PROVIDENCE—As Rhode Island's House Judiciary Committee prepares to hear testimony this afternoon on legislation that would legalize homosexual marriage in the state, leaders of several faiths are showing their unity in opposing such a law.
Bishop Tobin has expressed dismay about the rush to push homosexual marriage in Rhode Island, noting it is “a decision with profound consequences.”
About 40 of the state’s Christian evangelical leaders have signed a resolution indicating their opposition to the legalization of same-sex marriage in Rhode Island.
“Marriage cannot be redefined,” said Pastor Roger L. Stafford, of Chepachet Union Church. “I really believe that marriage is the foundation of our society. It is a God given command and plan, right from when he created Adam and Eve.
“This is not an attack against homosexuality, but really a standard that needs to be maintained for all mankind,” he added. “If we break God’s standards no good will ever come from that. It never has and never will.”
Senior pastor Gene Giguere, of Harvest Community Church, Woonsocket, agrees.
“Marriage wasn’t something that man created. It was something that God created and sustains through all generations.”
“There’s a mystical unity that God creates at the point of marriage. It’s more than a social phenomenon; it’s a theological phenomenon.”
Bishop Tobin has found strong support for his position on same-sex marriage in Episcopal Bishop Geralyn Wolf and in Imam Farid Ansari, of the Muslim America Dawah Center of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement.
“As Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island, I firmly support the traditional definition of marriage as the union between one male and one female,” Bishop Wolf said in a statement released to Rhode Island Catholic in January. “I believe that Holy Matrimony is a sacred religious rite, whose definition should not be re-interpreted by legislation or civil courts.”
According to a statement released by the Media Committee of the Rhode Island for Muslim Advancement, the Islamic community of Rhode Island “affirms the standards set forth in the Torah, Gospel and Holy Qur’an on the issue of same-sex relationships and marriage.”
Imam Farid Ansari said the statement represents the opinion of seven different Muslim communities in the state.
“We echo the words of Bishop Tobin in that same-sex marriage is morally wrong,” Imam Ansari said in an interview with Rhode Island Catholic. “It leads us down a very slippery slope.”
The Rhode Island Orthodox Christian Clergy Fellowship, led by Father Andrew George, fellowship president, of Annunciation Parish, Cranston, issued a joint statement Tuesday regarding their unified stance in opposing same-sex marriage legislation.
“This new initiative to redefine who may marry breaks with all historic precedence,” the statement says. “We thus urge the Rhode Island legislature to reject such a notion of same sex marriage and reinforce that civil and religious marriage can only be performed between a man and a woman. Traditional marriage furthers and fosters the common good of civil society so we ask all citizens of the state to express their conviction for it and against this innovation.”
