Lavender (magazine) 'outs' Lutheran pastor -- by crashing confidential support group

[Newsjock]

Source: MinnPost

Pastor Tom Brock isn’t the first clergyman to be outed as gay after condemning gay behavior. But Brock may be the first outed by a reporter who faked his way into a confidential 12-step program.

In a cover story published Friday that’s rocketing through the national gay press, Minneapolis-based Lavender magazine exposed the Minneapolis-based pastor’s struggles and desires as recounted to a support group for gay men “struggling with chastity.”

... Brock — who appears six days a week on Christian radio station KKMS-AM — is a major “get” for the gay publication. Last year, Brock notoriously linked a tornado that struck the Minneapolis Convention Center and a nearby church to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)’s decision to accept homosexual relationships and ordain gay ministers in monogamous relationships. As the gay-oriented website Queertly put it, “Lutheran Pastor Tom Brock Blamed ELCA's Tornado on Homosexuality. Which, Uh, He Suffers From.”

... A blogger for the National Gay & Lesbian Journalists Association called the publication’s ethics “suspect.” Karl Reichert, a local publicist and former journalist, fears a far more widespread chilling effect on fellow gays who go to 12-step programs for chemical and other dependencies.


Read more: http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2010/06/22/19134/lavender_outs_lutheran_pastor_--_by_crashing_confidential_support_group

[NoNothing]

1. What goes around comes around

I hope they keep that in mind.

[roguevalley]

8. ethics include pursuing the truth. if this guy had any, he would shut

his big yap. live by the sword, die by the sword.

[SunnySong]

2. Can I declare both sides major league assholes and wash my hands of them.

Couldn't happen to a slimier person but jeez Lavender your ethics are a bout as rock bottom as they come. Honestly a pox on both their houses.

[Tempest]

3. The moral of the story

Don't be a closet hypocrite and you won't get outed.

If you're gay and against gay rights, at least be honest about it.

[Alcibiades]

4. Folks who think being gay calls for a 12-step program

ought to be outed.

[TheDebbieDee]

5. +1!

[Tempest]

6. +2!

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Yep

And all of the hypocrites, of course.

[struggle4progress]

7. I wonder why Brock left the ELCA. he sounds like a televangelist, with his radio and TV and "Great

Commission" emphasis:

... While he was a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America he was on the board of the Great Commission Network working for Biblical renewal in that denomination. Pastor Brock and Hope Lutheran Church left the ELCA in 2001 and joined the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations ... http://www.hopelutheran-aflc.com/index.php?id=abouthope_staff

... The weekday radio messages are taken from the sermons of Hope Church ... See and hear Pastor Tom Brock on TV every Sunday night ... http://www.hopelutheran-aflc.com/index.php?id=pastorsstudy

[LiberalLoner]

9. ELCA is pretty liberal and has come out recently in support of ordaining openly gay pastors, and

I'm guessing he got out because he's homophobic, hates himself, and can't handle the liberal direction the ELCA has taken. I'm ELCA and I am very happy and grateful the church no longer discriminates against gays.

[struggle4progress]

10. I'm ELCA myself. But the ELCA position on homosexuality isn't

so much a shining beacon of tolerance, as a careful political compromise, and it was obtained only recently. Brock left the ELCA in 2001, which rather predates the current compromise

[LiberalLoner]

11. Oh. :( Well that sucks. Yeah, I didn't know he resigned way back then. n/t

[davidinalameda]

13. the report's behavior is disgusting

he goes in and violates what should be considered a safe space for these people

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. "safe place"?

Do you mean the place where gay men are shamed in to denying how they were born?

Sorry. No safe harbor for hurtful hypocrites engaging in sham "12 step programs"

[davidinalameda]

16. I mean safe place

I am not about to judge these people

as a gay man, I've had plenty of people judge me

if these people have issues with their sexuality and can't accept who they are, then yes, this program should be a safe place for them

the "journalist" invaded this group for the sole purpose of embarrassing and outing these people

do you honestly think that publishing this story helped anyone?

[McCamy Taylor]

14. Actually, if the pastor in question does not want to be gay, isn't that consistent with his overall

message? So, how is it news?

News would be the same pastor keeping a boyfriend. The article is both tacky and useless. It makes no political point at all, just seems to be using the story for its tabloid effect.

[The Straight Story]

17. So if someone preaches against drinking and is in AA, should they be outed? (nt)

[Hassin Bin Sober]

18. Alcoholism is a treatable and a disease. Being gay is neither.

[The Straight Story]

19. I know that, but the principle is the same

Someone thinks X is an issue, they fight against it, join a group of like minded folks where you value being anonymous, and then someone else sees it different and comes into the group and betrays your confidentiality.

If you are all for outing people and their issues when they felt they were in an environment that they felt comfortable in just go ahead and say 'I don't think your privacy is worth jack when I don't like what you do, and I don't think others - from employers to reporters should respect it'

My best friend is gay and really does not want the people he knows to know. Not because he is ashamed of it, but because it is none of their business.

If you feel all good about forcing people 'out of the closest' then so be it. But it is no one else's business. Period. I respect privacy, some don't.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

20. A public person who blames "teh Gays" for a tornado is deserving of zero respect OR privacy.

Not to mention the sham in which he was partaking has been condemned by every reasonable mental health professional on the planet. He wasn't in a gay support group - he was in a "pray the gay away group"

If outing this closet case helps one kid sitting in the pews of his church listening to the asshole tell him he is evil and destined to burn in hell, I'm all for it.

I would hope, if your best friend takes a high-profile public position and proceeds to bash gays, you speak up on it.