Mayor Street's decision to officiate at a same-sex commitment ceremony this Saturday has not gone over well with the American Family Association of Pennsylvania. In a press release issued this morning, the conservative organization included a summary of the official position of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, to which Street belongs, on homosexuality.
NEWS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 20, 2007
CONTACT: Diane Gramley 1.1814.437.5355 or 1.814.271.9078
No, Mayor Street, Same-Sex Marriage is Not Legal In Pennsylvania(Philadelphia) – Outgoing Mayor John Street’s decision to perform a same-sex commitment ceremony on Saturday at City Hall offers a further explanation in the course Philadelphia has taken in the past several years. Today the American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a statewide group which supports Pennsylvania’s one man, one woman marriage law and the effort to pass a Marriage Protection Amendment to the PA Constitution, faxed the mayor a letter of concern outlining the wrong messages that will be sent by his involvement in Saturday’s activities.
“Mayor Street has drifted off course during his political career. Once a strong advocate for traditional values, he can no longer be trusted to uphold those values that are supposedly part of his belief system,” said Diane Gramley, President of the AFA of PA.
Mayor Street is a practicing Seventh Day Adventist. Their beliefs include, “Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus Christ to be both monogamous and heterosexual, a lifelong union of loving companionship between a man and a woman. . . . . To this biblical view of marriage the Seventh-day Adventist Church adheres without reservation, believing that any lowering of this high view is to that extent a lowering of the heavenly ideal.”
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Some of the wrong messages outlined in the fax to Mayor Street include:
Marriage in the eyes of the children of Philadelphia and beyond will be redefined on that day (Saturday). In their eyes marriage will no longer be just between a man and a woman.
Homosexual activists will be given a green light to challenge Pennsylvania’s Defense of Marriage Act. This is a political statement to them.
What Scripture says and a church’s beliefs are don’t matter.
Traditional marriage is not worth defending.
Under Mayor Street’s watch the City of Philadelphia has become even more ‘gay-friendly.’
Defended Philadelphia’s domestic partner registry
Formed a mayor’s commission on sexual minorities
After election to his second term, held a Gay and Lesbian Inaugural Ball to raise funds for a homosexual center.
Supported the ‘Get Your History Straight and Your Night Life Gay’ tourism campaign
Street spoke at the unveiling of a gay historical marker across from Independence Hall.
An official acting on Mayor Street's behalf presented a proclamation to ‘Team Philadelphia,’ a group of homosexual athletes competing in the 2006 ‘Gay Games’ in Chicago.
Mayor Street signed a smoking ban, but ignored the greater threat to his City – the promotion of the homosexual lifestyle and all the health risks involved – including HIV/AIDS which is much more dangerous than smoking.
But Mayor Street’s legacy will be the City reneging on a 1928 agreement with the Boy Scouts to permit them ‘in perpetuity’ to use a half acre piece of property in downtown Philadelphia. Because of the Scout’s ban on homosexual leaders, the Scouts must now pay $200,000 annual rent or by May 31st vacate the headquarters they built in 1929.
“The Mayor has officiated over less than ten marriages during his two terms as mayor. Even though he is insisting the ceremony is not marriage, homosexual activists are viewing it as a political statement and a giant step forward in their quest for so-called ‘marriage equality.’ Their ultimate goal is the legalization of same-sex marriage and Mayor Street’s decision helped in that effort,” Gramley commented further.
Comments (5)
Well done Mayor Street. The American family Association is still refusing to recognize that their view of what constitutes a family in this country has evolved. They do not represent what more and more families have actually become. Anything that can be legally, ethically and morally done to counter their narrow and exclusive worldview is to be commended.
Posted by Corbin Abernathy | November 20, 2007 12:08 PM
Posted on November 20, 2007 12:08
Hmm.... AFA of PA...
Does anybody really give a rat's ass what some hillbillies from the sticks think; especially ones who never step foot in the city?
After all, the Greek meaning of the city's name itself leads one to pause...
Posted by East on Chestnut | November 20, 2007 3:05 PM
Posted on November 20, 2007 15:05
Are you sure he is a Seventh-day Adventist?
Posted by baldeagle | November 21, 2007 1:12 AM
Posted on November 21, 2007 01:12
Mayor Street has lost his mind. The true members of the SDA Church do not support him. In fact I will be putting pressure on the general conference, to issue a statement condeming Street and to drop him as a member. There are people who call themselfs sda whom claim to be a part of our body. They have been beaten back at every turn. So expect to hear from those people, but trust me they have no merit. This street guy has given all of us a black eye. However, check all of the SDA media outlets; 3abn, The Hope Channel, Safe Tv, Loma Linda University, 3abn radio, lifetalk radio, adventist world radio, the various college campas radio stations, (ck sda colleges & universites) sda magazines, books, writers, ministries,ministers,& church pond, a sda media source for semons and church services. Please feel free to publish my comments.
Posted by Roosevelt Rayford | November 30, 2007 2:21 PM
Posted on November 30, 2007 14:21
I am sorry for Mayor Street. I am sorry that he has fallen from his conservative platform to the depths of delusional politics. He is not a true SDA. His recent actions belie his profession. Individuals, families, societies, and nations will one day have to answer for their misguided actions that lead others astray. He is no exception.
Politics may change like the weather but God does not. The issue of marriage can only be defined by the One who created us- God. Man, through politics, may seek to reinterpret marriage but it is impossible to change anything that God designed and declared very good. If man can pull the sun out of the sky, then he can redefine marriage. The same God who created the sun, created marriage when he made us; therefore it cannot really be redefined. Those who try are only deluding themselves.
Real progress is made when we change things for the better. In many situations, progress is made by changing things to allow for personal or majority viewpoints, but if those viewpoints are contrary to the word of God then it is not progression, it is regression and will eventually only bring lawlessness and ruin to our 'progressive' society. True progress is only made when the things that we change are in harmony with the principles and truths in the Bible.
Families are being destroyed by the promiscuity and permissiveness of our "progressive" society. There are homes without fathers, homes without mothers, and homes without parents at all. In many cases these parents are absent because our society has "evolved" to the point where it is accepted to have sex outside of marriage and with any sex you choose. Families are being broken up and children are growing up emotionally damaged by the mess. Why should we lower the standard to represent what families have become? We should be raising the standard so that our society will regain what it has lost.
By the way, “Philadelphia” means the city of brotherly love. But for those who may be confused about the issue, brotherly love does not mean that two brothers should make love. This is simply not biblical and it will eventually have to be paid for by the disintegration of the integrity of our society and nation.
Posted by Celestial Starlight | December 6, 2007 2:06 AM
Posted on December 6, 2007 02:06