Shameful Archbishop Orders all WA Catholics to Vote Against Marriage Equality

Posted by Kevin Farrell on Jan 23, 2012 in Separation of Church & Prostate | 10 comments

Sartain taking marching order from il papa.

Same-sex marriage is just one single vote away from becoming the law here in Washington State, and the homophobes who use religion as an excuse to hate are freaking the F out.

How else can you explain Washington’s highest ranking Catholic, Archbishop J. Peter Sartain ordering all Catholics in the state to support a ban on marriage equality?

Upholding the present definition of marriage does not depend on anyone’s religious beliefs. Washington State’s present law defining marriage as “a civil contract between a male and a female” is grounded not in faith, but in reason and the experience of society. It recognizes the value of marriage as a bond of personal relationships, but also in terms of the unique and irreplaceable potential of a man and woman to conceive and nurture new life, thus contributing to the continuation of the human race. A change in legislation would mean that the state would no longer recognize the unique sacrifices and contributions made by these couples, thereby adding to the forces already undermining family life today.

For these reasons, we the Catholic Bishops of Washington State call on the citizens of this state to maintain the legal definition of marriage. We ask all to join in praying with us for married couples and families and to do everything possible to support them.

Sartain’s open letter also calls for mandatory anti-gay marriage sermons in all Washington Catholic churches and requires churches in all 175 parishes to print an anti-gay announcement in their weekly bulletins.

Every single bit of research on the subject of course shows that despite their marching orders, 63-71% of Catholics actually favor federal marriage equality, a rate higher than the national population at large. Sartain’s call to arms would appear to be a total waste of time and resources.

Still, all of this begs the questions Whose Rights Would Jesus Deny?

Anonymous

Flail, stragglers, flail.
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http://twitter.com/JGiessler James Giessler

Uhmmm… doesn’t this kind of political activism threaten their tax-exempt status?

http://www.facebook.com/jzishka Jeff Zishka

it damn well should
Anonymous

My understanding is that it does—if the right politician/DA/IRS official/whatever has the gumption to actually revoke it. What’s the Catholic Church’s annual income again?

It really is possible for that bishop to tell his flock whom Jesus would hate so they can apply it to their own lives, without telling them to go vote it and impose it on my life. That seriously should lose his organization its tax-exempt status.
Anonymous

Probably not. Generally speaking, non-profits are okay as long as they don’t directly endorse/support a candidate and don’t spend a substantial amount (20%, give or take) of their money on influencing the outcome of legislation.

Anonymous

Wah! I wish this were not true.

Anonymous

Even he admits that the definition of marriage has nothing to do with faith. This is a blatant and unapologetic attempt to use a religious a institution for advancing one’s own political agendas. =/
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http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000435136446 M Jerome Domini

“A change in legislation would mean that the state would no longer
recognize the unique sacrifices and contributions made by these couples,”
What an ignorant statement! A change in legislation stopping the discrimination against same sex couples, and allowing them to marry would have the opposite effect! It would mean that the state would be able to recognize the unique sacrifices and contributions made of even MORE couples.
Sadly, the RCC has a long and well documented history of genocide, thievery, brutality and marginalization of women and minorities, among other atrocities. They should be stripped of their tax exempt status, and stripped of their expensive robes. Their claim of a higher moral ground is ludicrous.
Yes, I grew up in a catholic family, catholic schools, married in the church, etc.
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Anonymous

The catholics are a cult and worship false idols.
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http://www.facebook.com/people/Richard-Hunt/1111684615 Richard Hunt

The question is, how many of those paritioners are following the teachings of their church, and how many are still practicing birth control. The Catholic church is losing followers by the droves because of their arcane, out of date, “rules” and commandants.

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