backlash against the RCC is forming on gay marriage

[Lexingtonian]

WHO: Roman Catholics for the Freedom to Marry, a project of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry.

WHAT: Holding a press conference to release a Roman Catholic Statement Supporting Marriage Equality in Massachusetts. Any Roman Catholic in the Commonwealth may add their name to this Statement by going to http://www.rcfm.org/petition/ beginning on September 22nd.

This statement was written by Roman Catholics for Roman Catholics in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts who support marriage equality.

WHY: While the Roman Catholic hierarchy has consistently and actively opposed marriage equality in Massachusetts, hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholic parishioners support the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.

This Statement gives Roman Catholics an opportunity to publicly express their support for marriage equality and their respectful disagreement with the Roman Catholic hierarchy on this issue.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53815

Comment: There is presently roughly 40% opposition in the Massachusetts electorate to gay marriage legalization. The institution that heads this opposition for all practical purposes is the Roman Catholic Church, principally via the Archdiocese of Boston.

This 40% opposition has two wings. The larger one, ~25%, is basically unpersuadable people who want any trace of gay life banished from mainstream life. The smaller wing, ~15%, are people who resist gay marriage legalization because they do not view gay people as equal citizens, but they are permissive about some basic form of legal protections and do insist that treatment of gay people be mostly humane- one could identify their political stance as one of supporting 'domestic partnerships'.

This petition is at one level a principled protest against the RCC hierarchy's position and behavior. On another level, it will probably amount to a strong wedge, if enough people sign on and publicize this, to get the 15% wing of the opposition- many of whom are Catholic- to go over into passivity and Undecided status- which is the best that can be hoped for of them at this time by marriage legalization supporters.

The effect of this effort could be one of killing off the last efforts to ban gay marriage legalization, making the state polling on the issue go from 60/40 (where a little hope of a ban can be maintained by the opposition) to 60/25, where no hope of a ban can survive.

The effect on the RCC hierarchy, if any, is probably not going to be overt, of course. But this petition could help push them to shut down the silly anti-gay stuff they're doing internally and out of Right wing politicking in the American public arena.

[Zenlitened]

1. That's very encouraging to see.

While I don't think civil rights should be decided in terms of religions pros or cons, anything that derails the catholic church in Boston on this issue is fine with me. I think you're exactly right when you say "The institution that heads this opposition for all practical purposes is the Roman Catholic Church, principally via the Archdiocese of Boston."

:applause: