Religious Education Update: June 15, 2008
Gay Marriage
For many UU’s, this week will be a historic time of celebration for the triumph of individual freedom. This week, many committed couples will marry, including my friends David Jones and Don Williams, members of the San Francisco UU church. In July, another friend of mine is marrying her partner of 17 years, and I will have the great honor af playing my trumpet as part of a small ensemble at her wedding reception.
As UU’s, we can rightfully be proud of our denomination’s leadership is promoting the civil rights of all loving couples. For me, the right to marry the person one loves is necessary for the pursuit of happiness promised by our Declaration of Independence so long ago.
My hope is that future generations will consider the right of gays to marry as a given. I take heart in the majority acceptance of this right by California’s current young adults.
But what of the religious right’s strong conviction that gay marriage is morally wrong? A quick look at history tells me that passages from the Bible were used to justify slavery in the Civil War era. "[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation...it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts." Jefferson Davis, President, Confederate States of America. In 1884, the Rev. H. M Goodwin, argues against Women’s Suffrage, “Scripture, declares man to be the “head of the woman” and of the family, and for the same reason he is the proper head and ruler of the State.”
Society is ever changing, and I foresee a day in our children’s future when laws against gay marriage will be a dim memory, much as laws supporting slavery or opposing women’s right to vote have faded from our view.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
For many UU’s, this week will be a historic time of celebration for the triumph of individual freedom. This week, many committed couples will marry, including my friends David Jones and Don Williams, members of the San Francisco UU church. In July, another friend of mine is marrying her partner of 17 years, and I will have the great honor af playing my trumpet as part of a small ensemble at her wedding reception.
As UU’s, we can rightfully be proud of our denomination’s leadership is promoting the civil rights of all loving couples. For me, the right to marry the person one loves is necessary for the pursuit of happiness promised by our Declaration of Independence so long ago.
My hope is that future generations will consider the right of gays to marry as a given. I take heart in the majority acceptance of this right by California’s current young adults.
But what of the religious right’s strong conviction that gay marriage is morally wrong? A quick look at history tells me that passages from the Bible were used to justify slavery in the Civil War era. "[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation...it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts." Jefferson Davis, President, Confederate States of America. In 1884, the Rev. H. M Goodwin, argues against Women’s Suffrage, “Scripture, declares man to be the “head of the woman” and of the family, and for the same reason he is the proper head and ruler of the State.”
Society is ever changing, and I foresee a day in our children’s future when laws against gay marriage will be a dim memory, much as laws supporting slavery or opposing women’s right to vote have faded from our view.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
posted by Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma @ 9:02 PM
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