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Southern Baptists rebuked President Clinton for honoring homosexuals.

Delegates at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Atlanta nearly unanimously passed the resolution asking him to rescind his June 11 proclamation declaring June National Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. Clintons declaration marked the 30th anniversary of New York Citys "Stonewall Uprising," considered the birth of the U.S. homosexual rights movement, Baptist Press reported. ...The declaration is Clintons "most public endorsement" of policies contrary to the Word of God, the resolution said. It also castigated him for forcing millions of Americans to choose between "denying a presidential proclamation or rejecting their own deeply held religious convictions." The resolution affirmed Baptists love for Clinton and "for people enslaved in sins of all types, including homosexual sins," but said that love "compels us to rebuke him."

"Forgiveness of and freedom from homosexuality" is found in Jesus, the resolution said. It denounced violence against homosexuals and expressed "abhorrence of the teaching that God hates any person on account of an immoral lifestyle."

The resolution also called on Clinton to rescind his appointment of James Hormel, recently appointed as ambassador to Luxembourg. The meat company heir is openly gay and a frequent supporter of homosexual causes.

ALSO ...

The Department of Justice attacks religion under the guise of stopping violence, several members of the House of Representatives claim. In an amendment to a juvenile justice bill under debate this week, Rep. Mark Souder, (R-Ind.), proposed legislation to prevent federal agency from funding any material that "undermines or denigrates" any religious beliefs. "Its not the business of government to take a value stand, criticizing religion."

At issue are Justice Department pamphlets designed to promote ethnic and cultural tolerance. The brochures, some designed for classroom use, imply that religion is to blame for racism and violence against homosexuals, critics claim. Rather than focusing on students beliefs, materials should aim to discourage physical or verbal harassment, the congressmen say.

The amendment has garnered the support of religious conservatives. Government attempts "to peddle this anti-Christian propaganda as legitimate education are contemptible," said Andrea Shelton, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition (see link #5 below). Such groups have long said that the Justice Department has an anti-religious bias, an allegation it denies, The Washington Times reported.

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