Episcopal priests will be allowed to conduct services blessing same-sex relationships under a policy approved Tuesday at the church's national convention in Indianapolis.
The convention's House of Bishops approved the provisional policy 111-41 with three abstentions Monday, clearing it for consideration by the House of Deputies, which approved it Tuesday evening.
The policy was approved in the House of Deputies, following more than an hour of debate, by 78% of the voting lay members and by 76% of clergy.
With the vote, the Episcopal Church becomes the largest U.S. denomination to officially sanction same-sex relationships. The Episcopal Church has about 1.95 million members in the United States, down 16% over the last decade, according to the church.
The service is not considered a marriage ceremony, media affairs representative Nancy Davidge said.
... But others said the policy was a bad idea, the news service reported.
"The Christian world is going to understand us as having changed the nature of the sacrament of holy matrimony," the news service quoted Bishop Edward Little of Northern Indiana as saying. "The Christian world will look at that liturgy world and see vows, and exchange of rings, a pronouncement and a blessing and they will understand that to mean the Episcopal Church has endorsed same-sex marriage and changed a basic Christian doctrine. I do not believe that we are free to do that."
Episcopal Church Approves Same-Sex Blessing Service
Saland Challenger DiCarlo Goes After His SSM Payoff
Republican Neil DiCarlo of the Town of Southeast Wednesday filed some 2,200 petitions signatures with the State Board of Elections to run in a GOP primary election against long-time incumbent State Senator Stephen Saland of Poughkeepsie.
DiCarlo needed 1,000 signatures and he will appear on the September primary ballot unless his petitions are challenged and a sufficient number of signatures are ruled invalid.
After campaign staff filed the petitions in Albany, DiCarlo said he is challenging Saland because he has been “rubber stamping job-killing progressive laws out of Albany which are ruining New York State.”
DiCarlo said Saland has met several times with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the last two years “to write laws benefiting New York City at our expense.” He said after he voted to legalize same-sex marriage, Saland received over $450,000 “from a Bloomberg led cabal from New York City.”
Marriage as Public Revenue Enhancement
[This is a guest post by William C. Duncan -ed.]
One of the biggest problems with the redefine marriage movement is its inability to give a reasonable account of what marriage is. The courts supporting same-sex marriage have typically said marriage is the way society gives its stamp of approval to committed relationships (but why?).
An interesting article from an online tax publication gives another answer—marriage is a way to sucker same-sex couples into paying more taxes. The story explains:
But certain provisions in the tax code actually put same-sex couples at an advantage, because the individuals in these relationships can benefit from one another in ways that heterosexual couples are legally forbidden.
To break it down a bit more, the Internal Revenue Code assumes that people with shared financial interests may try to use one another for tax advantages, such as by transacting business with one another. For this reason, the Code contains numerous provisions that forbid related people from taking advantage of such transactions. But still as of 2012, the Code does not recognize same-sex married couples as being related, and so they are not subject to such provisions. This opens up a world of opportunities. . . .
So even though the odds may appear as though they are stacked against same-sex couples when it comes to federal income tax, such couples are in fact in an ideal position to reap some of the most useful tax benefits available.
The article relies on this 2007 study which lays out the scenarios in which same-sex couples are likely to have significantly more favorable tax treatment than married husbands and wife precisely because they are not married. The author thinks the majority of Americans won’t like the fact that same-sex couples get a better tax deal so they will support redefining marriage. Or maybe they’ll just ask for tax reform.
Brian Brown on Effort to Coax Young GOP Support of SSM: "It's Not Conservative to Want to Undermine Marriage"
A same-sex marriage campaign spearheaded by a group calling itself conservative was launched Tuesday in hopes of capitalizing on the growing support for gay marriage among young Americans. Critics argue, however, that there is nothing conservative about supporting same-sex marriage.
The Freedom to Marry group implemented the "Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry" campaign on July 10, in which they claim that same-sex marriage "fulfills basic conservative values of responsibility and community, as well as limited government and individual freedom," according to the campaign's news release.
... Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, which advocates marriage as being between one man and one woman, argues that same-sex marriage support is not a grassroots movement among true conservatives.
"It's not conservative to want to undermine marriage," Brown told The Washington Times.
"One of the core pillars of conservatism is protecting and uplifting marriage as the union of a man and a woman," Brown continued, adding that all major conservative thinkers, or "the fountainhead of American conservatism," agree upon that belief.
Brown argues that the true purpose of the campaign is to not represent a grassroots conservative movement for same-sex marriage, but rather to "bifurcate religious organizations -- get religious organizations to support redefining marriage -- and also the Republican Party."
OneNewsNow Helps Push Dump General Mills Well Past 20,000 Mark!
Our thanks to Charlie Butts and OneNewsNow for their coverage of our Dump General Mills campaign -- now with well over 20,000 signatures!
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has formally launched a boycott of General Mills for its opposition to Minnesota's Marriage Protection Amendment.
Voters in The North Star State will have a chance in November to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar anything other than traditional marriage. Jonathan Baker, a spokesman for NOM, explains why the boycott of General Mills has become necessary.
... "We started DumpGeneralMills.com, working on the website," Baker details. "It is live now, and it gives folks a chance to come together with other like-minded individuals and tell General Mills that we don't appreciate their stance."
The website also provides a list of all of the products General Mills puts on the market. NOM hopes to help shoppers decide whether they will continue to purchase them.
Top 10 Most Business-Friendly States All Protect Marriage!
Yet another nail in the coffin for the absurd argument that protecting marriage is somehow bad for business, via The Blaze:
Using 51 metrics of competitiveness developed with input from business groups including the National Association of Manufacturers and the Council on Competitiveness, CNBC ranked each of the 50 states according to how open they are to business.
They are:
10. Wyoming
9. Georgia
8. Colorado
7. South Dakota
6. Nebraska
5. North Dakota
4. North Carolina
3. Virginia
2. Utah
1. Texas
Pro-Marriage = Pro-Business!
William Duncan on Bad History in the DOMA Debate
William Duncan in NRO The Corner blog:
The plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits challenging DOMA (the first California case to get to the Ninth Circuit) have filed their brief with the court and are reportedly arguing, among other things, that “DOMA is an unprecedented departure from this nation’s federalist tradition, the first time in our history that Congress has intruded on the states’ sovereignty in determining who is validly married.” To twist a famous quote from Justice Holmes, a page of history is worth a volume of misinformation. This argument is squarely in the latter category, as even a brief perusal of history would make clear.
... the Ninth Circuit has access to this information in an amicus brief we filed for the National Organization for Marriage a few weeks ago. We can only hope the court will be more careful than the plaintiffs on this matter.
AP Wrongly Claims Push to Restore Marriage in Iowa is "Flagging"
The AP tries to claim that interest in repealing SSM in Iowa is "flagging" -- just what the mainstream media wants us to believe about a heartland state ripe for restoring the true definition of marriage:
"...Iowa became the third of six states to legalize gay marriage after the state Supreme Court struck down the state ban in 2009. Since then about 4,500 gay couples have wed here.
Republicans can move to end gay marriage if they win two more seats in the state Senate this year, a goal that could be within reach. That would give them full control of the statehouse and the power to begin preparing a public referendum on the issue."
Just watch the video of our President Brian Brown addressing a rally of pro-marriage Iowans a few months ago:
They don't appear to be "flagging" to us!
9th Circuit Case Pending Before SCOTUS Could Threaten State Marriage Laws
FoxNews quotes NOM's Chairman of the Board John Eastman:
"As the debate over gay marriage intensifies on the heels of President Obama's endorsement, an under-the-radar case pending before the Supreme Court has the potential, some say, to invalidate traditional marriage laws altogether.
The latest ruling comes from the California-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which said that Arizona's recent attempt to strip health benefits for domestic partners of state workers is illegal.
... But one veteran 9th Circuit judge thinks his colleagues have declared a war on marriage.
Those judges "all but expressly held that opposite-sex-only marriage rules are unconstitutional -- indeed, that such rules are irrational per se because they can rest only on a 'bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group,'" Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain wrote in dissent of his court's decision not to grant the case further review. He said his colleagues were ignoring Supreme Court precedent and all but called upon the high court to take the case. Arizona's attorney general recently filed a brief with the justices asking them to accept O'Scannlain's invitation.
Lawyer John Eastman, with the National Organization for Marriage, called the 9th Circuit ruling "groundbreaking," and one that could render traditional marriage laws across the country "unconstitutional" if it takes hold."
MN Public Radio: "Opponents Pummel Sec. of State Ritchie Over Amendment Titles"
What's in a name? Well, it may be the difference between winning and losing, according to supporters and opponents of two referenda heading for the ballot in November.
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has now renamed both of them.
First, he renamed the marriage amendment "Limiting The Status Of Marriage To Opposite Sex Couples." It had been called "Recognition of marriage solely between one man and one woman."
.. Ritchie's decision to rename the voter ID amendment also came just hours after 15 lawmakers and proponents of a same-sex marriage ban filed suit against Ritchie for giving their proposal a new title for the November ballot.
Ritchie said two weeks ago that measure will be titled," Limiting The Status Of Marriage To Opposite Sex Couples." The Republican-controlled Legislature had named it "Recognition of marriage solely between one man and one woman."
At a press conference, state Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, criticized the new wording.
"Those words are definitely considered negative and misleading, and I believe they're created to sway the voter," he said.
Related: "Perhaps you've never heard of the Secretary of State Project. But if you haven't, you should."
NAACP Members Applaud Mitt Romney's Support for Traditional Marriage
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 11, 2012
Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Jen Campbell (703-683-5004)
Washington, DC—The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today praised Governor Mitt Romney for pledging to support traditional marriage in an address to members of the NAACP, and noted that Romney received substantial applause from NAACP members in response to his pledge. The NAACP leadership recently followed President Obama and endorsed gay "marriage," even though an overwhelming percentage of African Americans support traditional marriage.
"Governor Romney has it exactly right that marriage as the union of one man and one woman is a pro-family policy that uplifts American families, especially in the black community," said Brian Brown, NOM's president. "The strongest supporters of traditional marriage include African Americans, 70 percent of whom have voted for traditional marriage. We commend Governor Romney and the rank and file members of the NAACP for recognizing the importance of traditional marriage."
Romney addressed the NAACP's 103rd national convention in Houston this morning. After quoting former NAACP Executive Director Benjamin Hooks that the family "remains the bulwark and the mainstay of the black community. That great truth must not be overlooked" Romney told the NAACP members, "Any policy that lifts up and honors the family is going to be good for the country, and that must be our goal. As President, I will promote strong families—and I will defend traditional marriage." NAACP members in the audience then gave Romney sustained applause in response to his pledge.
"Traditional marriage enjoys steadfast support in America, especially among African Americans," said Brown. "Just this past May, an overwhelming percentage of black voters supported a marriage protection amendment in North Carolina, just as they did several years ago in California and in other states. We know that despite the actions of some African American elites, rank and file voters in the black community continue to support marriage as the union of one man and one woman."
###
To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Jen Campbell (x145), [email protected], or Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], at 703-683-5004.
Romney to NAACP: "I Will Promote Strong Families and Defend Traditional Marriage"
It seems evident that Mitt Romney believes promoting strong families and marriage is his strong suit for winning over African American voters. Here's how he began his address to the NAACP today right after talking about the need to improve education:
"A study by the Brookings Institution has shown that for those that graduate from high school, who get a full-time job, and wait until 21 before they marry and then have their first child, the probability of becoming poor is two percent. And if those factors are absent, the probability of being poor is 76%. Here at the NAACP you understand the good and lasting difference that family makes.
[...]Any policy that lifts up and honors the family is going to be good for the country and that must be our goal. As President I will promote strong families and I will defend traditional marriage." [applause.]
NEW VIDEO: MarriageADA Interviews Kirk Cameron!
Dear Marriage Supporter,
You probably know him as Mike Seaver from the 1980s hit TV series Growing Pains. Or perhaps you were inspired by his performance in Fireproof, the top independent film of 2008.
Made famous as a child actor, today Kirk Cameron is one of America's most important marriage champions. Kirk stands fearlessly in defense of God's truth about marriage despite frequent and merciless harassment by the mainstream media for his outspoken Biblical views.
Our Marriage ADA video team caught up with Kirk recently. I hope you'll take a moment to watch the video and learn more about his latest efforts to strengthen and defend marriage, one couple at a time.
60 Democrats Refuse to Join Efforts to Repeal DOMA
The media prefers to focus on lack of unanimity in the Republican party on marriage, but the truth of the matter is that there are pro-marriage Democrats as well:
One third of House Democrats broke with their leaders today and kept their names off a brief urging a federal appeals court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, which limits federal recognition of marriages to those between one man and one woman.
The majority of Democrats joined House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's argument, which her office described in a news release as "the Democratic Members' brief," but the break among Democrats offers a glimpse at remaining divisions inside the party.
... Although some Republicans had been asked to join the earlier brief, Pelosi's spokesman, Drew Hammill, told BuzzFeed that none chose to join that filing. Of today's filing, Hammill added, "We had received no indications then or since that any Republican Member were willing to challenge their leadership's decision to expend taxpayer funds on defending DOMA." -- BuzzFeed Politics
Pundits Take Note as Coalition of Black Pastors Make Waves Over Obama's SSM Support
This story which appeared in the Washington Examiner was picked up by the Drudge Report (as you can see at right):
A large coalition of African-American pastors, snubbed by President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder in their demand for a meeting to discuss same-sex marriage, are calling on blacks to boycott the president and sign a petition demanding that the administration withdraw support for gay marriage.
“By embracing gay marriage, President Obama is leading the country down an immoral path,” said Rev. William Owens, president of the 1,300-member Coalition of African-American Pastors. “Some things are bigger than the next election.”
... His group also started a petition to encourage Obama to change his mind. It’s called 100000signatures4marriage.com.
... “We were once proud of President Obama, but our pride has turned to shame,” said Owens.
Numerous other news sites are picking up on this story, including OneNewsNow, USNews & World Report, and the Kansas City Star, which includes this interesting tidbit:
"...Obama rejects the suggestion of specific programs aimed at African-Americans, and the contrast with his recently announced support of same-sex marriage and his executive order halting the deportation of hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants strikes some African-Americans as taking them for granted."He can have the gay pride celebration in the White House, he can have Lady Gaga in the White House, and he's in the White House today because of the civil rights movement and the price that was paid for civil rights," said the Rev. William Owens, the president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors, a group that opposes Obama's gay marriage stance. "He has met with the Latinos; he meets with everything except for the people who put him where he is."
These questions will surface again this week, as Obama skips the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People annual convention in Houston."
All this news and coverage prompted Crystal Wright (the "Conservative Black Chick") to write in the Washington Post:
With nothing left in his arsenal and desperate to save his job, Obama has resorted to pandering to black voters, whom he largely has ignored during his presidency Obama is losing ground with black voters among the 95 percent of blacks who voted for him in 2008. Outraged over Obama’s support of gay marriage, the Coalition of African American Pastors said they would not support him in 2012. A new poll found Romney would get 20 percent of the black vote in North Carolina if the election was held today.
Meanwhile, Edward Klein, the former editor in chief of the New York Times Magazine writes:
"...Many socially conservative church-going blacks are deeply upset with Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage. Recently, the president refused to meet with a group representing the 1,300-member Coalition of African-American Pastors to discuss the group’s opposition to same-sex marriage. “By embracing gay marriage, President Obama is leading the country down an immoral path,” said the Reverend William Owens, president of the coalition.
... It is Romney, the lily-white presumptive Republican nominee, who is traveling to Houston to make a major speech to this important black audience, while the country’s first African-American president is skipping this year’s NAACP confab in order to avoid having to confront some uncomfortable questions about the worsening state of black America under his administration."
Fascinating. Check these pages for more updates on this story as they arrive.
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