Why Churches Fear Gay Marriage

[sjbouza]

I have came across this article in my meanderings on the internet today. It is "Why Churches Fear Gay Marriage", it is an interview with gay Catholic author Richard Rodriguez. I found it very insightful and a found myself thinking, "wow that makes sense" quite a few times.

It is long, 3 pages, but it is well worth the time to read through. I have quoted a few of his answers here to tantalize your mind.

You said recently the real issue behind the anti-gay marriage movement is the crisis in the family. What do you mean?

American families are under a great deal of stress. The divorce rate isn't declining, it's increasing. And the majority of American women are now living alone. We are raising children in America without fathers. I think of Michael Phelps at the Olympics with his mother in the stands. His father was completely absent. He was negligible; no one refers to him, no one noticed his absence.

The possibility that a whole new generation of American males is being raised by women without men is very challenging for the churches. I think they want to reassert some sort of male authority over the order of things. I think the pro-Proposition 8 movement was really galvanized by an insecurity that churches are feeling now with the rise of women...

Speaking of hypocrisy, churches have plenty of sexual skeletons in their closet.

Right. The Mormon Church has this incredible notoriety in America for polygamy and has been persecuted because of it. The very church that became notorious because of polygamy is now insisting that marriage is one man and one woman...

Then there is the Roman Catholic Church, my own church, which has just come off this extraordinary season of sexual scandal and misbehavior in the rectory against children. The church is barely out of the court and it's trying to assume the role of governor of sexual behavior, having just proved to America its inability to govern its own sexual behavior....

I wonder if these churches sense they're losing some of the influence they've had for the past eight years.


To my knowledge, the churches have not accepted responsibility for the Bush catastrophe. Having claimed, in some cases, that Bush was divinely inspired and his election was the will of God, they have failed to explain why the last eight years have been so catastrophic for America.

Well I hope those little snipits will peak your interest. As I said it is a very insightful article. I am interested to see what others thoughts are on the article.

Peace,
Scott

[tdogg]

Well, without having read the article yet (but I will), I agree especially with the first point. I think as long as dominant men (especially 'religious') can morally and legally perceive GLBT people to be 2nd class citizens, then they can continue to hold their women on a slightly lesser level than themselves but still exalted over GLBT. Once we have equality, there will be no extra layers on which to keep their women, who will then be on a level equal to the men. In other words, one of the perks of oppressing GLBT is also keeping your womenfolk suppressed.

Ok, now I'll go read the article.

[Rick336]

Scott,

That's a great article. It makes a lot of sense. Thanks for posting it.

Rick

[pnggrad79]

I agree. It makes a lot of sense. But the traditional family had fractures since the beginning of time. Cain killed Abel and was cursed forever. Ham covered up his naked, drunk father, and was cursed. David, a man after God's own heart, slept around, got a girl pregnant, then had her husband killed. Hosea married a prostitute. Jeremiah struggled with depression. Moses married an outsider. I mean the Bible is replete with family dysfunction and human struggles. Why then does the religious right think that we are gonna be any different? Amazingly, Jesus came in spite of our humanness. No generation is without its examples of family dysfunction.

If the traditionalists really want to hang on to this tradition, they are doing a good job. Their families are fractured because they are human and are part of the human condition-fractured! We are all fractured because we are human! These people need to stop hoping and wishing for a Stepfordville and start living in the reality. If their marriages are in trouble, then maybe we need to revamp the whole system, and start working on our dysfunctional selves.

It has always been about power. Straight men aren't confident enough in their own manhood so they have to keep their women down in order to feel good about themselves. What a sick mindset! But don't go blaming the gays for that. We have our own issues, trust me!

[Alecto]

pngrad: I read your post and found myself offended, and it got me thinking that maybe that's a part of the threat. Because you list many things that are "fractured", that are potential barriers to a happy family life. And two loving parents caring for children...it seems like the genders of those parents shouldn't really be a barrier (with a few very specific exceptions, I guess). And it occurs to me that maybe that is in and of itself a part of the threat. Divorce isn't great, but it's not a threat to the extent that people will try to outlaw it. Adultery isn't great, but it's not flat out illegal either. Why? These things have just enough stigma attatched that they don't represent a threat. These differences in family structures are being supported as real-world instances that happen, but secretly and shamefully. They represent failures. Gay families, on the other hand, represent a "Different" (note the capitol D) family structure that's not offered as inferior in any way, we're not hanging our heads and asking to be dealt with, we're saying that we exist, have families, and that our families are EQUAL (legally and morally and spiritually) to other families.

[pnggrad79]

No offense intended, Alecto. I was merely responding to the article and agreeing with the author that some straight people want to blame gay people for the fractures in their lives, when in reality we are all fractured. The religious establishment wants everyone to believe they have it all together, and they don't, not by a long shot. Moreover, I don't really think God expects us to live this Stepford existence. Being a Christian doesn't mean you don't struggle or have issues. In fact, you may have more. So don't try to hide it or gloss it over, just accept that you are flawed and glory in God's grace. That is the point I was making. Sorry you were offended.

[Alecto]

No worries: looking at why I was offended got me thinking.