Pastor Nussbaum Ashamed of Anti-Gay SD Family Policy Council

Curtis Price has provided excellent blog coverage of the anti-gay bullying the Rapid City School Board faced from gubernatorial candidate Gordon Howie and other religious fundamentalists for restoring a policy specifically addressing discrimination against homosexual students.

Price reminds us that we must not equate Christianity with prejudice. He cites the example set by Pastor Martin Nussbaum:

The other day at the school board meeting I met the wonderful Pastor Martin Nussbaum of Rapid City, who told the assembled at the Jan 7 Rapid City School Board meeting that he felt "ashamed" when he received an invitation from the South Dakota Family Policy Council urging him to push the school board to NOT protect LGBT people.

He's been a long time voice in support of Christians that don't agree with Focus On The Family's contention that The Gay™ is a threat to their faith!

Anyway, the news is that Martin is interested in help start a LGBT-friendly church -- they may meet at the BHCFE, it's still in the drawing-board stages. But it's a good thing since the Met Church in Rapid City folded more than five years ago now, and this was a big loss [Curtis Price, "A New LGBT Ministry in Rapid City?" Robbinsdale Radical, 2010.01.23].

Long time voice... indeed! Martin graduated a year ahead of me from Madison HS. He was a fellow debater and thespian. Even in high school, he was an outspoken advocate of strong and tolerant Christianity. I still remember his letter to the editor telling off the local fundagelicals who were busy striking poses over Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ. The West Twin Theater had advertised with a whiff of self-righteousness that it would not be showing Scorcese's film. Martin scolded his fellow believers, noting that his God was strong enough to withstand any piece of celluloid. Martin's example back then helped me move away from my juvenile rejection of religion to a recognition that believers can be intelligent and compassionate allies in the fight for justice (not to mention good company at breakfast).

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An intriguing Google twist: Do not confuse Pastor Martin Nussbaum with L. Martin Nussbaum, who was the lawyer for New Life Church in Colorado Springs when Ted Haggard revealed his own tolerance for homosexuality.