Pancakes and Eggs in the Face

According to Bay Area Reporter, a recent Interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast in San Francisco got a little tense when Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to turn the event into his personal bully pulpit:

Comments made by Mayor Gavin Newsom about Prop 8 during his remarks at the 11th annual Mayor's Interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast last month drew a standing ovation from "75 percent to 80 percent" of those in the room but kept Archbishop George Niederauer and Mormon representatives firmly in their seats.

Prop 8, which passed five weeks ago, eliminated same-sex marriage in California.

Newsom spoke "about his personal struggles and specifically about the Catholic Church and the Mormon Church," said openly gay Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who was at the breakfast and described the mayor's remarks as "emotional and eloquent."

Maurice Healy, spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, described Newsom's "unprepared remarks" as "an intemperate attack on those religions and people of faith who supported Proposition 8."

Niederauer issued his own response to Prop 8 December 1 [see story online].

The Reverend James DeLange, a retired Lutheran minister who chairs the San Francisco Interfaith Council, explained that Newsom's comments November 25 to a room of 400 guests representing eight city faith-based service agencies surprised him.

"What we thought the mayor was going to talk about the recognition of these organizations," DeLange said. Instead, the mayor talked about his personal struggles reconciling his faith with his civic duty and with the Catholic and Mormon involvement in Prop 8.

Asked if the archbishop, who was seated next to Newsom, "turned his back on the mayor following the remarks," Healy responded, "[Your readers] should know also that the chair and vice chair of the San Francisco Interfaith Council subsequently apologized to Archbishop Niederauer for the conduct of the mayor."

DeLange confirmed a letter had been sent.

"What we said in our letter to the archbishop was that we regret that Mayor Newsom chose this occasion to express his anger at the Catholic Church and other religious people whom he perceives as instrumental in the passage of Proposition 8 in the November 4 election," DeLange said.

Here is Archbishop Niederauer's December 1st statement. And here is some of the reaction from prominent "gay Catholics" in San Francisco:

"Tolerance, respect, and trust are always two-way streets, and tolerance, respect, and trust often do not include agreement, or even approval," wrote Niederauer. "We need to be able to disagree without being disagreeable. We need to stop talking as if we are experts on the real motives of people with whom we have never even spoken. We need to stop hurling names like 'bigot' and 'pervert' at each other. And we need to stop it now," wrote Niederauer.

Local LGBT leaders were critical of the letter.

"I've got a word for you, how about 'chutzpah,'" said state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). "You lead a charge to rip the constitutional rights from a minority that you have historically treated inhumanely, then call for those people to stop 'verbally attacking you?' That's chutzpah."

Ammiano wasn't necessarily surprised the archbishop chose the word "pervert."

"It hasn't been used in the public debate, but he's probably heard it a lot himself. However, it's very unbecoming to his office," said Ammiano, who called the use of the word "perverted."

"It's a weapon and it's name-calling," he said, appearing "hypocritically" in a letter that calls for an end to name-calling.

"These people still see us only as sexual beings, they don't see us holistically, as human beings," said Ammiano.

Ammiano believes that religious leaders use fear of homosexuals to generate money. "The homophobia that's present is a cash-cow for these religions," he said.

Dignity's Duddy-Burke agreed.

"You can't call us sick and sinful, or as he did in this letter, 'perverts,' then suggest that we should speak to each other nicely," said Duddy-Burke.

In addition to perverting what the Archbishop clearly said and meant, these "gay Catholics" don't seem too concerned about the amount of vandalism and violence being done by opponents of Proposition 8. Even the Anti-Defamation League, according to a December 8th Christian Examiner report, had issued a statement Nov. 10 condemning “criminal activity":

“Although we strongly opposed Proposition 8, its passage does not justify the defacement and destruction of property,” the statement read. “We urge Californians to channel their frustration and disappointment in productive and responsible ways to work towards full equality for all Americans.

“To place anyone in fear of threat to their houses of worship or their personal security because they have expressed deeply held religious views is contrary to everything this nation represents. Our Constitution's First Amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion for all of us.”

Back to the breakfast:

In his remarks, "The mayor said those who supported the initiative sought to deny rights to others. He did not give any respect for people holding religious beliefs about the nature of marriage," said Healy in an e-mail. "On the contrary, Mayor Newsom's rambling talk was offensive and insulting to Catholics and other people of faith who had sought to express their support for Proposition 8 from a view of marriage that was contrary to that held by the mayor."

Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard said, "The mayor respectfully declines to comment" on the incident.

Maybe he's too busy working on another insulting and offensive speech for the next prayer breakfast.

Comments

[Marguerite]

The serpent spoke cunningly to convince our first parents to disobey God and nothing has changed. Words can still be used to tickle the ears and sound logical and those critical of Archbishop Niederauer's remarks need to manipulate language in order to justify their proclivity to their particular sin. Sin is sin and no words can ever change that, no matter how sweet sounding or tripplingly they come off the tongue.

[AmalfiSon]

While I cannot judge the nature of those whose words appear to judge others, I will say that, for me, I do not believe that is the teaching of our faith. Judgment is not ours to offer. However, compassion and understanding is. It is the gift of our savior and our faith.

San Francisco's mayor is struggling with the reconciliation of his faith with his duties as mayor of a secular city. I pray for him in his struggle.

The Most Reverend Archbishop Neiderauer, too, is struggling with the his need to lead his flock as a good shepard, not chase them from their Church, rendering their faith inconsequential and irrelevant. My prayers are with him, too.

The Catholic church has a long and liberal history of social justice, of which I am profoundly grateful. So has the City of San Francisco. Paramount to our teachings is the Sanctity of Human Life and the knowledge that we all are of original sin and all are sinners. This basic teaching makes it incongruous to our faith to judge others for what we would by sinful nature claim as "their" sins.

I pray that Catholics who are gay or lesbian, as I believe they are born this way, find strength and comfort in the teachings of Jesus Christ and in the Catholic Church. I pray their faith guides them as I pray it guides me. I pray for all those who are sick and all those who are lost. And I pray for love and peace among each other.

"We are all born of one Father, no rooted difference is their between us."

In Peace

[Marguerite]

I totally agree with what the author said above that "it is incongruous to our faith to judge others for what we would by sinful nature claim as 'their" sins'." However, what is not incongruous to our faith is changing truth to suit a minority who vehemently insist that their "sin" is not a sin. That's the difference. The Catholic Church does not condemn the sinner, but the Church does not condone intrinsically evil actions either.

[Telemachus]

If any statement was in need of deconstruction, it's this one.

"You lead a charge to rip the constitutional rights from a minority that you have historically treated inhumanely..."

Which "right" is being ripped away? "Historically treated inhumanely" how? Argh.