. . . It takes quite a bit of gumption to express an open desire to discriminate against a group of people on solely religious grounds and then take umbrage for being rebuked. Somehow, opponents of equality developed the idea that their religious beliefs could dictate what the law is for everybody. Fortunately, that is not true. And fortunately for them, nobody is forcing any church to change its beliefs or act out of accordance with them. Whether or not willfully discriminating amounts to bigotry can only be decided by the consciences of those who do.
– Zack Ford
Excerpted from "Five (Poor) Arguments Against Gay Marriage"
ThinkProgress.org
June 23, 2011)
Excerpted from "Five (Poor) Arguments Against Gay Marriage"
ThinkProgress.org
June 23, 2011)
Related Off-site Links:
Locally and Nationally, Catholic Bishops Ramp Up "Language" War on Same-Sex Marriage – Andy Birkey (Minnesota Independent, June 22, 2011).
Is the Catholic Hierarchy Overstepping Its Bounds in Marriage Equality Fight? – Alvin McEwen (Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, June 9, 2011).
New York Marriage Bill Hits Snags on Religion Questions – Associated Press via 365Gay.com (June 17, 2011).
Archbishop Calls Gay Marriage Bill an "Ominous Threat" – Michael Paulson (New York Times, June 17, 2011).
Anti-Marriage Advocates Have No Case – John Corvino (365Gay.com, June 17, 2011).
Amendment Campaign Contrary to Church Moral Teaching – Paula Ruddy (The Progressive Catholic Voice, March 3, 2011).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Catholic Author Richard Rodriguez on Why Churches Fear Gay Marriage
Mary Hunt Responds to Archbishop Dolan's "Truth Claims That Hold No Water"
Marriage Equality: Simple Answers to NOM's Complicated Lies
Joseph O'Leary Responds to Carson Holloway's Arguments Against Gay Marriage
Responding to Bishop Tobin's Remarks on Gay Marriage
Rebuking a Common Lie
Michael--I agree with the statement.
ReplyDeleteWhere things have gotten really grey is when people decided that religious marriage ceremonies and legal marriage ceremonies are one and the same. I believe that the US needs to break the two apart, like some countries where you have to get a "civil" ceremony in front of a judge or other authority, then you can have whatever religious ceremony you want.
As a single person I also run into some of the problems that many homosexual couples do, as far as hospital visitations, wills, trusts, etc. Writing up the documents to have someone other than a blood relative make decisions for you, or to permet friends to visit you in the hospital is lengthy, cumbersome, and expensive. For examply--in Utah I could not "cut out" any of my blood relatives from my trust, I HAD to leave them something of minimal value so that my trust could not be challenged in court. And since my cats and horse are considered "property", I really had to jump through alot of hoops to ensure that they would be financially supported if/when something happens to me....legally married folks don't have that problem.
Sara