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Preacher Feature

Monday, January 01, 2007 07:35 PM

Jack E Jett, the host of Q TV's QueerEdge show who also has his own wacky channel on WOW TV, interviewed maverick preacher Jay Bakker, the subject of WOW's One Punk, Under God Sundance series (Wednesdays at 9PM) for the website Jews on First. Here's an excerpt:

How did you meet the World of Wonder guys?

They interviewed me for The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

Do you think, from what you have seen that the show is a fair assessment of your life at this moment?
Yes.

In my mind, all evangelicals do is sit around and figure out ways to harass gays. It is like they think that by diminishing us, they are going to get a better crib in heaven. I wish they would just get the fuck out of our face. What is up with that?
There are probably a lot of Christian evangelicals who would probably agree with me and are supportive of the gay community. But unfortunately it's the mean ones who yell the loudest.

My hope is that this series will bring light to the fact that one can have an evangelical belief system that is not so homo obsessed. What was it that changed your views on homosexuality, or have you just always been a cool, hip dude?
For most of my life I wasn't sure. But I've had a lot of gay and lesbian friends over the years and my mom was always supportive of the gay community. Having gay friends made me want to look into it deeper and my conclusion is that it's not a sin. But the major catalyst was when I was invited to speak at Open Door Church, a gay affirming church with a gay pastor. My heart went out to these Christians who felt disenfranchised by the church. That's when I decided I couldn't be silent and needed to take a stand on the issue.