Out in the Mountains

Council of Churches

Continued from page 1

the delegates to the NCC General Board. While lesbians and gay
men are the principal target of the Radical Religious Right, the
NCC has also been attacked by them for its allegedly revolu-
tionary agenda.

The purpose of the lesbian/gay leadership meeting will be two-
fold. The first is to share concerns and strategies among the vari-
ous groups struggling within their respective denominations and
in society at large. The second purpose is to be present at the Na-
tional Council of Churches both to support UFMCC’s re-
lationship with that body and to remind delegates of the presence
of gay and lesbian members in their own denominations.

Dr. White will address the delegates and lesbian/gay leaders on
the topic “Our God Too: Religious Communities Confronting
the Radical Religious Right”. White was a husband, father of two
children, pastor, professor, author and filmmaker. After years of
hiding, self-hatred, suicide attempts, tranquilizers, shock therapy,
psychotherapy, exorcism and “ex—gay” therapy, White gave it all
up to live a new, more serene life as an openly gay man. As
might be expected, his life as a conservative Christian celebrity
fell apart. He had a long list of clients for whom he had ghost-
written: Jeny Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, Billy Graham
and Oliver North. All of them disassociated from him. He was,
however, invited to become Dean of the Cathedral of Hope Met-

   

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ropolitan Community Church in Dallas——the largest lesbian/gay
congregation in America—-where he has served since June 1993.

White believes that the antigay propaganda generated by the
Radical Religious Right is responsible for the deaths of many
gays, either by encouraging hate crimes or by creating a climate
that makes suicide an attractive option. “They are David Koresh
and Jim Jones gone sophisticated,” says White, who has ghost-
written 16 best—selling books for religious celebrities. “They
don’t believe in democracy. They believe in a theocracy,” White
says of Falwell and Robertson. “They really believe God should
be in charge of this nation and they are the closest link to God.”
He accuses them of disseminating “half—truths, hyperboles and
lies.”

“Falwell, Robertson and the others have gone too far,” White
says. “They are blaming gay people for everything bad that’s
happening in this country and, one by one, thoughtful Americans
are beginning to wonder if this gay bashing isn’t getting out of
hand. This is not a gay and lesbian issue. This is a threat to the
warp and woof of American society.” V

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