Recently, Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote in his column his support for the Manhattan Declaration in the "Chicago Catholic New World."The cardinal says he sees marriage as a principle, and reducing it to a matter of "politics or a question of "rights' is destructive of the social order.
According to the Catholic faith, marriage is limited to baptized personsa point that I think Cardinal George would have difficulty refuting. I will not get into the theological dynamic of this nor will I ignore the fact that the Cardinal has lost himself in the autocratic norm that says because I said it must be so. Sectarianism should never have the final word on who can and cannot get married. That is the place for law and not the church. The church is only a witness and not a legislator in a Catholic marriage.
As someone who is both gay and Catholic, I have difficulty with anyone who would promote his/her own religious dogmatic biases in order to trample on the rights of people who are both different and tax-paying citizens of this nation. There is an important point that is being overlooked by the signers of the Manhattan Declaration: Their position that marriage is sacramental is not shared by all of Christianity or among themselves.
Evangelical Christians joining with Roman Catholic Bishops to promote a vision of marriage that is not even shared with the rest of Christianity, arrogantly claim to speak for Christianity in the Manhattan Declaration. Evangelical leaders are divided. Dr. John MacArthur, an evangelical writer and minister, said, "The Gospel is barely mentioned in the Declaration."
Among the Catholic signers are those who reject Catholic and Orthodox doctrines that place church ecclesiastical authority equal to that of Scripture, among other things.
Gay marriage is a movement whose time has come; it is unfortunate the individuals such as Cardinal George continue to promote respectable bigotry, not unlike those of a redneck or Klan persuasion.
Joe Murray
Rainbow Sash Movement