JOSEPH N. BELL
In my view, one of the best and most provocative regular features
offered up by the Pilot is the commentary by a cross-section of local
religious leaders on some of the pithier moral issues of the day.
Their opinions are mostly straight to the point -- and not always
predictable.
Even though two of their number opted out, I was especially
pleased that the other three tackled the recent refusal of several
major TV networks to run a commercial on behalf of the United Church
of Christ. In case you missed the dispute, the commercial rejected by
ABC, NBC and CBS shows a pair of bouncers in front of an unidentified
church picking and choosing the people they allow to enter, followed
by the tagline: "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." The
reference is primarily aimed at churches that reject gay people
unwilling to accept celibacy as a condition for membership, a
restriction that doesn't exist at the United Church of Christ.
According to news coverage, CBS said it rejected the commercial
because "it touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other
minority groups by other individuals and organizations." An NBC
spokesperson said: "We do not accept commercials that deal with
issues of public controversy. The problem with this spot is it says
churches do not accept these people. That's a controversial topic
that is in the papers every day." CBS added that another factor was
the backdrop of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage
proposed by "the executive branch."
Of the three Pilot panelists who responded, two -- Rabbi Mark
Miller and the Zen Rev. Deborah Barrett -- came down foursquare on
behalf of the commercial, while the Rev. Peter Haynes at St. Michael
Episcopal set a cautious toe there after a fair amount of wandering.
All of this has special significance because it is part of a rash
of mainstream churches defrocking gay pastors or breaking apart over
the issue of openly gay clergy.
We've heard a great deal about the defection of St. James in
Newport Beach from the national Episcopal Church. Less visible
locally was the recent decision of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
America to withdraw official recognition of a Lutheran mission that
serves the poor and homeless in San Bernardino because it installed
an associate pastor who is in a lesbian relationship, and the
Methodist Church defrocking a longtime pastor for the same reason.
There is no defense for the networks that refused the United
Church of Christ commercial. It was cowardice, pure and simple. A
