In the closing days of the legislative session in New York state, efforts are again under way by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to obtain passage of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. The state Senate defeated a same-sex marriage bill in 2009, but now, according to the
Wall Street Journal yesterday, several senators have shifted their positions and the measure-- which has apparently not yet been formally introduced-- is only two votes shy of passage. So far only one Republican Senator has publicly pledged to vote in favor of the bill, but (according to
AP) others Republican votes would follow if the legislation contained exemptions so that churches, religious organizations and individuals opposed to gay marriage could not be required to perform or host them. New York's Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan has strongly opposed the measure. In a
posting yesterday on the Archdiocese's website, he said:
Last time I consulted an atlas, it is clear we are living in New York, in the United States of America – not in China or North Korea. In those countries, government presumes daily to “redefine” rights, relationships, values, and natural law. There, communiqués from the government can dictate the size of families, who lives and who dies, and what the very definition of “family” and “marriage” means.
But, please, not here! Our country’s founding principles speak of rights given by God, not invented by government, and certain noble values – life, home, family, marriage, children, faith – that are protected, not re-defined, by a state presuming omnipotence.
Please, not here! We cherish true freedom, not as the license to do whatever we want, but the liberty to do what we ought; we acknowledge that not every desire, urge, want, or chic cause is automatically a “right.” And, what about other rights, like that of a child to be raised in a family with a mom and a dad?
Our beliefs should not be viewed as discrimination against homosexual people. The Church affirms the basic human rights of gay men and women, and the state has rightly changed many laws to offer these men and women hospital visitation rights, bereavement leave, death benefits, insurance benefits, and the like. This is not about denying rights. It is about upholding a truth about the human condition.
