| christian grantham | |||
| Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD. | |||
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latest posts
March 05, 2005
Militant Ties That Span The Globe: The church that inspired Atlanta's Rev. Eddie Long to dress up his flock in militant fatigues and march against equal rights for gays in December is marching today through the streets of Auckland in New Zealand.
Are large public displays of "pentecostal militancy" – think black shirts and one-fist salutes outside Parliament – an embarrassment to the faith? Even dangerous?
"There are occasions when pastoral care of the flock includes protection from harmful wolves. In my mind this is such an occasion," says Brian Winslade, the national leader of Baptist Churches, who wrote an open letter last week telling Christians not to support public demonstrations and, in particular, the fledging political movement of the Destiny Church.
Destiny Church, along with the Christian Life Centre Auckland and City Impact Church, organised the march.
The march website says the Government has an agenda that is anti-family and anti-Christian. It calls the Civil Union Bill – passed last year – "the single most devastating piece of legislation ever".
"Now children will be taught homosexuality is normal and even a desirable lifestyle choice. It's only a matter of time before expressing a biblical position on homosexuality will be a criminal offence," the website says.
[Getting ready for a walk with Destiny - STUFF - 03-05-05]
In August of last year, Destiny Church Maori black shirts marched with fists in the air, intimidating those who had gathered to support equal rights.
Just after midday, thousands of men dressed in black T-shirts marched down Wellington's Lambton Quay shouting "Enough is enough" and punching the air with their fists.
[Destiny Church black shirts spark anger - STUFF - 08-24-04]The Destiny demonstrators were accused of trying to intimidate their rivals, a 2000-strong group of gay protesters, but church leader Brian Tamaki, a gleaming-toothed Maori man wearing large gold rings, said his group was supported by "all commonsense New Zealanders".
[Maori church's war dance on gay marriage - The Australian - 08-24-04]
Take a look at the words of Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki below, whose political designs under the Destiny Party calls for "a nation under the governance of God."
"There has always been, up until now, rights, privileges and entitlements that have only been available to marriage. Before that there wouldn't have been any relationship that equals marriage. So the agenda from the spirit of perversion - THE LYING SPIRIT - was to empower the homosexual spirit on the ground to lead a Satanic strategy... oh boy... a Satanic strategy to actually take out and pervert a whole nation!"
[The Words of Brian - GayNZ]
Later, the Destiny Church recounted how they inspired Atlanta's anti-gay march that included the daughter of Martin Luther King. But don't count on the mainstream media getting their hands dirty with this part of the real story.
The Destiny Church says self-styled American "Bishop" Eddie L Long got the idea for his anti-gay marriage rally when he was in New Zealand. Long, who heads the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, one of the biggest black churches in the US, spoke with Tamaki about how to replicate the marches and then took the concept home, last weekend mobilising about 15,000 church members for a "stop the silence" rally.
In a mirror of the New Zealand marches, supporters wore black T-shirts, chanted "enough is enough" and called for a new moral agenda for the US. And as in New Zealand, they ran into angry counter-demonstrators.
[Destiny Church march duplicated in US - STUFF - 12-19-04]
filed under: Moral Majority
