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Tuesday, 13 June 2006 20:00 |
| From left are Howard Hanger, Joe Hoffman, Mark Ward, ACLU WNC Treasurer Alan Scott Robinson and Steve Runholt. Robinson presented the certificates.
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By JIM GENARO
The actions taken by three local ministers to promote equal rights for gays and lesbians reflect a commitment to ?®the salvation of our souls,?∆ according to the Rev. Steve Runholt, pastor of the Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church.
Runholt presented the Evan Mahaney Civil Liberties Award to the clergymen on behalf of the Western North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on June 3 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville.
The
honorees included the Rev. Howard Hangar of Jubilee! Community, the
Rev. Joe Hoffman of the First Congregational Church/United Church of
Christ in Asheville and the Rev. Mark Ward of the UUCA.
About 150 people attended the ceremony, which preceded the chapter??s annual meeting.
WNC ACLU Vice President Jim Cavener, who introduced Runholt, noted that
the award is named after the late Evan Mahaney, the former president of
the chapter. Mahaney was a ?®print and broadcast journalist?∆ who devoted
his life to the cause of civil liberties, he said.
The award is presented each year to a person or group in Western North
Carolina who has worked to protect constitutional freedoms, he noted.
?®What we??ve discovered is that one of the ways to fill the room is to
have a lot of honorees from four different very popular congregations
in the community,?∆ Cavener joked.
In describing the ACLU??s mission of defending the U.S. Constitution, he
said, ?®We have a righteous cause ?? words I would not say lightly.?∆
However, Cavener noted, the organization is frequently vilified.
?®It seems that our opponents find ways to make accusations that miss their mark by a mile,?∆ he said.
?®We don??t eat children. We??re not even opposed to all religion. How
could this atheistic, child-eating organization honor these ministers
if these accusations were true??∆ Cavener quipped, eliciting laughter
from the audience.
He noted that the ACLU is deeply committed to the cause of equality for
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people, adding that the
organization??s president is a Hispanic, gay man.
A humorous moment came when Cavener was discussing the role of student
chapters within the ACLU and two teenaged girls entered the room.
?®Are you from a student chapter of the ACLU??∆ he asked them.
?®No, we??re Howard Hanger??s daughters,?∆ they replied, triggering much laughter in the room.
After discussing the mission of the ACLU, Cavener turned the program over to Runholt.
?®My dear, 85-year-old Republican evangelical mother might literally
have a heart attack if she knew I was presenting a civil rights award
for three ministers who support gay marriage,?∆ Runholt joked.
It is ironic, he noted, that the honorees are all white and male,
adding that ?®white male religious types have done more than anyone to
retard civil liberties in this country.?∆
Hoffman and Ward were both honored for their choices to abstain from
conducting marriages of heterosexual couples in protest of the
inability of gays and lesbians to get legally married in the U.S.
Hanger was recognized for his choice to denounce his ordination in the
United Methodist Church, in protest of the denomination??s stance in
opposition to same-sex marriage.
Though Hanger was originally ordained by the UMC, Jubilee! Community,
which he founded, is not officially affiliated with the church.
Allowing same-sex marriage is not ?®about giving gays the right to be
with us,?∆ Runholt said, but about the church enjoying the privilege of
sharing in community with such individuals.
He commended the ministers for ?®saying ?¥no, as a minister you will not
discriminate against anyone in my church, under my watch.???∆
Within the Presbyterian denomination, Runholt said, a debate over the
ordination of gay ministers is causing a fracturing of the church.
?®A significant percentage of Presbyterian clergy believe that we cannot
stay united. This is also true of many mainstream denominations.?∆
While recently attending a conference of church elders, at which some
clergy announced that they would leave the denomination if gay
ministers were accepted, Runholt said he ?®kept thinking, ?¥My how the
wheel of history turns round and round again.???∆
He was reminded of the church??s debate over desegregation, when
?®ministers threatened to pull out when we had the audacity to recognize
the full humanity of African-Americans.?∆
This debate occurred again when the church first considered the ordination of women.
?®Our churches are full of loving and talented LGBT (lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgendered) people who would fill our rapidly
diminishing congregations.?∆
Regarding the actions of Hanger, Hoffman and Ward, Runholt said, ?®As
ministers, they know that it is impossible to be churches and
discriminate. As Americans, they know it is impossible for us to be
Americans and discriminate.
?®We will never be the country our founders envisioned unless we live up to the promise of liberty and justice for all.?∆
The cause of civil justice is often discouraging, he told the audience.
Many people seek leaders, asking ?®Where is the next Martin Luther King?
Where is the messiah??∆ Runholt said.
?®To all of us here, I say, ?¥You are the ones we??ve been waiting for,???∆ he said.
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