By Earle J. Fisher
Special to The Commercial Appeal

When President Obama announced that he was in favor of same-sex marriage, I feared that there would be a certain backlash from a contingency within the black church, and there was.

What I didn’t prepare for, however, was the media’s overreaction to it. Media commentary has been flooded with presentations (and recently a few critiques) of the conservative wing of the black church; specifically to a group calling itself the Coalition for African-American Pastors.

While I can appreciate this coalition’s experience and convictions, I cannot support their “national campaign” to encourage African-Americans to reconsider their support for Obama. It seems they are encouraging the black faith community to cut off its nose to spite its face.

Much of the media coverage seems to suggest that what we have seen represents the full spectrum of black people of faith. Therefore, the novice observer could easily surmise, all black pastors and people are homophobic or hypocritical and anti-intellectual or the other extreme, unbridled heathens without standards.

Neither is true of the black faith community as a whole.

To be clear, there have been a few exceptions projected nationally (and even fewer locally, in Memphis). Yet, in a broader sense there seems to be a strategy by some to demonize, reduce and re-project black faith as buffoonery at worse and misguided spirituality at best. This mythical, monolithic portrayal has seemingly diluted the divinity of our complex faith, expressions of love and hope in the American Democratic system and cast it as a divisive and demonic display of opportunism.

I believe God calls us all in our various vineyards to raise our voice (not always in agreement, that’s unison, but still in harmony) to adequately represent the beautiful hues of our humanity and the complex chords and tones of our theology to continue to help us progress. We must find a way for all of these voices to be adequately and authentically represented.

For instance, on the issue of marriage equality, the black faith community is varied in its perspectives and convictions. The problem emerges when one faction of our community is portrayed as speaking for all of the community.

The Coalition of African American Pastors does not speak for me.

We need a more fair and balanced representation of who we are. To that end, I and others have formed the Southern ACTION Coalition (SAC) – a diverse cadre of thinkers and ministerial leaders who are deeply committed to a faithful representation of the diversity of theological thought and practice that represent the legacy of the black church.

We seek to provide a fresh and relevant perspective as well as offer substantive suggestions and actions that will advance the cause of social justice in our various faith communities. While we honor and appreciate the work of other ministerial organizations, we aim to offer a new vantage point that seeks to demonstrate a more representative group of ministry leaders.

Going forward the SAC will be faithful in our pledge to be a body of faith leaders who “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” Our goal is to empower, educate and inspire the entire community, including those from different backgrounds of faith (and those who do not identify themselves with any particular faith) through action.

If any black ministerial leader is willing to join us in our efforts please send any e-mail inquiry to JusticeAndFaith@YahooGroups.com.

THE SOUTHERN ACTION COALITION PUSHES “SOULS TO THE POLLS” CAMPAIGN: Local Body of Ministry Leaders Call for Diversity in Political Talk & Initiatives

The Southern ACTION Coalition (SAC) is a diverse cadre of thinkers and ministerial leaders who are deeply committed to a faithful representation of the diversity of theological thought and practice that represent the legacy of the black church. We seek to provide a fresh and relevant perspective as well as offer substantive suggestions and actions that will advance the cause of social justice in our various faith communities. While we honor and appreciate the work of other clergy organizations, we aim to offer a new vantage point that seeks to demonstrate a more representative group of ministry leaders. Moreover, we desire to depict varied viewpoints of the black church while not assuming that our community must arrive at a singular opinion about any matter simply because we share ancestry.

The SAC currently consists of 15 local ministerial leaders and 12 local ministries. Other leaders in the greater Memphis area and beyond are in the process of pledging their support and involvement, collaborating where they feel led. In light of the scope of social ills that plague our communities, we have decided that the first of our many public presentations and stances will focus on the November 2012 election. Voter apathy and suppression have inspired us to begin to develop the “Souls to the Polls Campaign.” This campaign is an extension of efforts that have taken place around the country – therefore, we stand in solidarity with any group who is involved in similar efforts to register, identify and transport all voters.

Furthermore, the SAC, while varied in regards to our individual stances on marriage equality, is collectively committed to ensure that our local communities are informed and inspired to participate in the November election. We believe that the issue of marriage equality should not skew our vote one way or another and definitely ought not to deter us from voting at all. Moreover, we do not assert that one opinion regarding any political issue can sufficiently represent all of the black church given the varied denominations of churches and diverse experiences of each believer.

Going forward the SAC will be faithful in our pledge to be a body of faith leaders who “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” Our goal is to empower, educate & inspire the entire community, including those from different backgrounds of faith (and those who do not identify themselves with any particular faith) through action.

Rev. Earle J. Fisher is pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Whitehaven, and Adjunct Instructor of Contemporary Theology at Rhodes College.