Leader of Obama's Former Church Supports Marriage Equality

The Reverend Otis Moss III of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ recently defended President Obama's support for marriage equality.

"The question I believe we should pose to our congregations is, 'Should all Americans have the same civil rights?'" Moss asked his church members this weekend. "There is difference between rights and rites. We should never misconstrue rights designed to protect diverse individuals in a pluralistic society versus religious rites designed by faith communities to communicate a theological or doctrinal perspective."

Moss replaced the controversial Jeremiah Wright as senior pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ. His recent words came as a sharp rebuke to other African-American pastors who expressed outrage at Obama's marriage equality stance.

"For activists, politicians, and now the highest office in the nation to link sexual behavior God calls sin to the righteous cause Martin Luther King gave his life for is abominable in and of itself," the Tennessee-based Coalition of African-American Pastors said in a statement. "There is no civil right to do what God calls wrong."

Read more here and watch Reverend Moss's message below: