Pastor Warns Lawmakers To Protect Against ‘Evil’ Of Gay ‘Erotic Liberty’, AKA, ‘Marriage’

A prominent Baptist preacher delivering the morning devotional at the Georgia statehouse today warned lawmakers against gay people’s “erotic liberty.”

Newly re-elected Republican Governor Nathan Deal today delivered his annual State of the State address before lawmakers assembled in the Georgia statehouse. He was greeted with roaring applause, but that could have also been for the previous speaker, Bryant Wright.

Pastor Wright, the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, had been invited to deliver this morning’s devotional, as many religious leaders do daily in statehouses, and indeed, in the U.S. Congress, daily.

Across this great nation, these religious leaders who open the day’s business with a prayer or motivation to hopefully guide lawmakers toward better decisions, all know one generally unspoken rule: be non-partisan and non-judgmental.

All, except Pastor Wright.

Wright, the senior pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, warned lawmakers today against supporting same-sex marriage, which he curiously called “erotic liberty” for gay people.

“It is just one example of what our culture is going to increasingly see as an issue of erotic liberty versus religious liberty,” Wright said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re liable to see this with our military chaplains in the years ahead if they in good conscience believe they cannot perform same-sex weddings and could be kicked out of the military.”

That looming threat, he said, is a reminder of lawmakers’ role in making sure government is “protective of its citizens against evil and is working for the common good.”

Religious liberty, Wright said, is a “foundational aspect” of the U.S. Constitution and is for the “common good and welfare of man.”

He urged legislators to remember the nation’s heritage “even though a majority of your constituencies have embraced erotic liberty over religious liberty.”

Democratic Rep. Simone Bell on Facebook said she caught up with Pastor Wright and made very clear just how offensive his devotional was.

Told him he is a disgrace to the clergy, the Word and the state of Georgia. That he squandered his opportunity to bring a message of love to people who have sacrificed to serve the state. That his religious freedom is not being trampled upon, but that he is trampling upon mine and 300,000 + more Georgian’s religious freedom to be who God created us to be. He responded that we clearly have a difference of opinion. I told him we have a difference of HUMANITY.

Of course, the religious right loved Pastor Right’s attack on LGBT people and civil rights.

Meanwhile, Jay Bookman at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution delved in Wright’s attack.

“Let’s deal first with that term ‘erotic liberty,’ because it’s a clever little phrase that’s intended to disguise what’s really at stake,” he writes. “It takes the lifelong emotional, romantic, legal, social, spiritual and yes erotic commitment of marriage to the person whom you love, and in the case of gay marriage it attempts to reduce it to the question of how you’re going to get your jollies, so to speak. In short, there’s a whole lot of bigotry smuggled into those two simple words.”

“The novel formulation of erotic liberty vs. religious liberty apparently comes from the Rev. Alfred Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In an essay published last month on a seminary website, Mohler warned his readers of a rising conflict between liberties, a conflict that he said ‘will prioritize erotic liberty over religious liberty.'”

Fortunately, those opposed to Wright’s attack, at least on social media, seem to outnumber those in favor.

 

 

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Hat tip: Raw Story