Minnesota voters will decide this November whether to add an amendment to that state’s constitution that would constitutionally eliminate the freedom to marry for same-sex couples, which is already illegal under state law. We’ve covered it rather extensively here at Truth Wins Out, especially because the state’s Catholic bishops have launched an aggressive campaign to lobby for passage of the discriminatory amendment.
The bishops’ spiritual bullying has upset a large portion of Minnesota’s Catholics (which is hardly surprising, given that a majority of Catholics nationwide support LGBT rights, and 58 percent endorse marriage equality). And according to the Star Tribune, they’re continuing to organize (emphasis mine):
About 20 Catholics sat on folding chairs and old sofas in Ed Burg’s basement, snacking on cookies and candy and talking about why they don’t like the proposed marriage amendment.
“It’s a matter of further restriction on gay or GLBT people of whom there are number in my family, particularly my son,” said Burg, 88, who attends St. Edward’s Catholic Church in Bloomington.
Last week’s meeting was one of several recently organized by Catholics who oppose the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, putting them at odds with Catholic bishops and underscoring the deep divide and tension among Catholics over the issue of gay marriage [sic]. On Wednesday, several hundred Catholics met in Minneapolis’ Loring Park to sing, dance, pray and show support for same-sex marriage.
Kate Brickman of the group Minnesotans United for All Families told the Star Tribune that pro-equality Catholics have had to meet in private homes and other non-Catholic spaces because church leaders won’t allow them to meet in Catholic spaces, due to the anti-gay views of the Catholic hierarchy.
Reporter Rose French asked political science professor Laura Olson, who has researched constitutional marriage discrimination amendments, why Minnesota’s Catholic bishops have chosen to make the push for marriage discrimination so prominent in parishes and dioceses across that state. Olson’s answer is rather revealing (again, emphasis mine):
Olson said bishops may believe the amendment has a good chance of failing and are putting a lot of energy into trying to get it passed, although such actions could have the opposite effect with some, who’d rather see church money used for “social justice issues.”
“Among Catholics, and this would be true in Minnesota and nationwide, you’ve got about a third who are pretty … traditional in their interpretation and adhere to what the bishops say. What the remaining two-thirds do is really the issue.”
Isn’t it unfair to call the bishop’s efforts “spiritual bullying?” They are standing up for what the church believes, articulating the faith for the faithful, which is what bishops are supposed to do. It would be surprising if they did anything else.
That said, I also have the following observations:
1 – There is never a shortage of money for what the bishops want, is there? How much is this campaign costing?
2 – Since the Catholic church does not share an understanding of marriage with Minnesota, or any other state, why is this matter their business? Is it because they are afraid a broadening of marriage under civil law will further weaken their claim upon the Catholic population? Yes.
3 – This matter, and others, are lessening respect for the Catholic hierarchy. It could be argued that the church is not a democracy where matters are up for a vote, and certainly not one in which opinion polls mean much. This things are true, yet if the bishops expect a contemporary congregation to accept “because I said so” as an answer after the massive scandals of the last ten years, it is only because they are willfully ignorant. The authority of their office was always enough in past decades, why isn’t it enough now? Because people don’t trust you anymore, Bishop, and rightly so.
Medwards, I agree with your observations, but I respond to your initial question by saying that it is not unfair to call the bishops’ efforts “spiritual bullying.”
The bishops have not just made an articulation of what they think the Catholic faith is. They have sent out videos, ordered sermons, forbidden priests and deacons and teachers from disagreeing with them, sent teams into high schools to get people to vote to have their opinions about marriage enacted into civil law.
They have disregarded the impact such actions would have on LGBT people and their families and on LGBT youths who are exposed to their campaign. They have disregarded the actual lives and experiences of LGBT people and the knowledge of mental health and counseling organizations in their campaign. They have lied about the impact same sex couples have on their children, they have called us “intrinsically disordered,” have ignored attacks against us and have demeaned our relationships.
I do know from personal experience and from my personal work with LGBT people that the impact of the messages they are giving to LGBT youths and others is profound and destructive. It is a direct attack on people’s sexual nature and gender identity.
If this is not “spiritual bullying,” I don’t know what is.
It would be more accurate to say that their expression of their faith requires them to engage in spiritual bullying. They are following the teachings of their church. And this particular teaching is evil. Hence, bullying.
BooBoo, it homosexuality that is evil, not Catholic teaching.
Steve, only that which harms others is evil. Gayness is by definition moral, Catholic teaching to oppress innocent gay people is by definition evil.
i understand how thievery is evil because it causes people to be hurt – they become victims of theft. I understand how gossip is evil because it causes people to be hurt – those spoken against. I understand how drug abuse and alcoholism is evil, because it causes people to harm not only their own bodies, but to harm others around them by causing them to lie to and manipulate their loved ones for a chance at the next fix.
By the same token, I do not understand how homosexuality is evil.
Medwards,
That “standing up for what they believe” is a disingenuous dodge. The KKK and Neo-Nazis are merely standing up for what they believe, yet no decent person today refrains from calling their hatred out for what it is. Anti-gay bigots may be “standing up for what they believe” but that doesn’t change the fact that what they’re standing up for is bigotry and discrimination. What’s more, they’re not being “persecuted” by people calling them on it.
Way to go, Buffy!
Medwards, the “Catholic heirarchy” have shown that they may not be worthy of respect. Do you want me to bring up some scandals that the heirarchy tried to cover up and wound up making the problem worse?
Medwards,
The catholick hierarchy is standing up for what those old closeted homosexual queens in the Vatican and their fellow-travelers want: to preserve the power and privileges that they have achieved through slithering their way to the top of this 1700 year old monarchical pyramid scheme. The catholick church is an accretion and amalgamation of all kinds of labyrinthine and often obtuse theological bungholery that utilizes misogyny and homophobia, guilt and fear, to maintain the status quo.
Re: Steve.
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”