An Inch At A Time: Reflections on the Journey: My Two Cents on Today's DOMA Announcement

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

My Two Cents on Today's DOMA Announcement

I was asked if I had any "comment" to make on today's White House announcement about DOMA and it turns out I did:

Today’s decision by the White House ordering the Justice Department to stop defending DOMA (the “Defense of Marriage Act”) is good news not just for same-sex couples who have been waiting for too long for the equal protection their Constitution guarantees them -- it is good news for all Americans who believe that liberty and justice for all really means “all.”

It is good news for those who support Family Values that Value All Families. And it is great news for those who are part of a growing Protect Marriage Movement committed to Protecting All Marriages.

What the White House said today is that it is unconstitutional to defend some marriages and not others. In my congregation we have been equally blessing same and opposite sex unions since 1992, we equally married same and opposite sex couples between June and November in 2008 and we presently decline to sign civil marriage licenses for any couples until we can once again sign them for all. We rejoice that today’s decision takes us another step closer to equally protecting all our families with the rights and responsibilities extended by federal marriage laws.

“We don’t believe that God discriminates against same sex couples and we don’t believe the federal government should, either.”

PS -- I'm taping an NPR interview tomorrow morning with Barbara Bradley Hagerty ... stay tuned on that one.

1 comment:

Paul_B said...: In 2009, the president signed a law that made sexual orientation a protected federal class, in terms of the federal hate crimes law.

How would you feel if the next president said that he would not enforce that provision of the law (violence based on sexual orientation)because he felt it was unconstitutional?

We have three branches of government. One of them proposes laws, one of them passes laws, and one of them reviews their application.

The branch of government that proposes laws can not rule on their constitutionality. That's not the way our form of government works.; 5:38 AM

... where I try to be really clear about what I'm clear about. For example:

Religious persecution is when you're prevented from exercising your beliefs, not when you're prevented from IMPOSING your beliefs.

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Using "biblical standards" to condemn those who understand that sexual orientation is morally neutral makes as much sense as using "biblical standards" to condemn astronomers who understand that the earth revolves around the sun. The Bible may have said it but that doesn't always settle it.

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It's liberty and justice for all -- not some. It's respect the dignity of every human being -- not just straight ones. Got it? Great. Let's do it.

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In order to keep moving forward toward liberty and justice for all we can't just be right about what the 1st Amendment protects. We have to be smart about how we respond to those who skipped the 9th Commandment and think lying is a Traditional Family Value.

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Jesus said "Love your neighbor." Not "Love your neighbor unless your neighbor is gay."

Smart things other people have said you should know about

“Faith in action is called politics. Spirituality without action is fruitless and social action without spirituality is heartless. We are boldly political without being partisan. Having a partisan-free place to stand liberates the religious patriot to see clearly, speak courageously, and act daringly.” -- Ed Bacon

“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's time for "tolerant" religious people to acknowledge the straight line between the official anti-gay theologies of their denominations and the deaths of these young people. Nothing short of changing our theology of human sexuality will save these young and precious lives." -- The Rt Rev Gene Robinson

"How can you initiate someone into the Body of Christ and then treat them like they’re half-assed baptized?" - The Rt Rev Barbara Harris

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ~ Elie Wiesel, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize

"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with the weak and wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these." — Siddhārtha Gautama

"I'm so glad Mary didn't wait for the formulation of a Doctrine of the Incarnation before she said 'Yes' to God." -- Ed Bacon

"The great Easter truth is not that we will be born again someday but that we are to be alive here and now by the power of the resurrection." -- Philips Brooks (paraphrase)

"History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.” -- Walter Wink

“Patience, a quality of holiness may be sloth in the soul when associated with the lack of righteous indignation.” -- Abraham Heschel

"Don't tell me what you believe. Tell me what difference it makes that you believe!" -- Verna Dozier

“We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief. Nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief. At the same time as our constitution prohibits state religion, establishment of it protects the free exercise of all religions. And walking this fine line requires government to be strictly neutral.” -- Ronald Reagan

Let's be clear. The fact that the State authorizes a marriage in no way compels any Church to perform or recognize it. Marriage equality merely guarantees equality under the law to all citizens; it does not compel churches to do anything.-- Katherine Ragsdale