Monday, September 2, 2013

Same-sex marriage debate goes to the pulpits

From Hawaii-

Two religious leaders in Hawaii are engaged in a debate over same-sex marriage, a debate that ensued after an Episcopal minister preached a sermon critical of Hawaii's Catholic bishop.

The Roman Catholic Church is one of the largest religious denominations in Hawaii, with more than 200,000 members in the islands. Bishop Larry Silva recently wrote what he called an "urgent letter to all Catholics regarding same-sex marriage."

In the letter, the bishop said the Catholic Church is clear that true marriage can only be between one man and one woman.

"Marriage is an institution, not a person," Silva told Hawaii News Now. "And when we're talking about an institution, we have to be discriminating between what is true marriage and what is not true marriage."

Being against same-sex marriage, according to Silva, is not unjust discrimination.

"When we're talking about gay people and straight people, we're all equal in dignity, no doubt about that," said Silva. "And there's no excuse for unjust discrimination against either."

In the letter, Silva wrote, "We discriminate quite justly between adults and minors, even though both have equal dignity. We justly discriminate between those who are married and those who are not, because marriage is a special societal bond that assures the continuation of the race in the context of raising children."

More here-

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/23314694/same-sex-marriage-debate-goes-to-the-pulpits

No comments: