Southern Baptists Target Gays

(Phoenix, Arizona) American's largest denomination says it will begin a major campaign to "convert" gays and lesbians to heterosexuality.

Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention at the faith's annual meeting in Phoenix urged their more than 42,000 churches nationwide to reach out to gays and "help them turn their lives around".

"Homosexuals can find freedom from this sinful, destructive lifestyle," said Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptists' public policy arm. "They can be redeemed. They can be liberated."

The project urges churches to refrain from their traditional rejection of gay members to welcome them in an effort to "convert their lifestyle".

Delegates to the convention heard testimony from a Southern Baptist pastor from Texas who said he realized that his strident criticism of homosexuals had " prevented them from coming to him for help."

There are several Christian groups in the United States that try to convince gays that they should become heterosexual but most are small fringe congregations not affiliated with major faiths.

But David Smith, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy group in Washington, said the ministries generally are attached to smaller and in some cases "obscure" churches that do not have the influence of the Southern Baptists. The convention is the biggest Protestant denomination in the country, with 16 million members.

"If the Southern Baptist Convention embraces such an outreach, it would be the largest denomination to do so," said David Smith a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign in Washington.

"They're promoting 'love the sinner, hate the sin,' but they're really saying that gay people are bad and that gives license to violence."

The Southern Baptists, like other fundamentalist Christians, have been speaking out against homosexuality for years, including boycotting the Walt Disney Co., partly because gay groups hold their "Gay Days" festivities at Disney's amusement parks.

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