Statement on Same-Sex Marriage

Today after church we will host a rally in support of same-sex marriage rights. I have been invited to make some remarks… here is what I have prepared…

Sisters and Brothers,

Archbishop Timothy Dolan believes that granting same-sex marriage rights is a step towards autocracy, putting us on the road to a totalitarian state. Archbishop Dolan should look in the mirror, for he chooses to use his dictatorial power within an autocratic church and his influence in society to deny me the right to follow my faith. Jesus has some pretty strong words for hypocrites…

Churches are not forced to marry anyone… I regularly turn away opposite-sex couples who simply want the church as a prop in their wedding. Dolan’s argument is a straw man at best.

Scripture has been used to justify slavery and racism, ethnic cleansing and brutal crimes, and centuries of oppression. Those who project onto God their own prejudices are worshiping a god they created, not the God that created them. I call on them to abandon their idolatry, or to at least admit that their hatred does not come from God.

It is time for communities of faith to stop acting as agents of the state, to follow their own moral code and stop imposing it on others. Same-sex marriage rights are a civil right, not a religious rite. May God forgive those who mix the two. Hear me, you game-playing politicians… freedom will win… love will win… God will win! Amen.

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