Just the other day we noted that Dr. George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, asked that his name be removed from Sojourners’ “Covenant for Civility” which was created in order to try and establish a more civil discourse on controversial issues of the day among “Christian pastors and leaders with diverse theological and political beliefs.”
It seems that Wood, under pressure from freelance writer and conservative Christian blogger John Lanagan, had his name removed rather than pledge to be civil with perceived heretics who don’t share his views on issues like abortion and gay marriage.
And now it looks like Lanagan has gotten Bishop Harry Jackson to withdraw his name from the Covenant as well:
In the second prominent defection from the Jim Wallis engineered Covenant for Civility, Bishop Harry Jackson has asked for his name to be stricken from the document.
Jackson now joins Assemblies of God General Superintendent George O. Wood in taking this stand. “I don’t want to be in covenant with those who support homosexual marriage,” said Jackson.
Like AOG General Superintendent George O. Wood, Jackson was introduced to the document by the National Association of Evangelicals, and never told about the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual signers.
The document, while presented as a call to civility, actually presents those who sign as members of the Body of Christ.
Jackson said that he would be calling Dr. Wood to let the Assemblies of God leader know that he, too, was pulling out.
The entire point of the covenant is not that those who sign agree on contentious issues, but rather that they merely pledge to be civil and respectful when disagreeing on those issues.
But apparently Jackson is simply unwilling to even try to be civil with those who support marriage equality.
Good to know.
