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Exhibit A why omitting who is the direct target of Amendment One is a folly — it needs to be out of the shadows — the supporters of bigotry have no problem targeting the LGBT community and aren’t afraid to say why. Bishops Peter Jugis of the Diocese of Charlotte and Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Raleigh have continued to sell out principle, trying to confuse people that this is a vote about marriage equality — and thus the apparent end of civilization — but they really do love the gays.
This is pure homophobia that continues to conflate church and state matters. Via TPEquality, with video from the Marriage: Unique for a Reason web site:
JUGIS: Same-sex unions are unable to realize the unique and full potential that a traditional marriage relationship expresses… The Church’s position on traditional marriage is not an instance of discrimination or animosity towards homosexual persons. Marriage is based on natural law, a law that can never be changed; therefore, there will be boundaries that cannot be modified. At the same time, in light of our belief in the inherent dignity of every person without exception, individuals and society must respect those with a homosexual orientation.
BURBIDGE: Catholics belief that the Church has the authority, the obligation, the Gospel mandate, to affirm these authentic teachings and to preserve and foster the supremely sacred value of marriage in our society… Our beliefs are principled ones, divinely revealed, and to be regarded seriously in any consideration of marriage and family life.
Really now? What”divinely revealed” moral standing does the Church have these days given its pedophile priest protection problem? The church should make better use of its resources on that front. But that doesn’t stop Bishops Peter Jugis and Michael Burbidge.
And the fact is that this amendment has nothing to do with procreation or religious marriage, but these are the only pitiful tricks in their bag of bigotry that they are selling. Pope Benedict sees marriage equality as a threat to the “future of humanity itself,” yet North Carolina isn’t even considering marriage equality, this is about stopping an amendment that prevents any legal recognition (civil unions or domestic partnerships) at all for same-sex couples at any point in the future.
Did I mention that Marriage Unique for a Reason is a project of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (USCCB)? Guess who heads that up — homophobe extraordinaire Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.
I see this intervention by the Catholic Church as a sign that the professional anti-LGBT crowd is worried we might defeat this ballot initiative.
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These U.S. bishops say the catholic church has a gospel mandate to promote marriage between one man and one woman by speaking out against gay marriage in civil society.
Well, what about the dozens of countries where polygamy is legal? The catholic church has a sizable presence in many of those countries, but its bishops are not trying to make polygamy illegal in them.
The church has decided to restrict its authority to its own members in some countries, but not in others. It won’t try to make polygamy illegal in multi-faith kenya or india or pakistan. But it will try to make gay marriage illegal in the multi-faith United States, Britain and Spain.
Clearly, this isn’t about one-man one-woman marriage. It’s about denying marriage to gay people.
They are also not targeting our own version of polygamy, not to mention other non-biblical “marriages,” which are also rejected by the Church. In the US, polygamy means you dump the previous wife before hooking up with another – or, if you’re Rudy Guiliani, hook up with the next wife before dumping the last one. At least in traditional polygamy the first wife doesn’t end up abandoned. Either way, that is not “marriage” according to the Church, and neither are relationships without a religious basis (if you’re married by a JP, you’re not married according to the Church) or relationships in which one member cannot have children (e.g., intersexed people getting married). Yet somehow the Church is not (yet) targeting these other unBiblical “marriages”.
true, they aren’t trying to make divorce illegal. their efforts in the civil arena regarding marriage are focused on denying it to gays and lesbians. it’s very hypocritical.
Since when did the catholic church’s sacrament of marriage become equivalent to the secular version of marriage?
Non-catholics can’t get married in the catholic church, but they sure as heck can get married by the state.
Tangential– So we saw “Invisible Children Funded By Antigay, Creationist Christian Right” (AlterNet.Org, Mar. 11, 2012).
Dig, dig, dig investigative journalists!
Fortunately, there is a disconnect between the “Church” and its flock. The majority of Catholics will look at the remonstration of the Bishops and give a resounding, “meh”. It does appear to me that the Church is treading dangerously close to interference in the political realm. This a a ballsy move, and they must feel that they are under protection of the right wing and their B.S. “free speech” meme. Historically, the Catholics have been much less blatant when dealing with issues that are overtly political.
The polygamy arguement used in this way is new to me, usually I see people who are against same sex marriage saying that the next step will be to legalize polygamy. Now you’re arguing that polygamy is legel in some countries, and the Catholic Church doesn’t try to change those laws, so same sex marriage should also be legal, and the Catholic Church should not say anything against it.
This issue of same sex marriage is being discussed and voted on in many US States today, so the Catholic Church is letting their position on this issue known.
As for polygamy, the Catholic Church is against it, and makes that stand public when that issue comes up for a vote in any country in the world.
(Possibly Myron Cohen, I heard it on French radio Internet stream):
A priest comes into the crowded lunchtime deli, finds a seat next to an older gentleman, and orders his regular Friday fish soup. The gentleman greets him, the priest acknowledges. The gentleman says, “I notice your collar is turned around.” The priest says, “I’m a Father, we wear our collars turned around to show that.” The gentleman says, “I’m also a father, also a grandfather, I have ten grandchildren, but my collar’s regular, it ain’t turned around.” The priest says, “I have thousands of children.” The gentleman says, “That many? Maybe you should have turned your pants around instead.”