The Threat of Stoning a Black Gay Man in Oregon! Time to Rise Up!

 As reported by Rachel Shatto in the Advocate.com website on Aug. 5, 2021 (that is 2021), Eric Osterberg, who is assistant to the city manager of Klamath Falls and staff-lead for the city's equity task force, was about to deliver a report on equity in the city before the city council when a man stood up with a stone the size of his hand and said to Eric: "Oh, so you think we are all racists? You think you are the second coming of Christ?" The man then accused Eric of spreading HIV and AIDS, saying he was blasphemous for being a Black gay man. The man continued: "You are a sinner and you need to be stoned. That is why I brought this stone." 

The man with the stone was simply escorted out of the building by Klamath Falls police chief Robert Dentinger and simply released and sent home rather than being arrested, though Dentinger said he may have to talk with the man with the stone more in the future.

You think?

"The incident left Osterberg shaken. 'I felt like I didn't do my presentation tonight justice because I was so frazzled and put on edge by what had happened right before,' he said. 'I think this proves that there is such a violent reaction to the idea that there is even racism in the community. That people are being threatened by violence in order to try and silence them. And i think that is pretty damning of the community.'"

Klamath Falls mayor Carol Westfall "shared Osterberg's feeling on the incident... I think it's just unfortunate but we definitely need to educate people and keep moving forward."

Osterberg is leaving Klamath Falls soon to take over the City Manager position in Ferguson, MO.

To this day, there has been no arrest of the man, even though people in the Council chamber all heard the man threaten Osterberg. 

Stoning.

In Oregon.

Threat of stoning a Black gay man.

In 2021.

Christian religious education, of which I was a professor of at one point in my life, has failed us again.

Stoning as a method of execution finds its roots in ancient Greece and in some Jewish (Torah and other parts of the Hebrew Bible) and New Testament texts, and was used to punish those accused of adultery, prostitution, murder, and blasphemy. Being Black and gay fits none of these categories. 

One of the first Christian martyrs was St. Stephen, who was stoned to death while Saul (now Paul) held the cloaks of those who stoned him (Acts 7).

But this is 2021. This is a civil/civic context, not a religious context (as if this would be allowed in any religious context in the US without an arrest or charges).

I've looked for response by clergy in the Klamath Falls area. I know there are Methodists and Presbyterians and other denominations in the Klamath Falls area. But I'm not finding any response or action or statements by the religious people in that area. 

Silence=agreement; approval. 

So, I am speaking out. This man who threatened Eric Osterberg should be arrested and face charges and brought to justice for his threatening actions. 

His church (assuming he goes to church) should also bring him forward and discipline him. 

Let's make some noise about this, Oregonians! Christians! LGBTQIA+ community! Black Lives Matter protesters! 

Or are we OK with threats of stoning Black gay men in this city, state, and country?

For more on this story go to: https://www.advocate.com/news/2021/8/05/gay-city-official-threatened-stoning-oregon

https://www.opb.org/article/2021/08/04/klamath-falls-city-council-create-equity-task-force/