Faith Groups Key in Marriage Debate

Note that the Some Families Foundation plans to focus heavily on African-American churches in their campaign to drum up support for the amendment. Also note the prominent role of Jack Stagman’s “Loudoun Church Alliance,” which he previously claimed did not take a position on marriage equality. “We are not making a stand or a statement in that area at all,” Stagman told the Washington Post in 2004. “The focus of what we are all about is strengthening marriage and reducing divorce.” Stagman, who holds a mail-order degree in divinity, seems to believe that “God’s wrath” (not infidelity, immaturity or incompatibility) forces heterosexual couples to get divorced. With that formulation, I don’t imagine his Healthy Marriage Initiative enjoys much success.

Alexandria Connection
May 25, 2006
By Brian McNeill

Thirty-nine years ago in Virginia, Reston resident Hank Blakely, an African American, would have been prohibited from marrying Lillian Christman, his wife of 25 years. Knowing that interracial marriages were illegal in Virginia until a 1967 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Blakely sees parallels to the current debate over a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions.

“The obscenity of that law still today makes me so angry I can feel it. It would have stopped me from marrying my wife,” Blakely said. “The parallel to me is inescapable. We need to defeat this pernicious, mean-spirited, evil thing that people call the ‘marriage amendment.'”

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2 Responses to Faith Groups Key in Marriage Debate

  1. Jonathan Weintraub says:

    Yes, Jack Stagman did claim that his group was not taking a position at his “healthy (patriarchal) marriage initiative” kickoff even though Pastor Daryl flew all the way from Seattle to recruit for an anti-gay festival in D.C. Now it looks like he has born false witness. If he truly fears “God’s Wrath”, he’s got some mending to do.