Do you think the recent SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the US) ruling on same-sex marriage is a violation of religious liberty?
I’m sorry I’m a little late to this party. I’ve taken a couple weeks vacation from writing this bulletin column, but I’m glad you asked because I really wanted to share this quote from Michael Rossmann, SJ of The Jesuit Post about the ruling back on June 26th. “As America has become more welcoming to gay and lesbian people over the past decade in particular, more of our brothers and sisters, daughters and sons, friends and neighbors have come out. Many of us know people in same sex relationships of authentic love. We have come to understand that love, fidelity, and mutual commitment are worth being grateful for, regardless of the genders involved. We know the real hardships our loved ones suffer on account of not having the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts – whether through actual discrimination on the part of the government or through internalized perceptions of inferiority and worthlessness. We can, and do, celebrate the relief and affirmation they are experiencing right now.
For those who support it, the SCOTUS ruling is against injustice and for equality. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, against religion and for immorality. And there’s a danger if religious voices continue to react as if advocacy for same-sex marriage is in itself a form of religious persecution. It simply is not. The motivations don’t match religious persecution, and neither does the end result. To equate what many perceive as correcting an injustice with religious persecution is to invite that persecution. It also encourages the church to act out of fear, rather than out of love born from the subtle urging of the Holy Spirit – and only bad things can come of acting from a place of fear.”
Two of my dearest friends are a Catholic lesbian couple who have been married for almost 15 years, together well over 25 years. They volunteered with our Campus Ministry efforts at OU for many years and I saw first-hand all the lives that they saved. Not figuratively, but quite literally. Their individual witnesses and stable relationship were life-giving and life-saving for many young people on the verge of suicide because they felt so ostracized and unjustly discriminated against in so many ways. This couple stands as a beacon of hope, fortitude, and Christ’s boundless love in the face of hate and ignorance. And now they are permitted by law, among other rights, to be there for one another if/when one is sick and/or dying in the hospital. This is a good thing. This is of God.
In our own words “respect for the God-given dignity of all persons means the recognition of human rights and responsibilities.” (USCCB, Always our Children, 1997). “The teachings of the Church make it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended and that all of us must strive to eliminate any forms of injustice, oppression, or violence against them” (The Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 1986, no. 10). This ruling is not about religious liberty but rather was an end to unjust discrimination and inequality and I think most Catholics feel very comfortable celebrating this all too rare occurrence in which love has indeed won….
No comments:
Post a Comment