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A Threat to Marriage? (Sun Sep 26, 2004 9:39 am)
An argument by some in our Church against the legalization of
same sex marriages is that it threatens the institution of
marriage because it opens the door to legalizing other
non-traditional unions. Thoughtful people have trouble
believing this, and those who are married are not threatened by
same sex unions. Divorce and annulments are far greater threats
to the stability of heterosexual marriages. "If others can
easily get out, why do I remain in this difficult marriage," is a
temptation encountered by many if not most spouses at some
time or another in their marriage.
One might conjecture that many of the male-celibate-clergy feel
threatened, and are projecting this onto the married faithful.
Astonishingly, a recent letter against same sex unions by
Catholic bishops of Missouri states, "The outpouring of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost transformed the natural sacrament of marriage
into the Christian Sacrament of Matrimony." This origin of the
sacrament appears to be something completely new that they have
just made up, and, no doubt, will be given the usual "as taught
from the very beginning" tag.
Summing up the position of the church they state, "Christians
must give witness to the whole moral truth and oppose as immoral
both homosexual acts and also any unjust actions or hateful
attitudes against persons with same-sex attractions." There is
no explanation why the sin of expressing a God-given attraction
in a loving way and doing so within a stable, legally sanctioned
relationship should pose a threat for heterosexual unions.
The position of church leaders is not convincingly argued and is
not received by those of us who seek their guidance in the
formation of conscience in this matter.
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(Bishop Geoffrey Robinson in converation with Dr Ingrid Shafer) |