A coalition of religious leaders in Massachusetts who are in favor of gay marriage recently accused Boston Archbishop Sean Cardinal O’Malley and other Catholic leaders of religious discrimination for opposing same-sex unions. The coalition requested that the Catholic leaders stop campaigning for laws that protect the institution of marriage.
United Methodist minister Tiffany Steinwert, who works with homosexuals, said, “We respect the Roman Catholic Church’s desire to speak in a public forum about this, but it has come to a point where the advocacy about same-sex marriage has come to impinge on our own religious practices, because not everyone believes same-sex marriage is wrong or sinful or against religious beliefs.” She added, “What happens when the Roman Catholic Church seeks to create public policy based on their religious beliefs is that they negate other religious beliefs that might be contrary to that.”
The Catholic League responded in kind. We said, “It is important that the religious coalition stop practicing religious discrimination against Roman Catholics and stop campaigning for laws that weaken the institution of marriage.
“We respect the religious coalition’s desire to speak in a public forum about this, but it has come to a point where the advocacy about same-sex marriage has come to impinge on our own religious practices, because not everyone believes that same-sex marriage is not wrong or sinful or against religious beliefs. What happens when the religious coalition seeks to create public policy based on their religious beliefs is that they negate other religious beliefs that might be contrary to that.”
