Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
Letter from the Attorney General to Congress on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act
WASHINGTON – The Attorney General sent the following letter today to Congressional leadership to inform them of the Department’s course of action in two lawsuits, Pedersen v. OPM and Windsor v. United States, challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage for federal purposes as only between a man and a woman. A copy of the letter is also attached.
The Honorable John A. Boehner
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Re: Defense of Marriage Act
Dear Mr. Speaker:
… Excerpt
Standard of Review
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the appropriate level of scrutiny for classifications based on sexual orientation. It has, however, rendered a number of decisions that set forth the criteria that should inform this and any other judgment as to whether heightened scrutiny applies: (1) whether the group in question has suffered a history of discrimination; (2) whether individuals “exhibit obvious, immutable, or distinguishing characteristics that define them as a discrete group”; (3) whether the group is a minority or is politically powerless; and (4) whether the characteristics distinguishing the group have little relation to legitimate policy objectives or to an individual’s “ability to perform or contribute to society.” See Bowen v. Gilliard, 483 U.S. 587, 602-03 (1987); City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432, 441-42 (1985).
Each of these factors counsels in favor of being suspicious of classifications based on sexual orientation. First and most importantly, there is, regrettably, a significant history of purposeful discrimination against gay and lesbian people, by governmental as well as private entities, based on prejudice and stereotypes that continue to have ramifications today. Indeed, until very recently, states have “demean[ed] the[] existence” of gays and lesbians “by making their private sexual conduct a crime.” Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558, 578 (2003).iii
Second, while sexual orientation carries no visible badge, a growing scientific consensus accepts that sexual orientation is a characteristic that is immutable, see Richard A. Posner, Sex and Reason 101 (1992); it is undoubtedly unfair to require sexual orientation to be hidden from view to avoid discrimination, see Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-321, 124 Stat. 3515 (2010).
Third, the adoption of laws like those at issue in Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996), and Lawrence, the longstanding ban on gays and lesbians in the military, and the absence of federal protection for employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation show the group to have limited political power and “ability to attract the [favorable] attention of the lawmakers.” Cleburne, 473 U.S. at 445. And while the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act and pending repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell indicate that the political process is not closed entirely to gay and lesbian people, that is not the standard by which the Court has judged “political powerlessness.” Indeed, when the Court ruled that gender-based classifications were subject to heightened scrutiny, women already had won major political victories such as the Nineteenth Amendment (right to vote) and protection under Title VII (employment discrimination).
Finally, there is a growing acknowledgment that sexual orientation “bears no relation to ability to perform or contribute to society.” Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 686 (1973) (plurality). Recent evolutions in legislation (including the pending repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell), in community practices and attitudes, in case law (including the Supreme Court’s holdings in Lawrence and Romer), and in social science regarding sexual orientation all make clear that sexual orientation is not a characteristic that generally bears on legitimate policy objectives. See, e.g., Statement by the President on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (“It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed.”)
To be sure, there is substantial circuit court authority applying rational basis review to sexual-orientation classifications. We have carefully examined each of those decisions. Many of them reason only that if consensual same-sex sodomy may be criminalized under Bowers v. Hardwick, then it follows that no heightened review is appropriate – a line of reasoning that does not survive the overruling of Bowers in Lawrence v. Texas, 538 U.S. 558 (2003).iv Others rely on claims regarding “procreational responsibility” that the Department has disavowed already in litigation as unreasonable, or claims regarding the immutability of sexual orientation that we do not believe can be reconciled with more recent social science understandings.v And none engages in an examination of all the factors that the Supreme Court has identified as relevant to a decision about the appropriate level of scrutiny. Finally, many of the more recent decisions have relied on the fact that the Supreme Court has not recognized that gays and lesbians constitute a suspect class or the fact that the Court has applied rational basis review in its most recent decisions addressing classifications based on sexual orientation, Lawrence and Romer.vi But neither of those decisions reached, let alone resolved, the level of scrutiny issue because in both the Court concluded that the laws could not even survive the more deferential rational basis standard…
Read complete letter:
A $363,000 Tax Bill to Widow Led to Obama Shift in Defense of Marriage Act - by Andrew M. Harris,
February 28, 2011 - Bloomberg
First Openly Gay Person the:
White House Announces Jeremy Bernard as Social Secretary
February 25, 2011
Office of the Press Secretary – The White House
30 Years - Benedict XVI Silencing/Removing Catholic Academics/Theologians Studying Homosexuality Worldwide
Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) 1981-2005 – Pope Benedict XVI
“The Church and the Homosexual”
By John J. McNeill 1976
Priest & Psychotherapist, Silenced 1988
by Ratzinger-Benedict XVI
Originally published in 1976 with the Roman Catholic Church's official imprimi potest (permission to print) after more than three years' delay in Rome, approval was unexpectedly rescinded by the Vatican two years after publication. It was the first attempt by a reputed scholar and theologian to fully examine and challenge the Catholic Church's official traditional attitudes toward homosexuality.
This now classic book convincingly established that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality, examining in detail and refuting all the traditional arguments for condemnation of homosexuality in Scripture, tradition and philosophy. McNeill also examined the general misconceptions of human sexual development. Photo
Now in its fourth and updated edition, The Church and the Homosexual remains one of the most widely discussed works in modern spiritual thought, "...a theologically and ethically enlightened attempt to demonstrate the intellectual baselessness of current attitudes and policies concerning homosexuality..." Publishers Weekly described McNeill's book as "...an important 'first', a rational yet compassionate reevaluation based on scriptural exegesis and current psychological research."
In the provocative new preface to this fourth edition, McNeill calls on the Vatican to make a public act of repentance for its homophobia.
The Church and the Homosexual is published by Beacon Press (Boston, MA).
Read more:
The Church and the homosexual (1976) By John J. McNeill
John J. McNeill
The LGBT Religious Archives Network
For more than twenty-five years, John J. McNeill, an ordained priest and psychotherapist, has been devoting his life to spreading the good news of God's love for lesbian and gay Christians. One year after the publication of The Church and the Homosexual (1976), McNeill received an order from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican ordering him to silence in the public media. He observed the silence for nine years while continuing a private ministry to gays and lesbians which included psychotherapy, workshops, lectures and retreats. In 1988, he received a further order from Cardinal Ratzinger [Benedict XVI] directing him to give up all ministry to gay persons which he refused to do in conscience. As a result, he was expelled by the Vatican from the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) for challenging the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on the issue of homosexuality, and for refusing to give up his ministry and psychotherapy practice to gay men and lesbians. McNeill had been a Jesuit for nearly 40 years…
Read complete profile:
John J. McNeill and Charles Chiarelli Gay and Lesbian Liberation Collection - 2001
John J. McNeill (1925 -) was born in Buffalo, New York on September 2,1925. He attended schools in New York State and one year at Canisius College, Buffalo when in 1943 he volunteered for an officer's training program (ASPA) in the Army as an engineer. He spent six months in German POW (Prisoner of War) Camps. He served until November 29, 1945. He earned several degrees: Canisius College, A.B. (magna cum laude) in 1948; Bellarmine College, M.A. and Ph. L., 1954; Woodstock College S.T.L., 1960; Catholic University of Louvain, Ph.D. (with great distinction), 1964; and Institutes of Regional and Health, postdoctoral study, beginning in 1975. John joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order) in 1948 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1959. He remained a Jesuit until his dismissal in 1988. He was dismissed from the Jesuits due to his inability to continue to remain silent on matters of homosexuality and lesbianism…
Read complete background: John J. McNeill
Online Archive of California (OAC)
Father John J. McNeill wins the Building Bridges Award
By Father Tony
October 9, 2009 – The Bilerico Project
Father John J. McNeill, the author of several important books about gay spirituality, and a guest contributor at Bilerico, was in New York City on October 4th at The Desmond Tutu Center to accept New Ways Ministry's Bridge Building Award.
On the night before the award ceremony, I had the good fortune to be able to celebrate this event with John and his partner Charles Chiarelli, Brendan Fay and his partner Dr. Thomas Moulton, Andy Humm and John's two army buddies, John Thornton and the poet Sam Menashe (the three of whom, pictured here, told us an amazing story of how they were more or less tricked into enlistment at the age of seventeen to be canon fodder.)
John McNeill (on the right in the photo) is having an extraordinary life and the keys to his strong spirituality, and his accounts of near starvation as a young prisoner of war, are to be found in the words of his acceptance speech printed in full after the break…
Read complete report:
National Catholic Reporter
October 10, 1989
The Most Reverend Adam J. Maida
Bishop of Green Bay
1910 S. Webster
P.O. Box 66
Green Bay, Wisconsin 54305
Dear Bishop Maida,
I enclose a copy of a recent article in the New York Times reporting on a gathering of homosexual religious and clergy. You will notice that Sister Jeannine Gramick participated in the program. Comments, as quoted by the New York Times, are not in and of themselves objectionable. It is objectionable, however, that Sister Jeannine continues to participate in seminars such as this one in spite of her ambiguity with regard to the Church’s teaching on the wrongness of homosexual activity…
Read more:
October 4, 1994
Report Of The Findings Of The Commission Studying
The Writings & Ministry Of
Sister Jeannine Gramick, SSND and Father Robert Nugent, SDS
In March of 1988, the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes formed an ad hoc Commission chaired by Archbishop Adam J. Maida, presently the Archbishop of Detroit, and at that time the Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Msgr. James Mulligan of the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania and Sister Sharon Holland, IHM, who was later replaced by Dr. Janet Smith of Irving, Texas, were also appointed to serve on the Commission.
The Commission was to hear and examine the theological writings and teachings on homosexuality of Sister Jeannine Gramick, SSND, and Father Robert Nugent, SDS. Sister Gramick and Father Nugent had been involved in a ministry to homosexuals since 1971. The Congregation had been aware of concerns that the teachings, writings and ministry of Sister Gramick and Father Nugent may have created an ambiguity which has caused confusion in the minds of some people with regard to the teachings of the Church on homosexuality…
Read more:
Related links:
March 1997 - Fr. Marty Kurylowicz - New Ways Ministry Symposium - Pastor "Comes Out" - Holy Family Parish - Sparta, Michigan USA
My name is Fr. Marty Kurylowicz, ordained in 1979, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was pastor of Holy Family Parish, Sparta, Michigan USA and in March of 1997, I attended the New Ways Ministry Symposium, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Dr. Richard Isay, Psychoanalyst and Professor of Psychiatry of Cornell University Medical School, gave the keynote address. I was absolutely stunned just how closely I was able to personally identify with Dr. Isay’s description of the different stages of early childhood psychological development and the harm caused to children by the influence of harsh anti-gay societal and religious norms who grow up to be gay. From clinical studies, adult gay men remember feeling "different" at young as 4 and 5 years of age. This feeling "different" was identified as the natural experience of a child's sexual orientation, whether heterosexual or homosexual...
October 8, 1997, Cardinal Ratzinger, judged that the statements on homosexuality made by Father Nugent and Sister Gramick, [cofounders of - New Ways Ministry] through the procedure of the Regulations for Doctrinal Examination, were in fact erroneous and dangerous.
"Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers" is a statement that was issued in 1997 by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family.
October 1, 1997, Bishops Urge Parents of Homosexuals to Accept Their Children, Themselves, Church Teaching on Human Dignity By the US Catholic Bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family Life released Always Our Children.
October 1, 1997, Bishops: Parents, love your gay children - By David Briggs, Associated Press writer
NEW YORK -- U.S. Catholic bishops are advising parents of gay children to put love and support for their sons and daughters before church doctrine that condemns homosexual activity.
June 1998, “Always Our Children” - revised by Cardinal Ratzinger - Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers, NCCB Committee on Marriage and Family, Third Printing, Revised, June 1998
The Vatican thirst for power divides Christianity and damages Catholicism - by Hans Kung - guardian.co.uk – October 27, 2009
Machinations of Benedict XVI Denials Leaking Documents Homosexual Overtones To Publicly Discredit Prominent Catholic Editor Who Criticized Italian MP - A Supporter of Benedict XVI Issues - February 9, 2010
New Rules Affirm Pope Benedict's Stance Against Gays - By Daniel Williams, October 8, 2005 – The Washington Post
Impending rules on gay priests create Catholic divide
by Charles Honey – October 8, 2005 - The Grand Rapids Press
When the Rev. Martin Kurylowicz came out to his Sparta parish eight years ago, he said he had struggled for years with his homosexuality…
Kurylowicz said he spoke out then to raise awareness of violence against gays … homosexuality is not a choice… Church leaders still don't understand that and contribute to gays' poor self-esteem, he said…
…"Kids as young as 4 or 5 know they're different," said Kurylowicz, a psychotherapist… "They grow up with this pervasive guilt, which sabotages their growth and motivation." The result is thousands of dollars in therapy to accept their natural orientation, he said, adding, "Does the Vatican want to take that on, like the tobacco industry had to take on for the damage it caused consumers? "… Read complete article:
Professor's view: Witch hunt for gay priests off base when target should be child abusers
By: Iver Bogen,
University of Minnesota Duluth
Duluth News Tribune
Pope Benedict XVI in August 2005 ordered an investigation of America’s 229 Catholic seminaries in order to eliminate gay seminarians. The week of Sept. 27, Vatican investigators began the “witch-hunt” at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis. The question posed to the students: “Are you, or have you ever been, a homosexual?”
Ratzinger - Benedict XVI 2005 Photo
New pope on homosexuality: "Intrinsic moral evil"
Advocate.com News - April 20, 2005
In July 1999 the National Catholic Reporter delineated what was already a staunchly antigay stance posited by Cardinal Jospeh Ratzinger of Germany, who was elected Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday. At the time, Ratzinger had imposed a lifetime ban on pastoral work by pro-gay Salvatorian Fr. Robert Nugent and School Sister of Notre Dame Jeannine Gramick. The move was just the latest step in an effort by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to prevent evolution in church teaching toward acceptance of openly gay and lesbian people, the paper reported. Here is the Reporter's review of key moments:
May 1984: Ratzinger orders the imprimatur lifted from Sexual Morality by Fr. Philip S. Keane, published in 1977 by Paulist Press. Keane argues that homosexual conduct cannot be understood as "absolutely immoral."
September 1986: Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen in Seattle announces that he has transferred final authority in five areas, including the pastoral care of gays, to Auxiliary Bishop Donald Wuerl in accord with Vatican instructions. The action follows a written critique by Ratzinger, citing, among other flaws, Hunthausen's decision in 1983 to permit a Mass for Dignity, a Catholic gay group, in his cathedral.
October 1986: Ratzinger publishes a document titled "On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons." The letter warns of "deceitful propaganda" from pro-homosexual groups. It instructs bishops not to accept groups that "seek to undermine the teaching of the church, which are ambiguous about it, or which neglect it entirely." The letter refers to homosexual orientation as an "intrinsic moral evil." In the wake of the letter, many Catholic bishops bar Dignity from using church facilities.
October 1986: Acting on instructions from Ratzinger, the head of the Jesuit order informs Jesuit Fr. John McNeill that he must either abandon pastoral ministry with gays or be expelled from the order. McNeill chooses not to give up his work. McNeill had been silenced by the Vatican in 1977 for his book The Church and the Homosexual, which argued that stable homosexual relationships should be judged by the same moral criteria as heterosexual relationships. The book was originally published with the permission of McNeill's Jesuit superiors.
November 1986: Ratzinger directs Bishop Matthew Clark of the Rochester, N.Y., diocese to remove the imprimatur from Parents Talk Love: The Catholic Family Handbook About Sexuality, written by a priest and a high school teacher. According to the priest, Ratzinger objects to the lack of a clear condemnation of homosexual conduct.
January 1987: After prolonged debate, the Catholic University of America fires Fr. Charles Curran, a moral theologian known for his dissent from official church teaching on sexual ethics. On homosexuality, Curran has written: "Homosexual acts in the context of a loving relationship that strives for permanency can in a certain sense be objectively morally acceptable."
December 1988: Dominican Fr. Matthew Fox is silenced by Ratzinger, citing his failure to condemn homosexuality, among a host of other issues. Fox is expelled from the Dominican order in 1992.
February 1992: Canadian theologian Fr. Andrew Guindon is notified that he is under investigation by the doctrinal congregation for his book The Sexual Creators. Ratzinger demands that he clarify his views on homosexuality, birth control, and premarital sex. Ratzinger's 13-page critique is published in L'Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper.
July 1992: Ratzinger sends a letter to the U.S. bishops supporting legal discrimination against gays in certain areas: adoption rights, the hiring of gays as teachers or coaches, and the prohibition of gays in the military. In such situations, Ratzinger writes, "It is not unjust discrimination to take sexual orientation into account."
November 1992: The new Catechism of the Catholic Church is published. Though the text acknowledges that homosexual persons "do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them it is a trial" and forbids any disrespect or failure of compassion for gays, the Catechism repeats the position that the homosexual orientation is "intrinsically disordered."
December 1996: Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of the doctrinal congregation, publishes an article in L'Osservatore Romano asserting that certain church teachings must be considered infallible even in the absence of a formal declaration to that effect. The bans on homosexuality and contraception are among the teachings mentioned by Bertone.
February 1997: Following a warning to the Society of St. Paul from Ratzinger, the Vatican imposes a new leader on the order. The Paulines' flagship publication, Famiglia Cristiana, published an article in 1996 suggesting that parents should not force their moral views on a gay child. Bishop Antonio Buoncristiani is appointed the society's temporary leader and charged with ensuring that Pauline publications better reflect church teaching.
July 1998: The Committee on Marriage and Family of the U.S. bishops' conference reissues its letter to parents of homosexuals, "Always Our Children," after making several changes demanded by Ratzinger. They include referring to homosexuality as a "deep-seated" rather than "fundamental" dimension of personality; suggesting that homosexual acts by adolescents may not indicate a homosexual orientation; adding a footnote describing homosexuality as "objectively disordered"; and deleting a passage that encourages use of terms such as "homosexual, gay, and lesbian" from the pulpit in order to "give people permission" to discuss homosexuality.
September 1998: Clark removes Fr. James Callan from his position as pastor of Rochester's Corpus Christi Parish. Callan asserts that Clark is acting under pressure from Ratzinger. Among other things, Callan is criticized for blessing same-sex unions.
December 1998: Ratzinger, other curial officials, and a group of Australian bishops put out a document citing problems in the Australian church resulting from a "worldwide crisis of faith." Among other deviations, the document cites a moral view in which "heterosexuality and homosexuality come to be seen as simply two morally equivalent variations."
Reprinted with permission of the Advocate.com News
"Authoritarian ≠ Authoritative,
Unsubstantiated Antigay Teachings ≠ Well-informed Conscience ≠ Roman Catholic" http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2010/11/authoritarian-authoritative-june-27.html
Gov. Quinn to 'follow conscience' on unionsby Dave McKinney,
December 2, 2010 - Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief
SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Senate Wednesday passed landmark civil unions legislation that is now headed to Gov. Quinn, who has pledged to sign it despite new church criticism he would not be a good Roman Catholic in doing so. Photo
"Today was a great day for the people of Illinois, for the family of Illinois,'' Quinn said after the Senate's 32-24 vote for legislation that would make Illinois the sixth state to recognize civil unions between gay and lesbian couples. Photo
Shortly after the Senate's move, the governor, who is Roman Catholic, got an earful from the head of Springfield's Catholic archdiocese, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, who questioned Quinn's adherence to church teachings…
…Told of the bishop's statement, Quinn shrugged.
"I follow my conscience. I think everyone should do that. I think that's the most important thing to do in life, and my conscience is not kicking me in the shins today,'' the governor told reporters…
Read complete report:
Related links:
But
No Facts
Fear And Ignorance - Of The Blind Leading The Blind
October 27, 2009
Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
Thalamus Center
The bible in fact does not condemn Galileo or homosexuality, which science reveals that are normal elements of nature and human sexuality.
People for whatever reason seem to be using the bible to hide from their own personal sexual issues. This is a sacrilege! It is a total disrespect for the bible to be used to hide and harm innocent people, most especially children. These people do not check out the facts about the bible and science on homosexuality, because in truth they do not want to know the truth.
Even in discourse with people who believe that homosexuality is evil because they say the bible states it to be, as with Galileo, they are not interested in a discussion, they do not want to hear the truth. They only want to discredit the truth, in every conceivable way, by whatever means available to them. They are likely doing what they have been doing all their lives regarding their personal fears about the truth of their sexuality. There is nothing to be gain to be in discourse with such people. In fact, they should be avoided, because they are harmful. Because no matter what they say or how violently they say it, it will not cause the sun to revolve around the earth or for homosexuality to be evil. Photo NASA
ATTACKS but absolutely no FACTS
from the bible or science
It is a waste of time for you and for them, besides being seriously harmed by their "unchecked meanness" towards others. If and when they do their homework and truly study both the bible and the science regarding homosexuality and human sexuality then there could be a productive discourse. Otherwise, there are no discussions with them; only continuous personal attacks on the person who opposes them that are fierce, cruel and hurtful. Likely, in the way they treat themselves, which may have started when they were treated in such fashion, in their past.
Even Jesus advised leaving them because, as he said, "they are the blind leading the blind" Matthew 15:14. And it is these people who are worried that their freedom of speech will be curtailed, by the new additions to the Hate-Crime Bill. It is only their ability to remain in darkness that is being curtailed, which is greatly more fearful to them, than their concerns about their freedom of speech. They have attacks but absolutely no facts, all motivated by fear and a self-imposed ignorance of the facts. This is the same for Benedict XVI and his hierarchy you never hear any stated facts regarding human sexuality. None!!! They offer absolutely "no" discussion or classes on the topic of human sexuality. None!!! They offer no detailed documentation regarding human sexuality from the bible or science. None!!! Because they know only too well that it would not be approved by scripture scholars or by any scientific studies. Where is the truth, not to mention the LOVE? Photo
Their attacks are likely meant to be distractions to stay off the issue, because any attempts to keep them on the issue are met with fiercer and even more vicious attacks, but no facts, like an obsession. They seem to be like a child throwing a hysterical tantrum, however, unlike a child, they are able to cause serious harm to innocent people. It is this violence that the Hate-Crime Bill is designed to protect people from.
It is the intensity of their forcefulness to attack others without any substantiated facts to support their position that draws public attention to question their sexuality. It is like so many public figures who so forcefully have spoken out against homosexuality and then are found in "public restrooms" engaging in homosexual acts. Today, not only are more people "coming out" of the "closet" but there is an enormous ever growing number of Allies supporting LGBT people and their civil rights. It is the continuous education on human sexuality that keeps this number growing strong. However, it is also becoming more noticeable when someone protest too much against homosexuals with the absence of factual data to support the protesting that catches peoples attention and causes people to wonder, why? What causes this person to protest so strongly, because no valid facts are given?
What should be top priority is the life harm that is caused to children, who grow up LGBT and sadly it is not even considered of any importance. The Bible is about Love the purest form of Love known. The Bible is not about permission to hate, to remain blind or to harm people, especially very young children.
Related links:
Gay Marriage & Obama & Catholics ≠ "incomprehensible and misguided" Benedict XVI, Cardinals & Bishops CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE COVER-UPS – 30 years plus! – Bishop Thomas Tobin – Providence, R. I., February 24, 2011
Gay marriage -> Restoring
"Hope of Love"
To Children In Early Childhood
March 23, 2010 – by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
Marriage Equality, like Galileo, is the truth about the facts of growing up gay. Marriage Equality will not become a reality until people learn that its most vital purpose is that it restores the “hope of love” to children in early childhood – essential to their development and well-being for life.
Without Marriage Equality we teach children how to hate love and how to be mean and indifferent to people as adults. With all due respect, without Marriage Equality we would teach them in much the same way as has been shown by Benedict XVI and the hierarchy, especially in their lack of care and protection of children for decades.
Sexual Orientation - Love – Attachment Theory - Internalized HomophobiaNothing in life is more precious than the intimate relationships we have with love ones. Healthy love relationships delight us give us confidence to take on challenges and support us in difficult times.
Letters sent out:
July 2010 President of the United States
United States Congress
United States Supreme Court
United States Department of Justice
50 United States Governors
Dear -- --------,
My name is Fr. Marty Kurylowicz, a Roman Catholic priest from the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan ordained June 16, 1979.
In March 1997, after attending a National Symposium of the New Ways Ministry that was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I learned that children as young as 4 and 5 years of age know that they are different. This feeling "different" is only identified in their adult years as being gay. However, the harmful influence of antigay social and religious norms -- in particular, for Catholics, the Vatican’s unsubstantiated antigay teachings -- are severe and last throughout a child’s lifetime.
The harmful effects are not isolated only to these children who grow up to be gay, but also affect their families, siblings, friends and anyone whom they might consider special in their lives. They are a prescribed societal sentence of implicit isolation, which place at risk of suicide so many innocent adolescents and young adults. They stifle an enormous amount of human potential in the world that otherwise could be put to use for finding cures for diseases, offering better ways of maintaining peace among people and improving the quality of life for everyone in the world.
Gay Marriage - “SEPARATION BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE” Does Not Give Churches Or Benedict XVI - The Freedom To Abuse Children or Adults. July 2010 - By Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
California - Prop 8 judgment, August 4, 2010
Gay marriage
“Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians.”
Judge Vaughn Walker
Schwarzenegger: Let Same-Sex Weddings Resume Now – Associated Press – August 7, 2010 - Fox News
SAN FRANCISCO -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who twice vetoed legislation that would have legalized same-sex marriage, has surprised gay rights supporters by urging a federal judge to allow gay couples to resume marrying in the state without further delay…
"Doing so is consistent with California's long history of treating all people and their relationships with equal dignity and respect."
Jerry Brown, Attorney General California - Prop. 8 Ruling – August 2010
… [Jerry Brown], he took the unusual step of refusing to defend Proposition 8, the statewide initiative barring gays and lesbians from marrying. He argued instead that the courts should strike down the measure because it unconstitutionally denies a minority group its rights. Politics Daily
"While there is still the potential for limited administrative burdens should future marriages of same-sex couples be later declared invalid, these potential burdens are outweighed by this Court’s conclusion, based on the overwhelming evidence, that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional," Brown [Attorney General California] wrote. "Accordingly, the harm to the plaintiffs outweighs any harm to the state defendants." The Advocate
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/08/06/Calif_Atty_General_Opposes_Stay_of_Prop_8_Ruling/
GAY YOUTH SUICIDE | BENEDICT XVI & BISHOPS Child Sexual Abuse Cover-ups – Negligence Protecting (1) Children & (2) LGBT Children | Family of Rutgers suicide victim lends name to bill – November 19, 2010 – CNN Photo
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee - unyielding force supporting - DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL Repeal Act of 2010 – ENDS discriminatory policy that “forces young men and women to lie,” – to lie – “about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.” December 2010
By David G. Savage and James Oliphant,
Washington Bureau,
February 23, 2011 – Los Angeles Times Photo
Eric Holder, Attorney General,
U.S. Department of Justice
Defense of Marriage Act
February 23, 2011
… while sexual orientation carries no visible badge, a growing scientific consensus accepts that sexual orientation is a characteristic that is immutable, see Richard A. Posner, Sex and Reason 101 (1992); it is undoubtedly unfair to require sexual orientation to be hidden from view to avoid discrimination, see Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-321, 124 Stat. 3515 (2010).
Same-sex marriage: Courts expected to heed Obama move
by Bob Egelko,
February 24, 2011 – San Francisco Chronicle
“Gays and lesbians have been oppressed historically, lack substantial political power, should not be asked to suppress their identities, and have the same ability as heterosexuals to contribute to society, Holder said.”
Obama Ending Defense of DOMA Draws Gillibrand Praise
February 23, 2011 – Politics on the Hudson
Gillibrand To Albany: Pass Gay Marriage, End ‘Institutionalized Discrimination’
Capital Tonight
Md.'s top leaders cross Catholic hierarchy on gay marriage
By John Wagner,
February 24, 2011 – The Washington Post
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley regularly attends a weekday Mass and has sent his four children to Catholic schools.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) used to teach and coach at his old Catholic high school in Annapolis.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) grew up serving as an altar boy in the idyllic wood-frame Catholic church his family helped build in Clinton.
But the presence of three Catholics at the helm in Annapolis hasn't stopped a same-sex marriage bill from wending its way through the legislature, triggering deep disappointment among church leaders as it suggests a waning of Catholic influence in this heavily Catholic state…
Read complete report:
Key To the Protection of Children Is:
CONTINUOUS EDUCATION OF ALL THE FACTS OF HUMAN SEXUALITY –
Beginning first with:
Early Childhood Psychological Development Growing Up Gay
Safeguards - Gay Marriage From REPEAL
The CENTRAL ROUTE To Decision-Making - Permanent Change In Attitude
ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL
Read more & Related Links:
“Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child’s spirit.” Erik Erikson
…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6
Important note: No disrespect meant to Pope Benedict XVI or the hierarchy, the one and only concern is the safety and well-being of children.
Kids Are Being Hurt !!!
Ratzinger, Hurley, Maida & Accomplices
If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way. Emile ZolaWhat you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. Luke 12:3 Photo
Benedict XVI, Cardinals & Bishops CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE COVER-UPS – 30 years plus!
Archbishop Ratzinger Failed to Deal with Suspected Pedophile Priest
by Conny Neumann and Peter Wensierski,
November 29, 2010 – SPIEGEL Online International
New documents show how the former Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger -- now Pope Benedict XVI -- and his successor Reinhard Marx failed to properly deal with a suspected pedophile. Despite massive allegations of abuse, the archdiocese allowed the priest to continue working with children. Photo
German study finds systematic cover-ups
in Catholic priest abuse cases
by Mark Hallam & Nancy Isenson
December 3, 2010 - Deutsche Welle
An investigation into cases of sexual abuse in the German Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, where Pope Benedikt XVI was once archbishop, has revealed a "systematic system of cover-up" and a lot of missing paperwork.
Germany's Catholic Church systematically covered up cases of sexual abuse within its own ranks for several decades, according to an expert study commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.
Pope’s child porn 'normal' claim sparks outrage among victims
December 21, 2010 - Belfast Telegraph
…Cardinal Bevilacqua accused by grand jury of covering up sexual abuse of children – February 28, 2011
RI bishop: Obama gay marriage stance 'misguided'
February 24, 2011 - The Boston Globe
Bishop Thomas Tobin calls Obama's move on Wednesday "incomprehensible and misguided." The Obama administration says the law is legally indefensible.
Family Acceptance Project™
If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis
No comments:
Post a Comment