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NJ Clerics join rally for GAY civil unions at Montclair State U
The Record of Hackensack ^ | 10.15.03

Posted on 10/15/2003 10:28:45 PM PDT by Coleus

Clerics join rally for GAY civil unions
 
Wednesday, October 15, 2003

MONTCLAIR - Clerics joined gay and lesbian rights activists from around the state Tuesday to support civil unions.

About 200 people squeezed into a hall at Montclair State University and offered enthusiastic applause and amens for the right of same-sex couples to marry.

A line of clergy members waiting to speak in support of the movement extended around the room and included priests, pastors, rabbis, and ministers.

Among those in the line was the Right Rev. John P. Croneberger, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, who said, "I get it.

"All we are asking for is for you to be able to make true what is already real," he said to a crowd filled with same-sex couples. "We're doing what God asked us to, and we're not going away."

The rally was a high-visibility response to religious conservatives, who are lobbying fiercely nationwide against same-sex marriage. President Bush has declared this week Marriage Protection Week, urging people to work ever harder to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage.

Social conservatives are heeding the call.

They are pledging to defeat any politician who is not firmly in their camp, and they rage against "judicial tyranny," as courts in the United States and Canada conclude that there is no constitutional basis for prohibiting same-sex marriage.

As a result, many religious conservatives are calling for a Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as only the union of one man and one woman - a move that would require approval by two-thirds of Congress and ratification by 38 states.

Michael Adams, director of education and public affairs at Lambda Legal, who helped organize Tuesday's rally, said the event is part of a series of town meetings around the state and is a fitting protest to Bush's call.

"This is a special opportunity for many clergy from around the state to express their support," Adams said.

The battle over same-sex marriage intensified this summer after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to strike down Texas' ban on sodomy. That decision is widely viewed as having opened the door to legalizing same-sex marriage. Such marriage is not yet legal in any state in the nation, although Vermont allows gay couples many of the benefits of marriage through "civil unions."

For their part, supporters of same-sex marriage say they're all for the idea of honoring marriage and family.

"We want to protect and strengthen marriage, too - by making it equally available to all families who want to protect themselves and their children," Adams said. Lambda represents the seven couples suing for marriage rights in New Jersey.

The biggest ovation was reserved for Cindy Meneghin, a faculty member at Montclair State and half of one of those couples.

She thanked the clergy for attending the event.

"Standing with us takes away that falsehood that the clergy doesn't want to see married people," she said.

She went on to stress the importance of civil unions to same-sex couples, but she said the lack of government acknowledgement cannot take away what she has, including her 29-year relationship with Maureen Kilian and their two children.

"We don't get the benefits of that $28 document," she said, referring to a marriage license.

"I'd like the state of New Jersey to realize that not giving me a marriage license does not make me unmarried."

Pastors gather at MSU to support gay marriages

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

MONTCLAIR - About 50 pastors from around the state gathered at a Montclair State University forum Tuesday night to express their support for gay marriage.

They were from diverse denominations with a large representation of Episcopal, Lutheran and Jewish leaders.

"Justice in this situation is making real what is already true," said the Rev. John Palmer Croneberger, the bishop of the Episcopal Newark Dioceses. "And that's the best definition of a sacrament I've ever heard."

The event was organized by Lambda Legal, a national legal organization representing seven New Jersey couples suing the state for the right to marry. The lawsuit argues that New Jersey statutes - which recognize marriage only between a man and a woman - violate the couples' rights to equal protection under the law, and their right to privacy when choosing a partner.

Two plaintiffs in the suit are Episcopal priests, and Episcopal clergy have turned up at previous meetings to rally support for the suit throughout the state. But Tuesday was the first time religious leaders came out en masse to express support for the suit.

They were assembling to show that not all clergy are against the cause, said the Rev. Hank Dwyer of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Clifton.

"It's not going to sway a judge's opinion, but I think it takes some of the wind out of the sails of those who claim that the entire religious community opposes gay marriage," Dwyer said.

In recent months, the debate over gay unions among religious denominations has heated up. In July, the Vatican said that supporting gay marriage would be "gravely immoral." In August, American Episcopal bishops recognized the practice of blessing same-sex unions. Most recently, a coalition of national conservative organizations, including the Christian Coalition, National Religion Broadcasters and the American Association of Christian Schools, designated Oct. 12-18 as Marriage Protection Week to "promote traditional marriage between a man and a woman."

"You can't add your own feelings into what God is saying," said Bill Thomson, chairman of the NJ Christian Coalition. "The Christian gospel says that one of God's commandments is to love your brother as yourself, but it also says you cannot be accepting of sin."

Just as conservative groups have invoked the Scripture to show how gay relationships are wrong, pastors on Tuesday night invoked the Bible and the Talmud to try to show a more inclusive view. The Talmud says, "that if you see injustice in this world and you don't do anything about it, you're responsible," said Peter Berg, a reform rabbi from Washington Township in Bergen County. "And I feel pretty damn responsible right now."

Other pastors emphasized that the fight for the right to same-sex marriages was less about religion than civil rights. "I urge you to urge people in your congregation who have no interest in this cause to come out and join this fight," said the Rev. David Wolf of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Paterson.

The Rev. Bruce H. Davidson, Lutheran pastor from Flemington, received some of the biggest applause of the night when he spoke against the religious right.

"It's time to take phrases like 'marriage protection' and assign it to the dust bin of history along with 'racial purity.' They both come from the same root: hate."

Reach Maya Kremen at (973) 569-7168 or kremenm@northjersey.com


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: academialist; catholiclist; gay; gayunions; homosexual; homosexualagenda; montclair; newjersey; nj; prisoners; religiousleft; sprint
Traditional foes form the core of opposition to gay marriage
Newark Star Ledger ^ | 10/7/03 | MARK O'KEEFE
1 posted on 10/15/2003 10:28:47 PM PDT by Coleus
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To: Coleus
No doubt they're liberal clerics.
2 posted on 10/15/2003 10:30:28 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: Blue Jays; lindasobers; Exit148; Calpernia; Hobsonphile; EdReform; scripter; Incorrigible; ...
`
3 posted on 10/15/2003 10:31:25 PM PDT by Coleus (Only half the patients who go into an abortion clinic come out alive.)
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To: Coleus
The Talmud says, "that if you see injustice in this world and you don't do anything about it, you're responsible," said Peter Berg, a reform rabbi from Washington Township in Bergen County. "And I feel pretty damn responsible right now."

I am so sick of liberals projecting their guilty feelings on the rest of society. If he and the Episcopal clergy are feeling guilty about denying their homosexual bretheren some 'right' to marriage, let them take care of it within their own faith communities, and leave the rest of society alone!

4 posted on 10/16/2003 9:56:48 AM PDT by SuziQ
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To: Coleus
Thanks for the heads up!
5 posted on 10/16/2003 10:35:56 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl (Please donate to Free Republic!)
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To: JerseyHighlander
`
6 posted on 10/16/2003 4:42:37 PM PDT by Coleus (Only half the patients who go into an abortion clinic come out alive.)
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To: Coleus
Good Evening All-

Coleus, there is never a lack of leftwinger material coming from Montclair State University...

~ Blue Jays ~

7 posted on 10/16/2003 11:00:01 PM PDT by Blue Jays (Rock Hard, Ride Free)
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To: Coleus
We are going to hell in a handbasket.
8 posted on 10/17/2003 8:22:49 PM PDT by Calpernia (Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does.)
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To: Calpernia
I agree with what you said. At least, "clerics" like these will get there first.

I'm reminded of a Grateful Dead song "Hell in a Bucket".
"I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride".

I hope they enjoy the ride.
9 posted on 10/17/2003 8:25:52 PM PDT by RightWingNut
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To: Coleus; GatorGirl; maryz; *Catholic_list; afraidfortherepublic; Antoninus; Aquinasfan; Askel5; ...
Yuck.
10 posted on 10/17/2003 8:32:50 PM PDT by narses ("The do-it-yourself Mass is ended. Go in peace" Francis Cardinal Arinze of Nigeria)
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