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Archive for June 24, 2008

The cuckoo clocks are offended, oh my.

June 24, 2008 by Pastor Dan.

NATIONAL BRIEFING | NEW ENGLAND

Maine: Group Abandons Gay Law Campaign
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 20, 2008

A group has abandoned a campaign to overturn a state law protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination. The group, the Christian
Civic League of Maine [emphasis added], said it had failed to gain the support needed to continue. The proposal would have repealed protections in employment, housing, public accommodation, credit and education. It would also have affirmed a state law restricting marriages to one man and one woman, ensured that only one unmarried person or one married couple jointly could adopt a person, prohibited clerks from issuing marriage licenses to persons of the same sex, and prohibited municipalities from licensing civil unions.  California and Massachusetts are the only states to legalize same-sex marriage; a handful of others allow civil unions or domestic partnerships among same-sex couples.

I certainly didn’t have to single out the Roman Catholic Church.  After all, it has gotten into bed, as it were, with the Religious Reich. 

But why is it that the Christian Church feels it must not only weigh in on matters deemed to have moral significance, but constantly attempt to play a controlling role in setting public policy?  It seems clear enough that behind many conservative views or even more ultra-conservative voices who back and fund the repeated incursions across the line which seaprates church and state.

I have long felt that the best witness to admirable ethical standards that any Christ can make is to live an ethical life oneself, and let one’s own actions speak louder than words.  This is why I am appalled at the behavior of the Roman Catholic Church in this country in its efforts to deny civil rights to gay people when its own actions have included flouting the law and ignoring the high moral standards in the law which protects children from sexual molestation. 

If you do not believe that abortion is morally acceptable, then don’t have an abortion.  If you feel that homosexuality is immoral, then don’t be homosexual (especially if you insist that homosexuality is a matter of “choice.”).  If same-sex marriage is morally wrong, then don’t marry someone of your gender. 

Every time one of these measures comes up (and thank God that one in Maine is going down again) it claims to be protecting something.  But the homophobia is unmistakable because it usually seeks to shame and punish someone else!  That would be like promoting high academic achievement in schools not by publishing an honor roll but by paddling those who got D’s and F’s on their report card.

mainegovernor.jpg

Mayor John Baldacci and family.  Hmmm. The homophobia of the Christian Civic League of Maine is scarcely hard to document.  Their web site entry for March 5, 2005 loudly chastises Governor John Baldacci attempts to add [protection for] “sexual orientation” to Maine’s civil rights law, and virtually rants about the “gay agenda”:

WE ARE OPPOSED to the introduction of “sexual orientation” into Maine civil rights laws for many reasons including:

  • It is unnecessary because:

    There is no widespread or obvious discrimination against anyone on the basis of sexual orientation (people of whatever sexual preferences are not noticeably unemployed, homeless or unable to secure credit).

Homosexuals already enjoy all the civil rights and liberties enjoyed by other citizens.

  • It is undesirable because:

Approving homosexual behavior leads to gender identity confusion in children, adolescents, and adults.

Cultural endorsement of homosexuality leads to a higher incidence of homosexual practice and the negative side affects in physical, mental and social/relational health.

Caving in to the homosexual agenda threatens the civil and religious liberties of those who oppose homosexual practice when sexual diversity training is mandated in public schools, the workplace, and other areas of common life.

  • It is unwanted by the people of Maine and a growing number of other states because:

The stated goal of many GLBT activists is so-called “gay marriage”, which is a contradiction in terms.  It is impossible to give a person the right to do something that is impossible.

It attempts to normalize what is not normal, and to inhibit the moral and religious codes which are common to Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and others.

It will lead to the acceptance of other undesirable sexual unions including polygamy, transgenerational sex, and incest simply on the basis that they are consensual and protected as civil rights.

The “Christian Civic League” statement is quite a bit longer, including several paragraphs which all begin, :”We are offended . . .”  But this one is the best of all:

We are offended by Governor John Baldacci’s characterization of some of Maine’s foremost religious leaders and citizens as “cuckoo clocks”.

—Pastor Dan Hooper, Los Angeles

Posted in Lesbian/Gay Marriage, Homophobia, Ecumenical Issues, LGBT Rights, Health, Public Affairs | Print | No Comments »

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