So... I've been working at a church. It's a great church, a fine church filled with a lot of people who are loving and supportive, forgiving and non-judgemental. It's really very interesting to attend a church where there is a serious lack of judgement. I've never before been a part of a religion that openly welcomes *everyone*. My church happens to be Open and Affirming; or in normal words, we openly welcome members of the LGBT community. And we don't even try to convince them to straighten themselves out! It's all, "Hey! We see you over there! Come over here and hang out with us! It's all good!" and it ends there!
Obviously, with the SCOTUS ruling in favor of gay marriage my church was all, "Huzzah!" and as a denomination large and wide we celebrated this decision. So many rainbows. Very cool.
Last Sunday, however, a Catholic bulletin landed in my hands and I had the experience of reading their thoughts on this ruling. Hint: They're not about it. Here! I'll show you!
In a separate issue: Last week the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges ruled on two marriage questions: (1)
Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? and
(2) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex
when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?
To each question, the Court answered, “Yes.”
In response to this ruling the American Bishops have responded by reminding us that no one and no court
can make what is false true. Marriage by its nature remains the union of one man and one woman—this is a
matter of reason, not just faith. Man and woman were designed by God for each other, and only a man and a
woman can form a union that brings forth children. Changing the definition of civil marriage affects thousands of
laws at once, endangering the religious freedom of institutions and individuals who hold the authentic meaning
of marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The American Bishops call upon all people of good will to
promote and defend the unique meaning of marriage: one man, one woman, for life. We are called to pray for
all the future victims of this ruling, particularly children, while continuing to reach out with love and support to
all people, including those who experience same-sex attraction. All people are loved by God and are called to
love Him.
[and then they followed it with this, which kind of makes me giggle]
Welcome, Sisters of Christ the Light!
Don’t, forget, “The Lord is with you!”
So.... Not so warm and fuzzy. And kind of everything I hate about religion. Which isn't to say that they don't have a right to feel this way, or even to talk about it, especially to people who are like-minded. Do I think it's wrong and offensive? Yes. But I'm sure the Catholic Church is none too pleased about my life choices, and so with grace, I agree to disagree.
I guess the place my mind wandered to was this: This is what's wrong with our country. We are going down some slippery slopes. We are a country founded on freedom, and most of that was from religious oppression. Except we came here and religion came, too. Some of it, we made up when we got here...there's plenty of hybrids and new ones (Why, hello, Hill Cumorah). Ultimately, the first thing we wrote in our Constitution was that we had Religious Freedom. Congress can't promote one religion over the other. Since the question of same sex marriage has only existed because of the religious implications, it's unfair to say a group of people can't do something because of your beliefs. Just like it would be unfair for a group to tell you to stop knocking on doors with copies of "the Watchtower" or saying it's now illegal to leave bibles in the nightstand drawers of motels.
Which brings me to my next point: Legalizing same sex marriage is not waging a war against religion. A war against religion would prohibit things like Church exemption from State and Federal Taxes and other federal involvement in Religious institutions. A war against religion would be church bombings and closings and no more pamphlets or bibles, or not being able to say "GOD" in public or be a member of a church. Those are war on religion things. This is an equal rights thing. (And yes, I do see a 'War against Religion' in our society, but it has nothing to do with gay marriage, and so, I'll probably write that another time).
Same Sex Marriage is a Civil Rights thing. Like abolishing slavery and the women's lib movement and making it so no one entity could not allow a black person to marry a white person. Same level. And I can't help but wonder if the church felt so threatened by those movements; threatened enough to make statements and encourage members to not encourage these steps. Did the church want to stay white only? Did they not want women to be able to hold property and vote? Did they throw a fit when interracial marriages happened? Especially the Catholic faith... I'm really curious about that. Doesn't this put the Catholic Church on the same level as segregated churches in the South?
And before we make biblical arguments, the bible also says that Women should marry their rapists and that Men are allowed to marry their concubines (yes, plural). It also says that as Christians, we are to follow the laws of our leaders, as they have been appointed.
I don't think anywhere in the red print it says anything about judging and shunning...
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