Say it ain’t so!

The United Church of Christ’s rulemaking body voted overwhelmingly Monday to approve a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage…

[The resolution] also asks churches to consider supporting legislation granting equal marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples and to work against laws banning gay marriage.

[Source]

I do not endorse the institution of marriage, but I will endorse equality. It is absurd to deny equal rights to people, but it is even more absurd when the reasons for discrimination are backed by religion, but that’s nothing new.

I took a course last semester entitled, “Religion in America”, and unfortunately, the instructor limited our class discussions, not allowing for debate to take place. All but one of my classmates were religious, one even toting his Bible to class with him each day, and everyone had an opinion on the so-called gay marriage issue. All discussion was cut short before real dialogue could take place.

On a societal level, discussion of issues such as gay marriage works only to separate people onto different sides of some fictional fence – are you pro or anti? It is this separation and preoccupation with labels that keeps us from making real progress. We’re too concerned about who’s fucking who or what some holy book says, neglecting to examine that it is our governments and religions that are fucking us. I fear that when folks think about gay marriage, they think about two men or two women together sexually or think about what their holy book or preacher has told them, and not about who has the right to deny another person equal rights under the laws of this country.

It is beyond my brain capacity to fathom advocating for the denial of a beings’ rights.

Cheers for the UCC!