Southwest Alabama: Baptist rival attacks Congressman's Episcopal faith, says too tolerant on gay
By John Sharp | jsharp@al.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on January 24, 2016 at 5:31 AM, updated January 25, 2016 at 5:11 AM
The Episcopal Church's acceptance of same-sex marriage has surfaced as a campaign issue in South Alabama where conservative candidate Dean Young is accusing U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne for being too lenient on the issue.
Young, an Orange Beach developer who is challenging the incumbent congressman during the March 1 Republican primary, is linking Byrne's affiliation with the Episcopal Church to the issue.
"If that's what his church believes, how much do you figure how much he fights (to oppose gay marriage)," Young, 51, said. "No wonder Bradley isn't fighting to keep marriage between one man and one woman."
Byrne, 60, says he has an opposite view of his church's position.
"Congressman Byrne disagrees with the Episcopal Church on this issue and has made that known within his church for years," his spokesman, Seth Morrow, said.
The debate comes after the Anglican Communion, the world's largest Protestant denomination, suspended the U.S. Episcopal Church last week for its open stance on same-sex marriage. The suspension came down last week and was aimed at punishing a denomination that has accepted lesbian, gay and transgender clergy for years.
The decision has been hailed as a victory for conservative Anglicans, especially those in Africa, who pressed for discipline against the U.S. church.
'Personal attacks'
But Young is drawing comparisons between Byrne and President Barack Obama. Young specifically compared Byrne's church membership to Obama's affiliation with a Chicago church once headed up by a fiery pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Wright's controversial statements in 2008 prompted political backlash against the then-presidential candidate.
"Everyone was mad at Obama and, rightfully so, as he sat there in a church (led by) Jeremiah Wright and (Obama) says he doesn't believe what Wright says," said Young. "The (Episcopal) church accepts homosexual marriage and I'm not saying that's why he's not being more active ... (but) Bradley knows this is a wrong decision and there are all kinds of positions to be pursuing and he's pursuing nothing."
Byrne, a member of an Episcopal Church in his hometown of Fairhope, said through his spokesman that Young's comments represent a new low for the challenger.
Earlier this month, Morrow said Young had also stooped to a low in criticizing the congressman's position on gun control after publicly talking about a personal situation involving Byrne's grandfather who was shot and killed in the 1920s by a man who had been in and out of a mental asylum.
Young said Byrne and other establishment Republicans did little to prevent Obama's executive actions on gun policy.
"The people of Southwest Alabama are tired of Mr. Young's desperate personal attacks," his spokesman Seth Morrow said. "Congressman Byrne is going to stay focused on fighting for Southwest Alabama instead of engaging in these outrageous attacks."
For Young, his strong opposition against same-sex marriage is nothing new. He vocally opposed the issue in 2013, when facing Byrne in a contentious runoff for Alabama's 1st congressional seat. Byrne won that election.
"I'm against homosexuals pretending like they're married," said Young, who is a close ally to Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore – one of the nation's most outspoken critics of same-sex marriage.
Young is Southern Baptist.
"The U.S. Episcopal Church was kicked out of the Anglican Church," said Young. "We have a congressman who proudly says he belongs to that denomination and believes what he believes and gives lip service on homosexual marriage and does nothing."
The sanctuary at All Saints Episcopal Church in Mobile, Ala., pictured Monday, June 8, 2015, dates back to 1915. (file photo)
Young also attacked Byrne for receiving a $500 contribution during the 2013 runoff election from Fred Granade, the husband to Judge Callie V. Granade, who became a political lightning rod after her decision on year ago to strike down Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage.
"She lives in his district and she is completely out of bounds on what she is doing," Young said. "She should be removed from office."
Said Morrow: "Mr. Young is doing everything he can to try and distort Congressman Byrne's position, but the fact remains that the Congressman is firmly opposed to same-sex marriage. No attack from Mr. Young will change that."
'Doctrinal shifts'
Byrne's record shows he takes an opposite stance to the U.S. Episcopal Church when it comes to same-sex marriage.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriages in June, Byrne said he believes marriage should be "defined as a union between one man and one woman" and that the court's ruling threatened what he believes is an exclusive state matter.
Also, Byrne co-sponsored the First Amendment Defense Act, which prohibits the federal government taking discriminatory action against a person who acts in accordance with the belief that marriage should be between one man and one woman. The proposal, which Byrne signed on as a co-sponsor on June 24, has since been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.
William Stewart, a professor emeritus of political sciences at the University of Alabama, said he doubts Young's appeal linking the church with same-sex marriage and tying Byrne to the issue will be met with much success politically.
"There is not a lot one individual member can do when his or her church takes a stand on an issue opposite to that which the member takes," Stewart said. "We have a lot of Alabama politicians who are United Methodists who oppose some of its doctrinal shifts."
He added, "I think it is even less likely that Young's approach will be successful in South Alabama where you have a lot of Roman Catholics who were shunned politically for many years."
'Conservative Episcopalians'
But Young might curry favor among evangelical conservatives who support the Anglican Communion's stance against the Episcopal Church, according to Theodore Louis Trost, a professor of religious studies at the University of Alabama.
"I could see this silencing of the Anglican Episcopalian churches in the U.S. playing into the kind of critique of same-sex marriage surrounding issues Judge Roy Moore considers significant," Trost said. "The response is it will disturb people who are in favor of same-sex unions and see the Anglican church as one of the leaders of liberal Christianity in regard to that issue. But it will also be supported by Anglicans who see their connection through the larger communion being affirmed on their position of same-sex marriage in being in harmony of the commitment of other Anglicans in other parts of the world.
The Anglican Communion, which consists of 85 million members worldwide, is the third largest Christian communion in the world after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Members consider themselves to be part of One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and to be both Catholic and Protestant.
The Communion prides itself in its wide spectrum of diverse beliefs from evangelical to liberal and Catholic.
In Alabama, despite the Episcopalian's more liberal views, the church still has an entrenched conservative membership, according to Rich Ledet, assistant professor of political science at Troy University.
The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, which serves the entire state excluding the extreme southern regions that include Mobile, has 92 parishes and about 30,000 members. Of those, approximately a dozen recognize same-sex marriage, according to Bishop Kee Sloan.
The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast includes the South Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. It includes about 19,000 members and is considered more conservative than the national Episcopal Church.
"Here in the U.S., Episcopalian laity and leadership has exhibited a general tendency to be more liberal on social-moral issues, and members of the LGBT community have been openly accepted since at least the 1970s," Ledet said. "It is not as though there are no conservative views in the congregation, but one might guess ,given Alabama's conservative inclinations, that you might find more than a few social conservative Episcopalians here."
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