JJT
09-09-2004, 02:00 PM
I still don't understand how "religion" and "marriage" have anything to do with each other. But, that is my opinion. Here is what is happening in Oreon:
Oregon Catholic board lends support to Measure 36
Mormons issue a statement endorsing the proposal to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage
Thursday, September 09, 2004 BILL GRAVES
The Oregon Catholic Conference, representing the state's 425,000 Roman Catholics, will support a measure to ban same-sex marriage when its board meets Friday, said Robert Castagna, general counsel and executive director.
"The church is not telling people how to vote," Castagna said. "The church offers its moral teaching and better judgment not only to Catholics, but to all people of good will."
The church has opposed or stayed neutral on anti-gay rights initiatives in the past, but leaders say they are supporting Measure 36 because it deals with marriage, a holy sacrament for Roman Catholics.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also issued a statement Wednesday saying it "favors a constitutional amendment preserving marriage as a lawful union of a man and a woman." The church counts 139,507 Mormons in Oregon, including an estimated 60,000 in the Portland area.
"We believe marriage is between a man and a woman," said Myron Child, a spokesman for Portland-area Mormon churches. "We see this as a moral issue."
Measure 36 on the Nov. 2 ballot would amend the state constitution to recognize marriage only between a man and a woman.
Other Christian denominations take varying positions on the measure, and individual congregations are divided, said David Leslie, executive director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, which represents 17 Christian denominations, including Catholics.
"Some are more comfortable with civil unions, some with civil marriage, and some are not comfortable at all using the word marriage," he said. The issue is part of a long-standing struggle within churches over gays and lesbians, he said.
Archbishop John Vlazny of the Archdiocese of Portland was not available for comment, but he has written columns in the Catholic Sentinel this year describing his views on marriage. On April 15, he wrote that marriage is a sacrament sanctified by God through Jesus Christ.
"Their union no longer involves two persons, but three, husband, wife and the Lord," he wrote. "In a sacramental marriage, our God is very much a partner in that union and for that reason the church has very strict rules regarding separation, divorce and remarriage.
"There simply is no sacramental marriage without a man and a woman."
Catholics take seriously what their leaders suggest, said Patricia O'Connell Killen, a religion professor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma who has studied Catholicism in America and religion in the Northwest. But, she adds, "All the surveys that have been done over the past 30 years show an increasing trend of Catholics relying on their own consciences more than they rely on formal teaching."
So while some Catholics will heed the Oregon Catholic Conference's endorsement, others won't be swayed, said Killen, who is chairman of the the religion department at Pacific Lutheran.
"Generally speaking, across the board for Catholics and every other denomination," she said, "ordinary people in the pew will affirm what any official body declares if they already agree with it. If they don't, it doesn't tend to have much impact on how they sort out their thinking, their behavior or their voting."
Joan O'Neill, a retired Portland attorney and Catholic, said she will vote against Measure 36.
"My personal opinion is homosexuality is a biological and genetic condition, and they are entitled to the rights and comforts of either marriage or a similar civil union." she said. "Catholics make up their own minds. Church positions on matters of politics and legislation, in my opinion, don't make a difference."
Both sides in the Measure 36 campaign have lists of supporting churches.
The Defense of Marriage Coalition, the group that collected signatures for the initiative and is now campaigning for its passage, has relied heavily on churches for support.
The Catholic conference's explicit statement in support of Measure 36 will remove all doubt for anyone questioning where the church stands, said Georgene Rice, communications director for the Defense of Marriage Coalition.
No on Constitutional Amendment 36, a coalition fighting the measure, called the Catholic church's position "unfortunate."
Failure of the measure would not "require the Catholic Church to perform any kind of marriage that it doesn't want to perform," said Rebekah Kassell, press secretary. "It really reflects the disagreement going on with a number of faith communities on this issue."
The board of the Oregon Catholic Conference has taken positions on gay rights in the past. It opposed an anti-gay rights initiative in 1992, declined to support a second anti-gay rights measure in 1994 and took no position on a third in 2000. All three were defeated.
The conference also has taken positions on other ballot issues. It opposed, for example, Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law in 1994 and supported a measure to repeal it in 1997.
The Oregon Catholic Conference board includes Vlazny, Bishop Robert F. Vasa of the Diocese of Baker in Eastern Oregon, Bishop Kenneth Steiner and Father Dennis O'Donovan.
The board will meet Friday in Portland with its 12-member public policy committee, which includes priests, religious sisters and lay members of the church, to develop its statement on Measure 36 and whether to take a position on five other ballot measures.
Bill Graves: 503-221-8549; billgraves@news.oregonian.com
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Oregon Catholic board lends support to Measure 36
Mormons issue a statement endorsing the proposal to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage
Thursday, September 09, 2004 BILL GRAVES
The Oregon Catholic Conference, representing the state's 425,000 Roman Catholics, will support a measure to ban same-sex marriage when its board meets Friday, said Robert Castagna, general counsel and executive director.
"The church is not telling people how to vote," Castagna said. "The church offers its moral teaching and better judgment not only to Catholics, but to all people of good will."
The church has opposed or stayed neutral on anti-gay rights initiatives in the past, but leaders say they are supporting Measure 36 because it deals with marriage, a holy sacrament for Roman Catholics.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also issued a statement Wednesday saying it "favors a constitutional amendment preserving marriage as a lawful union of a man and a woman." The church counts 139,507 Mormons in Oregon, including an estimated 60,000 in the Portland area.
"We believe marriage is between a man and a woman," said Myron Child, a spokesman for Portland-area Mormon churches. "We see this as a moral issue."
Measure 36 on the Nov. 2 ballot would amend the state constitution to recognize marriage only between a man and a woman.
Other Christian denominations take varying positions on the measure, and individual congregations are divided, said David Leslie, executive director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, which represents 17 Christian denominations, including Catholics.
"Some are more comfortable with civil unions, some with civil marriage, and some are not comfortable at all using the word marriage," he said. The issue is part of a long-standing struggle within churches over gays and lesbians, he said.
Archbishop John Vlazny of the Archdiocese of Portland was not available for comment, but he has written columns in the Catholic Sentinel this year describing his views on marriage. On April 15, he wrote that marriage is a sacrament sanctified by God through Jesus Christ.
"Their union no longer involves two persons, but three, husband, wife and the Lord," he wrote. "In a sacramental marriage, our God is very much a partner in that union and for that reason the church has very strict rules regarding separation, divorce and remarriage.
"There simply is no sacramental marriage without a man and a woman."
Catholics take seriously what their leaders suggest, said Patricia O'Connell Killen, a religion professor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma who has studied Catholicism in America and religion in the Northwest. But, she adds, "All the surveys that have been done over the past 30 years show an increasing trend of Catholics relying on their own consciences more than they rely on formal teaching."
So while some Catholics will heed the Oregon Catholic Conference's endorsement, others won't be swayed, said Killen, who is chairman of the the religion department at Pacific Lutheran.
"Generally speaking, across the board for Catholics and every other denomination," she said, "ordinary people in the pew will affirm what any official body declares if they already agree with it. If they don't, it doesn't tend to have much impact on how they sort out their thinking, their behavior or their voting."
Joan O'Neill, a retired Portland attorney and Catholic, said she will vote against Measure 36.
"My personal opinion is homosexuality is a biological and genetic condition, and they are entitled to the rights and comforts of either marriage or a similar civil union." she said. "Catholics make up their own minds. Church positions on matters of politics and legislation, in my opinion, don't make a difference."
Both sides in the Measure 36 campaign have lists of supporting churches.
The Defense of Marriage Coalition, the group that collected signatures for the initiative and is now campaigning for its passage, has relied heavily on churches for support.
The Catholic conference's explicit statement in support of Measure 36 will remove all doubt for anyone questioning where the church stands, said Georgene Rice, communications director for the Defense of Marriage Coalition.
No on Constitutional Amendment 36, a coalition fighting the measure, called the Catholic church's position "unfortunate."
Failure of the measure would not "require the Catholic Church to perform any kind of marriage that it doesn't want to perform," said Rebekah Kassell, press secretary. "It really reflects the disagreement going on with a number of faith communities on this issue."
The board of the Oregon Catholic Conference has taken positions on gay rights in the past. It opposed an anti-gay rights initiative in 1992, declined to support a second anti-gay rights measure in 1994 and took no position on a third in 2000. All three were defeated.
The conference also has taken positions on other ballot issues. It opposed, for example, Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law in 1994 and supported a measure to repeal it in 1997.
The Oregon Catholic Conference board includes Vlazny, Bishop Robert F. Vasa of the Diocese of Baker in Eastern Oregon, Bishop Kenneth Steiner and Father Dennis O'Donovan.
The board will meet Friday in Portland with its 12-member public policy committee, which includes priests, religious sisters and lay members of the church, to develop its statement on Measure 36 and whether to take a position on five other ballot measures.
Bill Graves: 503-221-8549; billgraves@news.oregonian.com
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