LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Don’t be fooled

Posted

TO THE EDITOR:

Angry protests from same-sex marriage supporters when defenders of marriage refer to God, faith and religion are common.

On the other hand, too frequently persons identifying as Catholic or Christian confuse others by denying what they should know by faith (as well as by natural law and reason) for the sake of so-called 'marriage equality'. (If they are overcome by sympathy or simply uninformed, still they are wrong in their stance.)

This is sad and hurtful, but no longer surprising.?What should surprise and concern all Rhode Islanders in the text of the newly proposed civil unions bill (HB 6103) is that, under "officials empowered to certify persons in civil unions", the number one slot is given to "Every ordained clergy or elder in good standing".

Considering that the empowerment of ordained clergy does not come from the state, nor is the state empowered to determine the "standing" of the church's clergy, what is this if not a sneaky attempt to divide the church, and "borrow" God as champion of relations that defy his own revealed design for marriage and family?

In his Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, Blessed John Paul II spoke "not only to those who believe in Christ, but to all persons committed to promoting and defending the common good of society" when he wrote "No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman" and "There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family.".

The civil union legislation clearly equates homosexual unions with marriage, despite its substitution of the term "civil union" for "marriage". It undermines marriage and family integrity, attacks the church (No cries of "Separation of Church and State!" now?), violates faith and conscience, and insults human dignity. ?Rhode Island Catholics, we need you to voice the unchanging truth about marriage, love and family.

Don't be fooled by double-talk and false accusations. Stand up and let all absurd and violent marriage legislation fall on its embarrassed face!

Joanne Ciocys?

Rumford, RI