PAWTUCKET—While he may have been cordial when offering his testimony in the last few months against the proposed same-sex marriage and civil unions bills before the Rhode Island legislature, Protestant Pastor Ernie Robillard says it’s now time for the gloves to come off.
Despite opposition to the passage of civil unions legislation from both sides of the issue during consideration of the bill, the full House overwhelmingly voted its support, with the Senate poised to decide on a bill currently before it.
Legislators just aren’t taking the will of the people into account in their decision- making on civil unions, the pastor of First Baptist Church in East Providence feels.
“You vote it in, we vote you out!” Pastor Robillard said emphatically Monday night during a Town Hall Meeting at Darlington Congregational Church in Pawtucket.
Led by Protestant and Baptist pastors from across the state, and promoted on its Web site by the National Organization for Marriage-Rhode Island, the meetings were designed to connect senators with their constituents to open a dialogue on civil unions.
While nearly all senators were invited to participate in one of seven meetings held Monday night across the state, response was minimal.
No senators attended the meeting at Darlington Congregational Church, but Rep. James N. McLaughlin (D-Cumberland/Central Falls), who is staunchly opposed to same-sex marriage and civil unions, did attend and speak to the gathering of about 20.
Legislators, he said, “need to be accountable.”
“All communities need to get more involved in this,” he said, noting that people should not be persuaded to vote civil unions into law as a means of providing same-sex couples some basic rights.
“Don’t believe it, there will be a court challenge,” he warned, with many seeing civil unions as merely a steppingstone to the eventual passage of a same-sex marriage law in the state.
Father Giacomo Capoverdi, pastor of St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, also attended the meeting and spoke to the gathering.
“I think Christians should bind together and rise up against this,” he said.
Father Capoverdi said that for a state that is 67 percent Catholic, he’s embarrassed that more who call themselves Catholic aren’t standing publicly in opposition to civil unions.
“Our freedoms do not come from man, they come from God himself,” he said. “Our whole belief system hinges on the fact that our inalienable rights come from God.”
“Our laws need to reflect a Judeo-Christian belief.”
Mike Krzywonos, who is a member of the diocese’s Human Life Guild, and also a member of St. Cecilia Parish, Pawtucket, echoed Rep. McLaughlin’s call to action.
“Everybody’s got to call their senators and them to vote no on this,” he said.
Debbie Cipalone, a member of Pastor Robillard’s congregation at First Baptist Church, said she’s been showing her support for the church’s position on civil unions all along.
“We know what God’s will is. To be silent in the face of evil is sin itself,” she said.
She is pleased that different denominations of Christian are banding together in opposition of civil unions.
“It is nice to have the Catholics and Protestants together as one in the body of Christ,” she said.
Diane Nelson, also a member of First Baptist Church, said the faithful have to put God above all else in their thinking on the issue.
“I absolutely feel we have to be God honoring,” she said.
Pastor Robillard said that with only five days notice, he was pleased with the turnout of people eager to oppose civil unions legislation overall.
“This is a good first,” he said.
He said he sees this time as a watershed moment for the faithful as it provides them with a religious perspective from which to cast their votes from now on if they’re not already doing so.
“This bill is a dangerous bill for the church, for the family and for the children,” he said. “We’re called to protect our children.”
Those who wish to send a message to their state senators may log onto www.faithfulcitizenri.org and click on the Action Alert link.
