Today's ruling by the California Supreme Court does not only affect the rights of same sex couples, it sets a terrible precedent that a simple majority of voters can deny millions of citizens fundamental rights and relegate those citizens to second class status. Today's decision is not only antithetical to the core American values of liberty and justice for all, it flies in the face of the core Christian commitment to love our neighbors as ourselves. The message we at All Saints Church in Pasadena want to send to the California Supreme Court is that today justice has been both delayed and denied - and our hearts and prayers go out to those couples who have seen their dreams of marriage to the love of their life dashed on the rocks of discrimination.
Nevertheless, All Saints Church will continue to receive all couples, wherever they find themselves on their journey of love, commitment and faith, as we continue to treat all couples equally for the purposes of ceremonies and sacraments. All Saints Church will also continue to stand with our California Faith for Equality allies to support actions and policies that will once again bring full equality to all people under the law of the State of California. We know that the arc of history is long but we also know that it bends toward justice - and we look forward to the day we will stand on the right side of that history on the issue of marriage equality. So today we recommit ourselves as a peace & justice church to work without ceasing toward that day when all of God's people will be treated with equality, dignity and respect.
The All Saints website will continue to track this developing story with links to everything from news updates to pastoral care resources. For further information contact Keith Holeman at kholeman@allsaints-pas.org.
The Reverend J. Edwin Bacon
Rector, All Saints Church, Pasadena
2 comments:
Can a state remain a member of the United States if its state constitution violates the United States Constitution's Equal Protection clause? Or is this an act of succession?
Alas, Kathy, the US has not committed itself to marriage as a right. Indeed, it has a DOMA which goes tother way and has not yet been ruled on by the courts (and, by the looks of things will stand -- for a while -- if ruled on now).
By the way, the involvement of churches in this issue gives the Others a useful handle: it is easier to work for marriage when you stress that what is involved is the legal equivalent of a house deed or a pet license.
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