A poll released last month by the Public Religion Research Institute sheds light on the impact of religion and the 2008 vote to abolish same-sex marriage rights in California. The poll finds that today, a slim majority of Roman Catholics, 51%, support same-sex marriage (interestingly, that number jumps to 57% when asking only Latino Catholics).
The poll also finds that:
- A majority of Catholics believe that parents of gay and lesbian children are better sources of information about homosexuality than clergy; the opposite is true for most Protestants (in this poll, a grouping that includes Evangelical Christians)
- Catholics are much less likely than all Protestants to hear about homosexuality from their clergy, though the message will likely be negative, as opposed to mainline Protestants, who are more likely to hear a positive message
- A majority of Catholics and white mainline Protestants say that clergy should not speak out on the issue of homosexuality; the opposite is true for white evangelicals, black Protestants, and Latino protestants And in Sunday’s New York Times, an article that explores the slow march toward acceptance of same-sex marriage rights across the country.
Michael O'Loughlin
Clearly the idea of Christiamn marriage has evolved and will continue to, based on improved understandings and experience - not just personal whim.
Both Torah and Jesus recognize that when a couple gets married, they leave their family and cling to each other, forming a new family. Families are the basic unit of society and marriage is an essential part of family life, both because it creates new families and allows the exit from one's family of birth. From a civil rights perspective, marriage cannot be denied to gay people because they cannot be kept in their families of origin against their will. Morally, the proof that the Sacrament of Matrimony, which is accomplished by the couple and only witnessed by the priest, is alive and well in the gay community, is how committed gay couples take care of each other in hard times (and gay people have harder times than most). As Jesus said, by their fruits ye shall know them.
If someone is physically incapable of having sex, then he or she can't get married. Even if a priest performed a ceremony, the marriage is invalid. Marriage is fundamentally a sexual relationship. He can still live with the woman he would marry if he could.
Regarding sham marriages (Elvis example above), the Catholic Church's stance against divorce is well known. However, Catholics are just about the only group of people in the whole world and in all history who radically oppose divorce, so an attempt to make this the law of the land in America would be an utter waste of time. What's not a waste of time is fighting gay marriage, a winnable battle, at least at the moment. There is no hypocrisy here.
As you can see at this website, the bishops are not neglecting any aspect of marriage. If you have not heard this fullness at your parish then please speak to your pastor and ask him why?
But it happens all the time in Europe and neither the church nor those countries have sunk into the seas.
- and it is ignored by Catholics at roughly the same degree as others.
The Catholic Church effectively gives tacit approval to divorce with what has become the charade of annulment. In their 2002 book, “Catholic Divorce: The Deception of Annulments”, Joseph Martos and Pierre Hegy state:
“Because the grounds for annulment have become so broad that practically anyone who applies for one can obtain it, many observers now regard annulments as ‘virtual divorces.’ After all, the same grounds for divorce in a civil court have ‘become grounds for the nonexistence of marriage in an ecclesiastical court.’ (Page 23) To add to the deceit, many couples who receive annulments do so believing that their marriage was, in fact, sacramentally valid – that the marital bond did exist but that, over time, it began to break down. These couples, understandably, choose not to disclose this part of the story to marriage tribunals so that they can qualify for an annulment.”
In other words it is the Catholic game of nudge-nudge, wink-wink.
A nice bit of casuistry there - or, if you prefer, sophistry.
And let's not even get into logic.
Where do you join the Tea Party For Catholic Issues?