On the Boardwalk (Must civil unions be performed on religious property?)

Wall Street Journal ^ | October 12, 2007 | Julia Vitullo-Martin

[reaganaut1]

The bitter dispute ripping apart the social fabric of Ocean Grove, N.J., a lovely Victorian enclave 40 miles south of Manhattan, began simply enough. Long-time residents Harriet Bernstein, 65, a retired schoolteacher, and Luisa Paster, 60, a Princeton University staff developer, wanted to celebrate their civil union on the town's boardwalk pavilion. The ceremony would have been legal, since New Jersey in 2004 had become the fifth state in the nation to recognize homosexual civil unions.

But Ocean Grove isn't just any pretty town. Founded as a Methodist camp in 1869, it was the first permanent camp meeting dedicated to the pursuit of both holiness and recreation, according to historian Troy Messenger, author of "Holy Leisure: Recreation & Religion in God's Square Mile."

Ocean Grove has remained a religious retreat for its entire existence. Its leaders adhere to the Methodist Book of Discipline, which warns that "ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches." Thus, says executive director Scott Hoffman, they cannot permit the civil union ceremony. "We own 100% of the land, including parks, beach, boardwalk, and a thousand feet of riparian rights, granted by the state. We worship on the boardwalk, and cannot allow activity in opposition to our deeply held religious beliefs."

[reaganaut1]

Why can't the lesbians conduct their civil union somewhere else? We're supposed to approve of gays, but they don't need to respect the religious beliefs of others.

[NRA1995]

Oh, great, the Democrats have another Harriet and Luisa to beat us over the head with!

[Anonymous Rex]

It’s homosexuals like these that cause the backlash against the rest.

They don’t have a right to marry wherever they want, the only have a right to enter into a civil union. Nowhere does it say those civil unions must be able to be performed anyplace the entrants wish.

[Anonymous Rex]

It’s homosexuals like these that cause the backlash against the rest.

They don’t have a right to marry wherever they want, the only have a right to enter into a civil union. Nowhere does it say those civil unions must be able to be performed anyplace the entrants wish.

[Binstence]

In short, the only thing that stands between homosexuals and self-acceptance
is the Holy Bible, new and old hence the bitter hatred of so called “gays” of the faithful who believe the Bible to be the incorruptible word of God. Gays don’t want equality, they seek authority over detractors and due to the average schlub succumbing to decades of pro-gay propaganda, they are in dangerously close range of achieving their evil goal. The more “special protections” the homosexual politicos gain the more power they have to destroy the church. As we speak there are pastors of conscience in Canada and Europe who are in prison for speaking biblical truth in their sermons. Some people are clearly more equal than others. People of faith are rapidly becoming second class citizens in their own country. The gays are winning. In the US, the right to wed is the right to get married in church. Ultimately the goal of the homo-fascists is to use discrimination laws to cost churches their tax free status if they fail to marry gays in the identical way they do heterosexuals. Don’t believe me? They succeeded in doing exactly that to the Boy Scouts of America. Evil is triumphing. Who’s fault is it? Not the evil radical gays, but the fearful majority who sits silently and does nothing. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men (Freepers) do nothing.”
Attributed to Edmund Burke.

[mtbopfuyn]

Then in 1979 the New Jersey Supreme Court stripped Ocean Grove and the CMA of their judicial and police powers

While I'm totally against gay "marriage", it doesn't sound like it's against the law to perform any sort of marriage there. Besides, didn't God create the entire Earth making it all sacred?

[backwaterball]

This is a situation that we all need to follow closely. The law says they can have a civil union, but it gives them no rights as to where the ceremony can take place. If the government decides that they can have the ceremony on the boardwalk its a short leap to the actual church. God help us all

[pandoraou812]

Ocean Grove has remained a religious retreat for its entire existence.

I live near Ocean Grove & know it well. The Gays have been buying the beautiful old houses there for many years now. Same as Asbury Park. Its been a long time since the ban on alcohol in the Grove. Or the ban of cars on the weekends. There is still a religious retreat but the Gays are taking the town over IMO.

The Gays don't need to be doing this. They could easily get married in Asbury Park or somewhere else. Its all about them as usual.

[Binstence]

That’s why I affectionately refer to the so called “gay” community as:
The narcissistic cult of conspicuous sexuality. It is in fact a death cult.

[RedBloodedPatriot]

The funny thing about all this is that homosexual ‘relationships’ don’t even last that long. In Massachusetts their ‘marriages’ are already falling apart at an astounding rate. In other areas of the country, homosexual civil unions are terminated as fast as they swap partners. It’s going to be harder and harder for homosexual activists to perpetuate the lie that they’re healthy when these negative statistics keep piling up.

[pandoraou812]

It is in fact a death cult.

I get so mad when the Garden State Equality Group starts pushing their gay agenda in the schools with their movies. I won't allow my 8 yr old to read the gay books or see the movies. I want to know if the children are told the dangers of being Gay after their movies like Its Ok To Be Gay are shown. I highly doubt it. They wouldn't tell the kids about the danger of AIDS, STD'S etc. I don't see why they're called Gay either. All the ones I never knew were not happy people.

[Binstence]

You must stand firmly and encourage other parents to do the same. Radical gay apostates will stop at nothing in an effort to indoctrinate the unformed minds of children for their own twisted designs. Keep in mind that the scandal that nearly destroyed the Catholic church at its very core was a gay pedophile scandal not anything that the church teaches. It was in the church’s decision to loosen the rules and make excuses for the predatory gay clergy that caused immeasurable damage to the church. If they had stuck to the word of God and not allowed the liberal elements of the church twist theology during the 60s and 70s there would have been no scandal. Isn't it funny that wherever you have gays and children together you can be almost certain that child abuse will eventually be revealed? The altered mind alters all. It is no coincidence that gay groups use the word Pride as a mission statement and as we all know, “Pride goeth before destruction”. The legacy of Sodom is a legacy of destruction.

[pandoraou812]

You must stand firmly and encourage other parents to do the same.

Thank you for the advice. I plan to stand firm and try to get other parents to understand what great harm this is doing to our children & families. I also plan to take a firm stand with the school. They are there to teach children education , not meddle in what they have no business in. ~P~

[pandoraou812]

POST 13 was meant for you. ~P~

[pray4liberty]

On the Boardwalk (Must civil unions be performed on religious property?)

Where's the ACLU and their 'separation of church and state" argument?