Faithful America is once again taking action and speaking out against prominent figures who manipulate Christianity, 'in the name of God,' to advance political and personal agendas of hate. Last spring, this very large and fast-growing online community of Christians
went after Sarah Palin, and
created a petition (currently over 67,000) slamming Palin for her remarks at an NRA convention where she said:
"…Water-boarding is how we baptize terrorists."
Faith America's response, in part:
"This is what we've come to in America: A former candidate for vice-president can equate torture and Holy Baptism, and one of the nation's most powerful political lobbies erupts into cheers and applause."
Today, Faith America is petitioning Rev. T.W. Jenkins for canceling a funeral after learning the deceased man, Julion Evans, was gay. Well, that's the preacher's story, and he's sticking to it. The unthinkable part of Jenkins's decision was that he called off the funeral the night before, and notified the family - at the wake. Faithful America jumped in to demand an apology from Jenkins, as well as state that Jenkins's actions do not reflect the beliefs of all Christians, nor the message of Jesus. Here is a message Faithful America sent out this week:
"Julie Atwood was at her son's wake, standing next to his casket, when she got the news: The church was canceling the funeral because her son was gay.
Rev. T.W. Jenkins of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida, told Julie that he'd read in the newspaper obituary that her son was married to another man and decided that holding the funeral would be "blasphemous."
This story is generating national headlines, but so far Jenkins is only doubling down, saying his church plans to 'continue to stand on the word of God.'
We need to show Pastor Jenkins -- and the media who are covering the story -- how many Christians are appalled by how he's misrepresenting our faith and hurting Julion Evans's grieving family."
Petition: Tell Florida pastor: Apologize for canceling gay man's funeral
Julion Evans's husband, Kendall Capers, said he might have understood the church's position - but to wait, as Jenkins did, until the eve of the funeral was wrong. Evans and Capers had been together for 17 years. The couple married last year.
"This is 2014, this is not the 60s or the 70s,” Capers said. “So at the end of the day I just want his wrong-doing to be exposed.”
Below is the name and number of church where Jenkins preaches:
To sign the Faithful America Petition against Jenkins,
visit here.
Many religious and non-religious folks are grateful to Faithful America for speaking out on behalf of Julion Evans, as well as for standing up to 'reclaim Christianity from the religious right.' How refreshing. Faithful America's motto…
Love thy neighbor. No exceptions.
There it is - simple and beautiful, yet so hard for so many to understand.