Gay Marriage
Timothy Dolan, the latest New York archbishop has been installed and immediately as the whole city cheers – he makes it clear, it’s business as usual but he’ll try to conduct church business perhaps in a different tone.
Maybe I’ve been to too many executive leadership conferences but archbishop Dolan has the personal style of a CEO, doesn’t he?
Troubling.
At least he had the good sense to let the Prayer of the Faithful include an Igbo speaking Nigerian woman who climbed up to the altar in a gele and must’ve taken aback a good number of those Catholics of European descent who just don’t understand what their priests have been up to for the last 100 or so years. Would’ve liked to have seen the look on that creep Giuliani’s face at that moment. Sure he was surprised someone let her in.
At any rate, I sobbed into my hands when tenor Ronan Tynan sang Ave Maria. I was born and raised a Catholic – though I no longer am. And this hymn still brings me to tears. Some things never change.
Or do they?
Can Dolan and eerie groups like the National Organization for Marriage be successful in stopping gay couples in New York from marrying? And if so, what is it that they’re trying to stop from happening exactly?
I don’t see how two gay people who are in love, who want to settle down together and possibly even raise children are a threat to society. I thought our societal aversion to gay culture was that it was not rooted in family. Well, more and more it’s trying be. Isn’t this what everyone wants?
If the Catholic church is truly concerned about making sure that marriage is being kept sacred, I can think of communities teeming with heterosexuals having children out of wedlock as if there’s no such thing, who are completely in need of some help.
Wouldn’t it make greater sense for the church to positively promote marriage worldwide rather than trying to stop it?
If the belief that homosexuality is a sin is what the archbishop is so steadfastly trying to enforce, perhaps he should begin with his own priesthood.
There are many Catholics current and former who are increasingly incapable of suspending disbelief that this vast culture of celibate men and women that comprise the church are really truly that and not a sexually frustrated religious body.
I applaud Governor Paterson. He’s right. This is the civil rights issue of our time. To say that, does not – as some African-Americans fear – mean that the black Civil Rights struggle is being minimized or somehow gentrified.
If gay people were aliens who suddenly landed in spaceships from outer space, this paranoia would make sense. But all of us work and live peacefully, if not enjoyably alongside gay people every damned day and have done so since forever.
According to statistics, there are lots of us who harbor some fundamental resentment anyway and are ‘against’ our gay neighbors, family members and colleagues having the same rights we do.
Excuse the space ship talk, but I find that strange and a bit scary.
Tags: david paterson, gay marriage
April 19th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
[...] blacksnextdoor put an intriguing blog post on Gay MarriageHere’s a quick excerptTimothy Dolan, the latest New York archbishop has been installed and immediately as the whole city cheers – he makes it clear, it’s business as usual but he’ll try to conduct church business perhaps in a different tone. Maybe I’ve been to too many executive leadership conferences but Archbishop Dolan has the personal style of a CEO, doesn’t he? Troubling. At least he had the good sense to let the Prayer of the Faithful include an Igbo speaking Nigerian woman who climbed up to the [...]
April 20th, 2009 at 11:45 am
There was a great discussion of this on Gary Byrd’s radio show on 1190 am last evening. After all was said and done I agreed with those who say marriage is a “religious” sacrament and as such cannot allow same sex “marriages” because it is against religious law. However, I do believe in civil unions with “legal” entitlements.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I enjoyed this article Jen! Gay marriage is a very divisive and relevant topic, and I’m glad you mentioned the Catholic church. They themselves have not properly dealt with their own scandals, yet they feel righteous enough to be against same sex marriage.
I’m not criticizing their stand on the issue, but the hypocrisy within the Catholic church–the Catholic church protects priests who molest and rape, instead of doing what is morally right, which is terminate them and turn them over to be prosecuted! So I’m sorry if I see the anti-gay marriage stand that the Catholic church takes as hypocrisy in its finest form!!
Lastly, I don’t believe that you have to be in agreement with homosexuality/gay marriage, to believe that all men and women should have equal rights! gay marriage is a civil rights issue, not an issue reserved for religion.
People answer to God for their own life. When we die God isn’t going to ask you to account for Tom and Joe the gay married couple down the street…he is going to ask you to account for your own life and looks like many so called “religious” people will have the same answer–”I judged people and acted like I was God.”
April 28th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
This is certainly not a civil rights issue. Not in any stretch of the imagination.
And yes Mina, we are accountable for each other, we are accountable for those in our care, we are accountable for speaking for what is correct and speaking against what is incorrect, we are accountable for every action we partake in as human beings….this is how we become held accountable for the society we live in - we will be held accountable for our society because you and I are the what make up the society.
July 31st, 2009 at 8:42 am
Nice article, Jen. though some see alot of reasons to accept gay marriages but i feel it is still not proper even in the eye of changing circumstances. There is something about it i don’t quite get comfortable with. Though people have the right to make choices, that doesn’t mean they will make the right choices. Religion aside, i still feel the same.
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