I’ve heard a report that a local Catholic priest, possibly affiliated with the local Catholic school board, has put out a statement on the same sex marriage issue. In it, he makes a lot of moderate noises, saying that gays and lesbians should be free from persecution and allowed to achieve the same rights as any other individuals under the law… except for marriage.
Because granting gays and lesbians the right to marry “would render the institution without meaning.”
I don’t get this line of thinking. Is this individual saying that if gay couples are allowed to get married under the law in Canada, or under the eyes of God in the United Church, my own marriage to Erin under the eyes of God is rendered meaningless?
I don’t think so.
I understand what the Catholic church is saying when it is saying that marriage is a sacrament, though as an Anglican, I don’t accept that theological teaching as dogma. But the Catholics are on to something when they call marriage a three-way partnership, involving not only the husband and the wife but God. The love is just that intense.
But it is the love symbolized by the marriage that is important and, in the end, the marriage itself is only a symbol of that love. Allowing the law to grant the recognition of marriage to homosexual couples doesn’t change that love or render it without meaning. Far more damage is done to the institution of marriage by heterosexual couples who don’t love each other than by homosexual couples who do.
The Catholic Church accepts the sanctity of marriages performed outside of the Catholicism and even outside of Christianity, suggesting that they know that it is the love rather than the marriage itself that is important. A law to expand that recognition to same-sex couples isn’t going to change that.
I’m straight. I’m married. I’m not threatened by same sex couples that want to be married. Let them be married. I frankly think it’s possible that some of them have achieved a love that God smiles upon.
More Links
New Artwork
My sister-in-law, Wendy Ewell has a new painting up on her website. Check out Indian Summer Grass and much more. She’s painting some of the finest works available, I think. More new paintings will follow shortly.
Believe it or not, I’m fourth on the Google search for “Mars Needs Terrorists”. Huh.
Final Word
The SkyDome was officially renamed after its new owner Wednesday as plans were unveiled for major upgrades to the 16-year-old domed stadium. Effective Wednesday, Toronto’s SkyDome will be known as Rogers Centre.
Um… No.