E
Elizabeth502
Guest
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/26/MNB515G17D.DTL
One excerpt:
Dueling religious cases
On the other side, James Sweeney, a lawyer for the California Catholic Conference, also representing congregations of Seventh-Day Adventists and Orthodox Jews, said religious institutions might be sued for acting on their beliefs against same-sex marriage - for example, by excluding gay or lesbian couples from married student housing at a church college - if Prop. 8 were overturned.
A group of more liberal denominations, led by the 4,000-member California Council of Churches, argued that Prop. 8 could open the door to religious persecution. The Rev. Mark Shirilau of Riverside, who founded the gay-friendly Ecumenical Catholic Church in 1987 and has congregations in several states, said the measure’s declaration that only male-female marriage is recognized in California is false because his church performs and recognizes same-sex weddings.
Scores of current and former state legislators signed a brief against Prop. 8. Three Republican congressmen - Wally Herger of Marysville (Yuba County), Dan Lungren of Gold River (Sacramento County) and George Radanovich of Mariposa - signed a brief supporting the measure and also arguing that San Francisco and other local governments have no right to sue because they “clearly have no sexual orientation” and thus have no rights at stake.
One unique brief came from T.M. Reverend Messiah, pastor of the Church of the Messiah in Marina del Rey (Los Angeles County). He cited 42 biblical passages that showed, he said, that male-female unions were ordained by God, homosexuality is unnatural, and Prop. 8 is valid.
“Why can’t everybody accept the fact that there are different things for different persons?” he asked. “Marriage is for heterosexuals and not homosexuals.”
One excerpt:
Dueling religious cases
On the other side, James Sweeney, a lawyer for the California Catholic Conference, also representing congregations of Seventh-Day Adventists and Orthodox Jews, said religious institutions might be sued for acting on their beliefs against same-sex marriage - for example, by excluding gay or lesbian couples from married student housing at a church college - if Prop. 8 were overturned.
A group of more liberal denominations, led by the 4,000-member California Council of Churches, argued that Prop. 8 could open the door to religious persecution. The Rev. Mark Shirilau of Riverside, who founded the gay-friendly Ecumenical Catholic Church in 1987 and has congregations in several states, said the measure’s declaration that only male-female marriage is recognized in California is false because his church performs and recognizes same-sex weddings.
Scores of current and former state legislators signed a brief against Prop. 8. Three Republican congressmen - Wally Herger of Marysville (Yuba County), Dan Lungren of Gold River (Sacramento County) and George Radanovich of Mariposa - signed a brief supporting the measure and also arguing that San Francisco and other local governments have no right to sue because they “clearly have no sexual orientation” and thus have no rights at stake.
One unique brief came from T.M. Reverend Messiah, pastor of the Church of the Messiah in Marina del Rey (Los Angeles County). He cited 42 biblical passages that showed, he said, that male-female unions were ordained by God, homosexuality is unnatural, and Prop. 8 is valid.
“Why can’t everybody accept the fact that there are different things for different persons?” he asked. “Marriage is for heterosexuals and not homosexuals.”