Some Washington state churches in split over gay marriage

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Some Washington state churches in split over gay marriage

By Nicole Neroulias

SEATTLE | Sat Apr 14, 2012 6:08pm EDT

(Reuters) - A handful of Roman Catholic churches in Washington state, whose Catholic governor signed a law allowing gay marriage earlier this year, have refused to circulate a petition endorsed by their archbishop to repeal the law, congregation leaders said.

Opponents of same-sex marriage, due to go into effect this summer in the state, have been rallying conservative religious leaders to gather the 120,577 signatures they need by June 6 to secure a spot on the November 2012 ballot for their repeal push.

A bulletin from Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, who testified against the gay marriage bill, and the Washington State Catholic Conference has asked parishes to participate in the signature-gathering effort and "do everything you can to uphold the traditional definition of marriage in our state."

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But the archdiocese technically left it up to congregation leaders to decide whether to directly collect signatures, and seven Seattle-area parishes have opted against it. The petitions were expected to begin circulating in many churches on Sunday.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/14/us-usa-gaymarriage-washington-idUSBRE83D0G220120414

[William769]

1. Good!

[TriMera]

2. Their momentum is actually building and the group,

Catholics for Marriage Equality Washington, now has a Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/CatholicsForMarriageEqualityWashingtonState

I left the Church a long time ago, but I will support their efforts and I'm glad they are on our side.

[RKP5637]

3. Anti-gay marriage people are often fond of saying gays are a very very

tiny part of the population. So here's what I don't get, are they that afraid their hetro marriages are that fragile, that they are going to fail.

I think in MA, for example, only 15k gay marriages have occurred to date. Not a very significant number in comparison to hetro marriage. Yet, they freak out over gay marriage. Do they think like suddenly 50% of the population is going to suddenly turn gay.

With the repeal of DADT, has the US military suddenly been renamed the US Gay Military because so many are suddenly gay.

Imagine what would have happened if all civil rights victories in the US had been challenged by referendums.

Religion in this country is given way too much importance IMO. That said, I'm pleased to hear some have refused to circulate a petition endorsed by their archbishop to repeal the law. Excellent.

We need to move into the 21st century.