Same-sex Marriage Pits Laymen Against Religious Hierarchy

[marmar]

from Bloomberg BusinessWeek:



At a Seattle synagogue, volunteers are running a phone bank urging voters to uphold Washington’s same-sex marriage law. In Maryland, Catholics are poised to preach from the pulpit opposing a similar initiative.

Voters in those states as well as Maine are less than two weeks from deciding whether to hand ballot-box victory to same- sex marriage proponents for the first time after more than a decade of defeat. Campaigns on both sides are targeting religious communities, where leaders holding on to centuries of opposition to homosexuality are often pitted against their congregants’ evolving attitudes toward gay nuptials.

“There has been some movement in recent years toward greater acceptance of same-sex marriage,” said David Masci, a researcher with the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington. “But the largest religious groups and the biggest churches remain opposed.”

Opposition to same-sex marriage from religious groups has helped block it at the polls. In 2008, Mormon and Catholic forces mobilized voters in California to halt court-sanctioned gay unions. Since then, six states have granted same-sex couples the right to wed, Barack Obama became the first sitting president to endorse the practice and some denominations have warmed to the idea. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-26/gay-marriage-pits-laymen-against-religious-hierarchy

[justiceischeap]

1. Vote Yes on Prop 6 in MD

I know I will be. I'm more excited about casting my yea vote for this than for President Obama (only because PBO has MD wrapped up).