A Mess In Massachusetts CRISIS Magazine - e-Letter November 20, 2003 ********************************************** Dear Friend, I want to mention a couple things quickly before I get to the main point of this letter... First, last night the Senate passed by unanimous consent Resolution 313, awarding the Congressional Medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II. This is nice news, and I'm pleasantly surprised that it passed without objection. Second, the spokesman for Archbishop O'Malley of Boston released a statement yesterday giving at least indirect support to Voice of the Faithful. This is pretty troubling and we're going to try to find out what's going on there... I'm going to shoot you an email tomorrow to fill you in on what we discover (so be on the lookout for it). But the main reason I emailed you today is this... As you probably already know, the Massachusetts Supreme Court decided on Tuesday that it was unconstitutional to exclude homosexuals from marriage. This wasn't much of a surprise. With the current social fashions prevailing in our courts today, it's almost a foregone conclusion that justices will be dealing loose and free with the Constitution, inserting rights that they're sure the framers would have included had they only been as enlightened as the judges. Well, this battle may be over, but the war rages on. I spoke with Dan Avila and Maria Parker at the Massachusetts Catholic Conference yesterday to see where we go from here. This is what they told me... First of all, while the justices said that marriage should be open to homosexuals, they limited their reading to include couples only and added some language against incest. At least that puts to rest the case for polygamists... for now, anyway. Of course, the decision to recast marriage in these terms is totally arbitrary; otherwise, why would the court reject some distinctions and embrace others? The language of the court's opinion implies that restricting marriage to a man and a woman is the product of outdated prejudice that should be abandoned. The majority stated that “the marriage restriction is rooted in persistent prejudices against persons who are (or who are believed to be) homosexual,” and that “the Constitution cannot control such prejudices but neither can it tolerate them.... The law cannot, directly or indirectly, give them effect.” Forget thousands of years of history or the core teachings of the world's major religions. Nope, marriage restrictions are rooted in our own backward prejudices. Or so the four Massachusetts judges in the majority have determined. It's becoming more and more common that speaking out against homosexual marriage will now get you labeled a bigot and extremist. I said as much in a column for CRISIS a few months back titled “Are We All Bigots Now?” After Sen. Rick Santorum drew fire for his statements expressing concern over homosexual acts, it became all too clear that traditional Christian (and Jewish and Muslim) morality was no longer tolerated in the political sphere. There are few options that the state legislature has at this point. The court gave the legislature 180 days to change the laws dealing with marriage, but not much can happen in such a short time frame. They can still work to pass a marriage amendment to the state constitution, explicitly defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The problem is, that's a long process that couldn't even begin until 2004. Voting on the amendment might not occur until 2006, at the earliest. By that point, countless marriage licenses would already have been issued and the institution of gay marriages and families will be deeply entrenched... and hard to fight. Not only that, but now that opposition to homosexual marriage has become an issue of discrimination, the law will not tolerate those who disagree with it. For example, institutions will now have to change their employment policies and benefits packages to recognize homosexual partners. The Catholic Church, with all its schools, hospitals, and charities, would be no different. And yet to recognize these unions would go directly against our beliefs. The decision goes far beyond merely recognizing same-sex couples legally; those who disagree with the validity of same-sex marriages can be censored for their beliefs. So what do we do now? Well first of all, we can't give up fighting. The members of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference have dedicated themselves to doing everything in their power to fight for a constitutional marriage amendment. I felt confident after talking to Dan and Maria that they won't leave a single stone unturned. Additionally, the Massachusetts Family Institute, headed up by Ron Crews, is working overtime. The public policy research organization is the leading group sponsoring the marriage amendment. This morning, Crews, told us that he thinks the votes are there to pass it and that they've actually gained support since the court ruling. Mayor Mitt Romney has also pledged to work for the amendment. He said, “I agree with 3,000 years of recorded history. Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman... and our constitution and laws should reflect that.” It's encouraging to know that he stands firmly against the latest decision; I hope he'll work alongside the Catholic Conference and the Massachusetts Family Institute to get the job done. In order for the amendment to pass, it must receive the support of 101 of the 160 senators and representatives currently serving. Records show that a majority of those legislators are Democrats... and Catholics. Now is the time for Catholics in Massachusetts to appeal to those legislators to vote in favor of the amendment. And it's never too early for us to start pushing for similar amendments in our own state. Massachusetts may be the first to welcome gay marriage, but unless we act, it certainly won't be the last. Deal P.S. I have a new book out from Crossroads Publishing called An American Conversion: One Man's Discovery of Beauty and Truth in Times of Crisis. In it, I describe my own spiritual and intellectual journey to Catholicism. While there have been many good conversion stories published in the past ten years, mine is a bit different... My conversion focused more on beauty, philosophy, and art than anything else (I know -– a strange thing for a Baptist minister). Anyway, I'll tell you more about the book in the next couple weeks. But in the meantime, I wanted to let you know that I'm having a book signing party tonight at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. If you're able to make it, I'd love to see you there. It goes from 5:30pm to 6:30 and will begin with introductory remarks from Dana Gioia, the chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts (and an accomplished poet). That'll be followed by some comments from me about the book. And, of course, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have at that time. The Catholic Information Center is located at 1501 K Street NW, Washington, D.C. If you have questions on the details, you can give us a ring at (202)861-7790. And by the way, the whole event is being hosted by Father C. John McCloskey –- still my friend, despite the efforts of the Boston Globe Magazine. ***** LEARN THE REAL CAUSE OF THE CRISIS IN THE CHURCH ***** Sex abuse scandals... irreverent liturgies... homosexuality in the seminaries... liberal theology preached from the pulpit... You know all about the crisis in the Church. But you've never heard the full story. When did the collapse in the Church occur... and what REALLY caused it? Fr. Benedict Groeschel knows. He was there when it happened... 10 years BEFORE Vatican II. What he saw will surprise you. 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