to happen. It’s only been a little over a year and already the Christian right machine has focused its attention onto black churches to get black support against reproductive rights for women.

Black anti-gay marriage Christians of California, you been chumped, dumped and trumped. Now the ex-slave masters children are coming for the black woman.  You gonna co-sign to take away my black sisters’ reproductive rights too?

We have to give Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend mad props for posting on her Facebook profile the New York Times article To Court Blacks, Foes of Abortion Make Racial Case. Breaking that headline down in plain people speak white Christian conservatives against abortion are now investing time, money and energy in black churches these days.  History repeats itself so soon. Guess after the performance exhibited by many black Christians in California last year in their support of Prop 8, the Christian right quite sensibly are looking to create a repeat performance of intolerance in the black community via the church in support of pro life. The reason why we find it all this so timely and amazing is because for the past week we’ve been doing some extensive offline research on the Christian right and the Republican party and how they’ve been working on black churches across the country for the last 15 years or so concerning same-sex marriage. Yea, we bet a lot of people don’t know that Bush got really cozy with black church leaders in the way of gov’t funding for black churches while at the same time getting their endorsement to co-sign against same sex marriage.

One church leader who saw right through the game and campaigned vocally against the Bush regime’s invasion of black churches ironically enough is Obama’s old minister Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church In Christ in Chicago. Actually he was one of several black ministers including Al Sharpton who railed against the doings of the Bush Administration and those greedy black ministers who signed their names to the anti-gay marriage campaign with Bush and his Republican Christian right thugs. Check out this article Reverend Wright published in the Trinity church newsletter ripping into Bush’s campaign against same sex marriage and his investment in the black church to do his dirty work. Truly amazing and forward thinking stuff:

From the April 10, 2005 edition of Trinity Church’s Trumpet newsletter

THE BLACK CHURCH AND THE CONTRACT WITH PHARAOH

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Anyone who celebrates the prophetic role of the Black Church in American history should be appalled at the growing phenomenon of Black pastors embracing the Bush administration and its cynical use of religion to mask policies that will further brutalize people already left behind. It is easy to understand why the President’s political strategists have their eyes on the Black church. Black voters have voted in overwhelming numbers against Republican candidates in recent decades, and getting more of those votes is part of Karl Rove’s plan to build a permanent Republican majority. The Black Church carries a mantle of moral authority that President Bush wants draped across his shoulders.

Sadly, some self-appointed leaders are declaring the need for a “new” Black Church, one more interested in dining with Pharaoh rather than demanding freedom for people in bondage. With the support of some of these pastors, the president increased his share of the Black vote in a number of states. What is going on? Right-wing strategists have been working hard to exploit traditional religious beliefs to create a wedge between African Americans and their progressive allies. But there is more at work. Over the past 40 years, the deep pockets of the far right have created a network of think tanks, grassroots organizations and media outlets. They create and support “scholars” who use right-wing media platforms to build a following.

They’re now using this model on African Americans. Pastors who embrace Bush are welcomed at the White House. They have created, with support from Religious Right groups and their political allies, a “Black Contract with America.” We are witnessing a virtual religious “coup d’etat” with religious symbols traditional to the Black church being subverted, if not perverted, for political gain.

And then there’s money. The Bush administration gave Armstrong Williams $240,000 to shill for its education policies. Williams, a creation of the right-wing media machine, apologized when he got caught. But some pastors have gotten even more. Black churches are often short on money to meet the needs of our communities. Many people linger in poverty even as others join the professional classes. Young men end up in jails and prisons; schools are havens for drug dealers; families disintegrate before our eyes. Churches work valiantly to address the crises in people’s lives. The temptation to embrace a source of new money is strong. But what is the cost of contracting with Pharaoh?

Will pastors receiving a million dollars from the White House swallow the moral outrage that is the only responsible reaction to this administration’s budget priorities? Will they rationalize that the good they accomplish with their government grant justifies their acquiescence in policies that will impoverish others nationwide? Will they read from White House talking points rather than articulate the Black Church’s historic call for justice?

It is offensive to me that so many Black pastors are wittingly or unwittingly supporting a rejection of Martin Luther King’s broad justice vision based on the supposed threat of gay marriage. Make no mistake – the political forces that are trying to make gay marriage a top priority for our churches are the same ones pushing a radical political and legal philosophy that would turn the clock back on many of the social justice gains of the past 70 years. They seek a return to an era when states’ rights and economic power trumped individual liberties. How will Black Americans fare in a country whose legal, political and economic institutions have been aligned to leave average Americans at the mercy of the market, with few social or legal protections to fall back on?

We must raise our voices about the immorality of poverty, the injustice of unemployment among black youth, the devastation of AIDS/HIV in African American communities. We are called to expand the debate about the sanctity of life to include the millions of people who are prevented from living lives of dignity and worth. We must resist calls to abandon public schools and public institutions as means for achieving the common good.

The soul of the Black Church is at stake with political agendas disguised as moral battles, with the creation of new “leaders” by the right-wing media machine, with those who would sell our silence to the highest bidder. Progressive Black pastors must launch a “not for sale” campaign, and must work to strengthen effective alliances with people of good will who understand that America needs the prophetic voice of the Black Church.

Imagine. This was published in 2005. A full 3 years before Prop 8. We have new found respect for Reverend Wright. We’d long heard that he was quite progressive and totally down with LGBT equality but we had no IDEA the brother was this deep. And the reason why we posted his article in its entirety is to give you an idea of what’s at stake now with this new pro life campaign the Christian right are launching in hopes of gaining more support from the black church.  We want our readers to understand that this has been done before.  Before No On Prop 8 even had a chance it had already been defeated in the black church community long before the initiative to repeal it had even hit the books.

So for those of you who still remained somewhat lacking in understanding as to why many black ministers are as highly vocal as they are against same sex marriage, this can help clue you in.

And if black women in this country don’t get a move on real soon in terms of standing up loud and strong for their reproductive rights, like marriage equality in California, a similar fate awaits their decision to have an abortion. The ex-slave master is no joke. When he plays he plays to win.

We all know how he uses the bible as a weapon on soft-headed black folks. They go in for it every time. Black women do not wait to speak up. You haven’t moment to lose. You better getcha selves together and start putting the word out now.

Here’s the NY Times piece:  To Court Blacks, Foes of Abortion Make Racial Case.