| UPDATED: Four Area Ministers Express Support for Same-sex Marriage |
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| Written by Jacqueline Weaver | ||||
| Thursday, November 13, 2008 | ||||
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 Among the more than 120 religious leaders in Maine supporting same-sex marriage are (from left) the Rev. Mark Worth of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine; the Rev. Victor Stanley of the Somesville Union Meeting House, United Church of Christ; the Rev. John Holt, minister at the Union Congregational Church, Hancock, and the Rev. Leela Sinha of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ellsworth.—STAFF PHOTO BY JACQUELINE WEAVER HANCOCK — Four Hancock County ministers are joining with colleagues statewide in support of same-sex marriage.
They along with other representatives of the newly formed Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry in Maine held news conferences Nov. 13 in Bangor, Portland, Auburn and Hancock. The coalition includes more than 120 religious leaders in Maine. The four ministers who spoke at Union Congregational Church said it was important for clergy to make their views known. “As a straight, married clergyman I support equal marriage because it is good and right and fair,” said the Rev. Mark Worth of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine. He said a “conservative case” can easily be made for the legal recognition of same-sex marriage since marriage promotes family stability, financial security, loyalty and monogamy. The timing of the event coincided with the beginning of marriages for same-sex couples in Connecticut Nov. 12 and the fifth anniversary of the Massachusetts court case ending marriage discrimination in that state. The Rev. Victor Stanley of the Somesville Union Meeting House, United Church of Christ said he is gay and is in a committed relationship, yet both he and his partner are prevented from enjoying the benefits of marriage. “As a native Mainer I was brought up to have a strong sense of knowing right from wrong,” Stanley said. “Discrimination is wrong.” The Rev. Leela Sinha of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ellsworth, said her parents were an interracial couple at a time when such marriages were still illegal in many states. She said she and her partner live, work and pay taxes in the state, yet are not able to have a legally recognized marriage in Maine. “We want to be married in the eyes of the law,” she said. “We are not second class citizens. We want to be treated like a family and married like a family because we are a family.” The Rev. John Holt, minister at the Union Congregational Church, said there are large numbers of religious leaders who support equality in marriage, but they are less vocal than those ministers who are opposed to same-sex marriages. Read the response from Rev. Richard J. Malone, Roman Catholic Bishop here... This story was last updated at 8:31 a.m. on November 18, 2008. The comments listed below are the opinion of the listed author and do not necessarily represent those of Ellsworth American, Inc. 1. marriage linden n buzzell one man one woman thats GODS LAW.any of you who think that you are second class citizens are wrong you make your family with or without a marriage. Posted 11/13/2008 16:12:10 2. to linden buzzell John Shane "one man man one woman, that's GODS LAW". That may be your religious opinion but that's all it is. Your religious opinion. I know of no reason in the world to believe that it's true. After that, your post does not appear to make much sense. I hope that you are not trying to suggest that it's legitimate for the religious opinions of some to define what civil marriage law should be. Posted 11/14/2008 16:50:57 3. Change the title! Jeffrey Campbell This article should be titled Unionist churches support gay marriage. The majority of Christian churches do not support gay marriage. The Unionist church is a church in name only, I would never classify them as a religion, the word group or organization is a better fit. They base nothing on the bible that I can tell. Posted 11/15/2008 11:08:39 4. to john linden n buzzell yes it is my opinion.both my own and that of GOD.it may not make sense to you.but thats ok . Posted 11/15/2008 15:22:50 5. Untitled John Shane "They base nothing on the bible that I can tell." So what? The definition of "Church" is not exclusively Christian. Besides which, the bible must never be the guide for civil law. It would be morally wrong to impose the bible onto everyone. Posted 11/15/2008 22:42:43 6. Who really is the judge Andrew Heard As we get more and more corrupt our society will fall further and further. If you look through out history the more a society falls away from the values that God has out in place the more corrupt, and evil it becomes. Over the years I have been alive which is not very many, only 35, I have seen things take place that I though I would never see. Whether we want to accept it or not this country was founded on Christian teachings and the more we go away from those beleifs the weaker our country will become, and the weaker it has become. Anyone in their right mind can not look at our country and say we have gotten better as we continue to reduce our laws and values. If we allow Gay marriage what is next. Where does it stop. Do we then allow any type of union, becuase if we are going to throw the word discrimination around to meet our personal wants and desires, where does that stop. What if I want to marry a 12 year old, or an animal... do we draw the line there. Or over time will that be allowed to. Becasue after all it is my right to love who or what ever I want to, no matter what the law says. Everyone wants their rights but where do we draw the line, who says what is acceptable and what is not. Just becasue we want somthing does not mean it is good and healthy. The more we accept the duller our core values become. Yeah this is my opinion but who is to say my opinion is wrong, and what set of guidlines are you basing your opinion on to say my opinion is wrong, who or what is the judge of right and wrong. Posted 11/18/2008 07:34:19 7. To linden buzzell John Shane "yes it is my opinion.both my own and that of GOD.it may not make sense to you.but thats ok " You can't provide evidence that the god you believe in even exists but you know what it's thinking... right. Posted 11/18/2008 12:50:05 8. to Andrew Heard John Shane "As we get more and more corrupt our society will fall further and further. If you look through out history the more a society falls away from the values that God has out in place the more corrupt, and evil it becomes. Over the years I have been alive which is not very many, only 35, I have seen things take place that I though I would never see. Whether we want to accept it or not this country was founded on Christian teachings and the more we go away from those beleifs the weaker our country will become, and the weaker it has become." That appears to be a statement of faith. Faith meaning belief despite the lack of evidence. "Anyone in their right mind can not look at our country and say we have gotten better as we continue to reduce our laws and values." That doesn't seem to say anything at all. "If we allow Gay marriage what is next. Where does it stop. Do we then allow any type of union, becuase if we are going to throw the word discrimination around to meet our personal wants and desires, where does that stop. " Care to provide one good reason for not allowing for legal civil gay marriage that doesn't boil down to either religious dogma or the yuck factor? "What if I want to marry a 12 year old, or an animal... " Have you ever heard of "informed consent". I guess not. 12 year old kids and dogs and trees and rocks and houses can't give informed consent. So they can't get married. "do we draw the line there. Or over time will that be allowed to. Becasue after all it is my right to love who or what ever I want to, no matter what the law says. Everyone wants their rights but where do we draw the line, who says what is acceptable and what is not. Just becasue we want somthing does not mean it is good and healthy. The more we accept the duller our core values become. Yeah this is my opinion but who is to say my opinion is wrong, and what set of guidlines are you basing your opinion on to say my opinion is wrong, who or what is the judge of right and wrong." Learn what equal protection of the law is and observe that allowing for legal civil gay marriage harms no one. It's wrong to harm people for no good reason. You have no good reason for disallowing legal civil gay marriage. None at all. Posted 11/18/2008 13:06:21 |
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