Maine churches raising money to fight gay marriage

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAY_MARRIAGE_CHURCHES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-05-25-08-57-07

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Scores of Maine churches will pass the collection plate a second time at Sunday services on Father's Day to kick off a fundraising campaign for the lead opposition group to November's ballot question asking voters to legalize same-sex marriages.

Between 150 and 200 churches are expected to raise money for the Protect Marriage Maine political action committee, said Carroll Conley Jr., executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine evangelical organization and a member of the PAC. Conley is also trying to drum up support for the Maine campaign from religious leaders from around the country.

It's unusual, but not unheard of, for churches to take up collections for political causes. Maine's Catholic diocese says it raised about $80,000 with a designated collection in 2009 in its effort to overturn Maine's same-sex marriage law, which was passed by the Legislature that year and later rejected by voters. The Catholic Church isn't actively campaigning this time, instead focusing on teaching parishioners about the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

Father's Day, June 17, seemed an appropriate time to kick off this year's fundraising campaign because of the day's focus on family, Conley said. Additional collection-plate offerings at churches are expected in the months ahead.

[Scuba]

1. Then these "churches" need to lose their tax-exempt status.

[DCKit]

2. +1

How blatant does it have to be before some AG, somewhere, sets an example?

[William769]

3. +1.

[HillWilliam]

4. +1

... and recoup back-taxes for the last 30 years. Enough politicking from the pulpit. They don't want the state to have any say in their insane antics, yet they want ALL the say in government.

Hang them all, to a one.

[Zorra]

5. +1

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. This seriously pisses me off. My church isn't one of them because that's not the way we roll, but

I am disgusted to hear that this is going on in other churches. Whatever happened to separation of church and state?! Oh that's right, it only applies when convenient to the church!

[MountainLaurel]

7. Glad to know they've dealt with that poverty problem

That they can dedicate their time and money to curtailing other people's civil rights.

[47of74]

8. Reason oh f--k I lost track of why....

...I am not a Catholic anymore.