Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
African American pastor says Democrats do not serve black interests

African American pastor says Democrats do not serve black interests

Last updated on: September 10, 2012 at 4:13 pm by CNA Daily News

African American pastor says Democrats do not serve black interests 2012-09-10T16:13:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Charlotte, N.C., Sep 10, 2012 / 10:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As delegates at the Democratic National Convention celebrated the party's decision to reiterate its support for abortion and officially endorse “gay marriage,” an African American leader said that these policies harm the black community.

“As far as I'm concerned, the Democratic Party is not pro-African American,” said Rev. Bill Owens, president of the Coalition of African American Pastors.

Owens told CNA that African Americans in the U.S. are used as “pawns” because they automatically assume that the Democratic Party supports their interests.

But if Democrats truly have the interests of the black community at heart, and if African Americans consistently vote the Democratic ticket, he asked, “why are we in such bad shape?”

Owens said that the major issues facing the African American community today are education, jobs and abortion.

“We have more young men in prison than in college,” he said, explaining that African Americans are “behind every group in the country” as far as education, even falling behind groups that come to the U.S. from other nations.

“We're losing our young men to gangs,” he added, and “culturally, we're slipping behind.”

Underlying all of these problems, Owens said, is the sad truth that “we have lost the family.”

“If the family were intact, we wouldn't have so many of our young men in prison,” he said, noting that young men often join gangs when they do not have strong families and faith communities.

“Education would be much better,” he added.

Owens recalled that when he participated in the civil rights movement, there were more black families together than white families.

“But now the family has disintegrated,” he said.

President Barack Obama is the first leader that Owens has ever publicly spoken out against. He said that he is extremely concerned about the implications of the president's positions, including his unprecedented support for “gay marriage,” on black families.

Owens joined other family advocates in warning that “gay marriage” renders both mothers and fathers optional and unnecessary.

With the black family already weakened and vulnerable, he said, the African American community will be especially harmed by efforts to redefine marriage.

He also observed that the black community has voted against “gay marriage” at every opportunity.

Owens said that the Democratic Party takes the black vote for granted.

He explained that he and a group of pastors had invited Obama to a dialogue about important issues within the black community but “he didn't give us the courtesy of an answer,” despite the fact that his predecessor had agreed to meet with the group.

While there is a need for “dialogue” with both parities, he said, but the Democratic Party's 2012 platform, which endorses a redefinition of marriage for the first time in history, raises particular concerns.

Owens said that he loves homosexual people. However, he explained, respecting individuals and redefining the most basic building block of society are two separate things.

Pointing to already struggling black families, he stressed that redefining marriage would be particularly detrimental to the African American community.

“We're going to be harmed more than anybody,” he said.

Previous Post

September 9, 2012

Caritas increases aid as refugees flood out of Syria

Next Post

September 10, 2012 Christians, Muslims to hold vigil as Lebanon papal visit approaches

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Faith without works is dead"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

James Paul John Peter