Wielding religion as a weapon against gay marriage

The uniformed children were a nice touch Tuesday at the Crenshaw Christian Center, marching out of school with U.S. flags -- like good little soldiers in a holy war -- to hear ministers preach against the evils of gay marriage.

I had hoped the event would be held in the FaithDome -- once before I die I have to enter the realm -- but instead everyone gathered on the lawn under heavenly skies. Three dozen members of the clergy were there to support Prop. 8, which would amend the state Constitution to define marriage as only possible between a man and a woman.

The Yes on 8 banners read:

"For Children. For Families. For Our Future."

Apostle Frederick K.C. Price stepped to the microphone.

"I believe and teach the Bible," he said, pausing briefly, as if nothing more needed to be said.

But he went on to quote Genesis, saying marriage is that which occurs between a man and a woman. To veer from that course, he suggested, would "jeopardize our children's future."

Off the top, I could name six dozen greater threats to children's futures than the prospect of same-sex people committing themselves to each other in love, especially in South Los Angeles. With so many single parents and foster children, in fact, two-parent families might be worth encouraging.

Another clergyman, Bishop Frank Stewart of Zoe Christian Fellowship, said he was insulted by the suggestion that gay marriage is a civil rights issue. The real civil rights issues, he said, are the rights of parents (I didn't quite get his point), and his right to choose whom he can join in matrimony as a minister.

Pastor Beverly Crawford of Bible Enrichment Fellowship International clarified that in supporting Prop. 8 she wasn't saying no to gays, but "yes to God" and doing what "the Lord Jesus Christ" would do.

I always envy those who know precisely what Jesus would do. I'm wondering, though, if Pastor Crawford made the right call on that one.

It would have been nice to hear even more spiritual guidance at the Crenshaw Christian Center, but I wanted to catch part of a competing rally several miles away, where clergy were speaking out against Prop. 8. On the way to the second event, I called Father Geoff Farrow, the Fresno Catholic priest who was stripped of his parish job last week for saying from the pulpit that he would vote against Prop. 8.