Faith in Marriage, Faith for Marriage

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-organ/faith-in-marriage_b_1947942.html

Christine OrganAuthor, blogger and freelance writer

Posted: 10/08/2012 9:53 am


Organized religion and controversy seem to go hand in hand. Like milk and cookies, peanut butter and jelly, gin and tonic, Bert and Ernie. And today's controversy du jour: marriage equality.

The hate-filled and hurtful comments of religious radicals and zealots are splashed across the Internet. In just the last week alone, certain religious leaders have passed judgment on the faith of pro-marriage equality congregants and made dire predictions about the impact of marriage equality on society (basically that if civil laws are changed to allow for same-sex marriage, "society will be the worse for it.&quot Tensions are high and the issue cuts deep, tapping into the core of a person's values, priorities, and faith.

I am a person of faith and a person with faith, but given all the hatred and judgment and disrespect voiced in the name of religion, it is getting harder and harder to have faith in religion. On some level, I have to confess, the constant barrage of insensitive criticism by religious leaders leaves me feeling ashamed -- ashamed of organized religion and ashamed to be a person of faith.

There seems to be an "anti-LGBT spiritual bullying" going on, as John Becker, an LGBT rights activist, wrote in this post. Many opponents of marriage equality resort to degrading words that are not just hurtful to homosexuals, but also disrespectful to marriage in general and patently inaccurate. Moreover, these polarizing sentiments don't even seem to represent the views of a religious leader's own congregants. For example, recent data shows that the vast majority of Catholics (71 percent) support the civil marriage rights for same-sex couples.

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