Washington Post Sings Praises of Anti-Gay Pastor Harry Jackson

Paean to Prejudice by a News Source that's losing credibility.

The Washington Post is still fawning over homophobes.  In August the newspaper ran a glowing homage to Brian Brown, the so-called "friendly face" of the anti-gay marriage movement.  Now it's giving the velvet glove treatment to Bishop Harry Jackson of the Pentecostal Hate Hope Christian Church, who is leading the campaign against same-sex marriage in D.C. 

Queerty walks the dog:  It's not that there's a problem with profiling America's hate leaders; that's fine, and worthy journalism.  We like that the Post is telling us about how Jackson, a black man, battled racism in the 60s, attending the white schools in the white neighborhoods — particularly because it sheds light on the same guy who denounces bigotry in race, but applauds it in sexuality.  But when it comes to identifying Jackson for what he is — a bigot — the newspaper falls short.  If this man were lashing out against whites, he would be branded a racist.  But because his brand of hatred is anti-gay, he gets the "smiling" treatment.  (It puzzles me why mainstream media is so conscientious when covering the basic human rights of every other minority, and yet religious conservatives are always given Right Of Way in matters of LGBT equality.)

The puff piece is written by Wil Haygood - but it may as well have been penned by Jackson himself for all the balance it provides.  And what do we learn about the homobigot minister?  We learn that "setbacks only seem to embolden him" and that "his voice is smooth as molasses" (an analogy that would embarrass most first-year journalism students).  We learn that "his neck is thick, nearly stretching the clerical collar" and that "crowds gather around him like geese."  (Well, that part is true.  His followers do tend to honk and squawk like geese.)  Jackson's plans to deny equal rights for LGBT citizens is couched in terms that make intolerance seem almost like a virtue, with zero attention paid to families whose lives would be harmed by the bishop's agenda.  The WaPo columnist ignores little things like that. 

Wil Haygood writes in Seeking to Put Asunder:  As he preached and worked, he'd look at black family life and get sullen about the grim statistics of divorce and crime.  In his mind, too, there was a convergence of black family life and the clashing of alternative lifestyles.  He saw abortion rates and gay marriages as undermining traditional family values.  He found the pulpit, just as a cause found him.  ... Gay marriage is wrong, he says.  "I don't know of anybody black who says, 'I hate gay people.' We're more accepting generally..."

Peter Montgomery strikes back on People For the American Way:  It’s awfully hard to square Jackson’s assertions that he’s not anti-gay with his repeated accusations that gays are Satan-inspired enemies of religious freedom who have “hijacked” the civil rights movement and are out to shut down the church in America...  Shortly before the 2004 election, Jackson outlined a strategy for defeating the “gay agenda,” writing, “Gays have been at the helm of a fourfold strategy for years, but the wisdom behind their spiritual, cultural, political, and generational tactics is clearly Satanic.”

Bishop Jackson has a long history of hateful anti-gay rhetoric such as this, none of which is mentioned by Haygood.   

"I just feel like I'm on a mission," the good minister states in the article. "It's not a mission of hate.  It's a mission to protect godly boundaries." 

Those same "godly boundaries" once excluded African-Americans like Harry Jackson from participating in the American Dream.  Haygood doesn't mention that, either.  Jackson's persona is a steaming bucket of horseshit with a few cherries sprinkled on top.  Haygood has carefully extracted the fruit, and presented it as serious journalism.  He might want to check under his fingernails before he leaves the office.

Comments

[Carol]

"yet religious conservatives are always given Right Of Way in matters of LGBT equality"

You hit the nail on that one. It's like when MSM is profiling one of these bigots they suddenly get collective amnesia.

[Aggie, Fair Haven, Vermont]

We badly need to re-separate church and state in this country. Civil rights is a civil issue, and what somebody's moldy old tome o' faery tales says should or shouldn't happen bears no relevance. And, don't gimme that old "I don't want my taxes going to..." chestnut; in a pluralistic democracy, we all end up paying for stuff we may not personally want, whether that's bombers, or abortions. Get over it.