. . . If you vote “no” [today] and the marriage amendment fails, nothing will change. You are not voting to legalize same-sex marriage. Gay and lesbian families still will suffer profound injustices, which is why a “yes” vote seems so extraordinarily cruel and un-Christian. All it will accomplish is to make the marginalized of our society feel even more ostracized. Some claim God wants “yes” votes on this measure. Yet no person can truly know the will of the Creator, other than we are called upon to love one another.
If you are struggling with how to vote, please just leave the box blank. Even if you believe God wrote the Bible, you must know God did not write this referendum. The only impact a “yes” vote will have is to make families like mine feel even more injustice, grief and pain.
– Emily Johnson
"‘Yes’ Vote on Marriage Amendment is Just Cruel"
Duluth News Tribune
October 30, 2012
"‘Yes’ Vote on Marriage Amendment is Just Cruel"
Duluth News Tribune
October 30, 2012
Related Off-site Links:
Catholic Q&A on the Minnesota 'Marriage Amendment' – Michael Bayly and Florence Steichen (Sensus Fidelium, August 7, 2012).
Why Catholics Can Vote 'No' – Fr. Bob Pierson, OSB (Sensus Fidelium, June 11, 2012).
Voting No and No: A Catholic Perspective – Jamie L. Manson (Sensus Fidelium, October 25, 2012).
The Great Gay Election of 2012 – Todd Fernandez (HuffPost Gay Voices, November 5, 2012).
Fourteen Races LGBT People Will Be Watching Closely on Tuesday – Chris Geidner (BuzzFeed.com, November 5, 2012).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
The Minneapolis (and Online) Premiere of Catholics for Marriage Equality
Tips on Speaking as a Catholic in Support of Marriage Equality
A Catholic Rationale for Opposing the 'Marriage Amendment'
Into the Fray
In the Eye of the Storm, A Tree of Living Flame
" Yet no person can truly know the will of the Creator, other than we are called upon to love one another."
ReplyDeleteI really don't understand how anyone can make this claim. If we cannot truly know God's will for anything else why would "love one another" be the exception? Either we can know things or we can't.
I certainly will never claim that we can know ALL things of God's Will. God is above all things and we can't possibly know everything, but (as you argue) if we can know one thing then maybe we can know two things.
This is called "revelation." Why did God tell Moses his personal name? God wanted his people to know him - on a first name basis.
God is a person - in that he has a personality. He has likes and dislikes and a character. God created this world and he made us in his image - it seems foolish to me that he wouldn't want us to know him. Maybe "God's will" is a difficult topic that we'll never fully know - but if we know a person's character, values, likes, and goals then it seems to me that we already know something of his will too.