James White, a pastor of a United
Church of Christ (UCC) in Oklahoma, has resigned from the church over
his opposition to gay marriage.
Gay and lesbian couples are allowed to
marry in the UCC.
Appearing on the David Pakman Show,
White explained the reasons behind his opposition.
“The more personal study I did on my
own, the more I realized that what I had been taught in seminary and
what I had learned through the denomination wasn't accurate,” White
said.
“I define marriage as a man and a
woman. That comes from the Bible. What I have discovered over
dealing with people in the denomination is that the more that they
value experience over Scripture, the more liberal they are. … I
don't think this is being in salvation.”
White suggested that he fears marriage
equality would lead to plural marriages, saying that many gay people
he's spoken with don't condemn such unions.
He added that two people of the same
gender would think similarly – unlike his own marriage, in which
his wife “stretched” him.
“During the last 13 plus years my
wife has challenged me, stretched me … When I first got married, I
was very selfish and very self centered, and I did not even realize
how much so. During the time we've been married, I've learned how to
care for others.”
Pakman was quick to point out the flaws
in White's arguments.
“You're going down an incredibly
misogynistic path, which is suggesting that only women can teach men
how to care for others. You're also using very anecdotal evidence,”
Pakman said. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)