Recently, the Catholic Archbishop of Louisville has been
heard from quite frequently on his staunch opposition to
recognizing relationships of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender Kentuckians. It seems to have become the
Archbishop's task as of late to draw attention to his
position. In response, the following OpEd, which
ran in Tuesday's Courier-Journal, was penned to
shed light on another religious perspective:
How Faith Speaks To
Fairness
By
Rev. Albert M. Pennybacker of Lexington
With the current court challenge to California's Proposition
8 forbidding same-sex marriages, religious views are again
surfacing. Some are blessed with insight, some with only clamor,
bias and stridency. It is critical that religion's positive
voice be heard.
Why? It
appears that the California case could be headed to the United
States Supreme Court. A definitive federal judgment upholding
the legality of same-sex marriage would result in striking down
state prohibitions including here in Kentucky. Now is the time
to sort out what we really believe.
Perhaps in
anticipation of this renewed effort to legalize same-sex
marriages, Catholic Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville
recently re-entered the debate, voicing again his and his
church's continuing vigorous opposition. Some other religious
leaders in our state share these views. The claim is that their
opposition is based in “a received truth” from God,
a classic absolutist religious stance. As such it is always one
of those human claims that closes off real discussion and across
the centuries has often led religious people into rigidity and
meanness. And then, it gives God an ugly face.
There are some
of us who hold a very different view, one equally grounded in a
living religious faith. We favor recognizing same-sex marriages.
That is, opposition is not the only or “true”
religious position. Deeper than doctrine or ecclesiastical
protocols, there is the religious affirmation of the humanity
common to us all — God's gift at the heart of human
dignity. There is “love your neighbor” ethics and
its consequences for our social policies and public life. There
is that wonderful vision of the ancient prophets captured in
Scripture: “They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy
mountain. ...”
The sad truth
is that religious bodies have done more than any other single
force to stigmatize and demean people over their sexual
orientation. The current opposition to same-sex marriage is one
more example. It is simply duplicitous for those holding that
view to claim “we embrace the dignity of those with
same-sex orientation.” It is not unlike the frequent
disclaimer “we hate the sin but love the sinner.”
How ingenuous! Remember, those religious leaders who hold to
such opposition are the ones who also oppose legal abortion,
divorce, embryonic stem cell research, the use of contraceptives
and any living together outside of marriage. It is a flawed
religious mind-set toward all human sexuality, with little sense
of the need for apology or change.
One contention
I find truly puzzling is that same-sex marriage does a
“grave injustice” to heterosexual marriage. After
having shared more than 50 years in a heterosexual marriage, I
dispute the notion that same-sex marriages diminish what I have
known. Nonsense! Rather, what heterosexual marriages may provide
in strengths, joys, graces and pleasures, including the pleasure
of sexual sharing, is exactly what I wish all people to
experience whatever their sexual orientation. Instead of being
defensive about heterosexual marriage, its positive values need
to be available to those with other that heterosexual
identities.
As religious
people building a view of same-sex marriage we need to clarify
our understanding of marriage itself. Marriage happens when any
two reasonably adult people faithfully and publicly commit
themselves to each other to build and share their life together,
hopefully for a lifetime. As such its nature is two-fold, as
much a secular as a religious institution. Though every
religious community has the right to bless marriages or not
according to its own precepts (which our Constitution protects),
no religious body has the right to control or pre-empt the
state's public interest in marriage.
When as a
pastor I officiated at weddings, often as many as 80 to 100 a
year, I did so in part as a representative of the state:
“...and by the power invested in me by the state of.
...” It continues to be so today (whereas in other
countries, two separate weddings typically occur: one secular
and the other religious). That bit of wedding ritual honors the
state's public side of marriage, what Theodore Olson as an
attorney in the current California case describes as a
“vital social institution.”
That being
true it becomes plainly discriminatory to exclude any American
from choosing and sharing in the benefits of marriage —
social, economic and yes, spiritual. We shall never experience
the human equality that lies at the heart of both the religious
heritage and the American vision until we rid ourselves of all
forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation. As an
American Christian and a Kentuckian with deep religious
commitments. I hold on to that American social vision, and I
hold on to it religiously as a healthy, democratic,
non-discriminatory and spiritually compatible hope for our
country.
The Rev.
Albert M. Pennybacker of Lexington is
an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ) and serves as Religious Advisor to the Kentucky Fairness
Alliance.
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The Ampersand symbolizes the
solidarity we are building through 
The
Statewide Fairness Coalition, which Kentucky Fairness Alliance
is a founding member, will convene the 2nd Statewide
Fairness Summit in Frankfort on January 16. The goal
of the Jan. 16 gathering will be to discuss a statewide
strategy against future anti-adoption legislation and towards
the passage of a statewide Fairness law that will protect all
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Kentuckians from
discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.
