14 DAY TRIAL // The pastor giving the Easter service attended by President Obama and his family yesterday has used the occasion to make a social and political stand.
The Presidential family attended mass at St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House, Washington Times reports.
Episcopal pastor Dr. Luis Leon spoke about the religious right and how we are always encouraged to look back and aim to live the life we had "in the old days."
"I hear all the time the expression 'the good old days.' Well, the good old days, we forget they have been good for some, but they weren’t good for everybody," Leon said.
Leon argues that returning to one's roots is tantamount to ignoring the progress that our society has made in its fight against racism and discrimination in any social group.
Religious freedom, gays' rights and women's rights are just some things that did not exist in the old days.
"It drives me crazy when the captains of the religious right are always calling people back... for Blacks to be back in the back of the bus, for women to be back in the kitchen, for gays to be in the closet and for immigrants to be on their side of the border," he says.
He explains that believing in Christ and his teachings should propel us into looking towards the future while growing and becoming more tolerant. To prove his point he cites a passage from John 20:17.
"What you and I understand, is that when Jesus says, 'You can’t hang onto me,' he says, 'You know it’s not about the past, it’s not about the before, it’s not about the way things were, but about the way things can be in the now'," Leon has explained in his sermon.