I enjoyed reading Tom Holmes‘s thoughtful ‘Some Thoughts on Gay Marriage.’ [July 4, 2012] here are a few thoughts on the subject of my own: Gay marriage is a civil-rights issue, not a religious one. Were I, as a gay person, to decide to marry, I would do so in a civil ceremony only. My Catholic religion has made it abundantly clear that gay people are ‘second class citizens.” I have no desire to be where I am unwanted. However, as an American citizen I share the same rights as all other citizens, one of which is to marry whomever I choose.
People who persist in approaching the Bible as a literal handbook of behavior are fighting a battle that has been lost before on many fronts: these literalists used Scripture to justify slavery, denial of equal rights to women, racial intermarriage, etc. I believe that the Bible was made for man and not man for the Bible. The Bible was composed over a period of several thousand years by people who were struggling to create a stable society in a hostile desert environment. Their challenges and solutions were appropriate for their times but not for ours.
I believe that all American citizens are equal. I believe that God loves us all equally. I believe that we honor God by loving and caring for one another. I believe that pastors who preach inequality and prejudice are not doing God‘s work at all. Jesus never distinguished between homosexuals and heterosexuals. I believe that this lesson from the Master is the one we need to follow.
John Weglinski, Forest Park
