Same-sex marriage (SSM) and |
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Unfortunately, it is unclear whether the apology to his gay friends that Warren
mentioned took the form of:
or
or
One News Now seems to favor the second option. They said that Rick Warren
"... disavows support for Prop. 8." If so, then this is remarkable news,
because it would be the first time, to our knowledge, that a major fundamentalist or other evangelical
leader actually supports SSM. | ||||||||||||
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Religious conservatives often use 2% as an estimate of the percentage of
adult gays and lesbians; gay-positive
groups often use 10%. The actual number varies slightly according to the definition of
"homosexual." However the actual value appears to be about 5%. | ||||||||||||
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Some suggest that whether same-sex marriage should be allowed should not
be determined by the number of loving committed same-sex couples who want to
marry, and gain protections for themselves and their children. One might ask
whether
inter-racial marriage should no longer be permitted because the total number of loving,
committed inter-racial couples is small relative to same-race couples? | ||||||||||||
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He made the same error that so many others make: he assumes that all
same-sex couples wishing to get married are either gay or lesbian. In reality,
same-sex
couples are generally a relationship between:
Persons with a bisexual orientation are less common than those with a
homosexual orientation; they total perhaps 3% of the population. However, they
should not be ignored in debates over SSM. They are human, too. | ||||||||||||
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It is surprising that Pastor Warren would say every religion and culture
for 5,000 years has restricted marriage to one man and one woman. This is
clearly wrong, yet we have seen similar statement by many fundamentalist and
other evangelical leaders. We have found eight types of family structures described in the Bible; none were condemned. Polygyny (one man with multiple wives) was common during biblical times. Solomon had 700 wives, to say nothing of his hundreds of concubines. Throughout most of the 19th century polygyny was practiced among Mormon denominations and continues today among fundamentalist Mormon faith groups. There have even been a few cultures that allowed a woman to marry multiple men. Today, Muslim men are allowed to have up to four wives in many countries, but only if they can treat the wives equally. | ||||||||||||
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The definition of marriage in the U.S. has changed a number of times, most
notably in the 19th century when African Americans were first allowed to marry
freely, and in the 20th century when inter-racial
couples were allowed to marry everywhere in the U.S. Today, the U.S. appears to be in a state of
flux in which same-sex marriage is being gradually accepted in the East and West
coasts. Polls indicate that youth and young adults are far more accepting of
SSM than their parents. They indicate that opposition to SSM is
gradually sinking and support for SSM is gradually rising nationally. | ||||||||||||
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Warren stated that "God created marriage for the purpose of family, love, and procreation." The implication is that same-sex couples cannot form families, cannot have mutual love for each other, and cannot procreate. This is a surprising comment, particularly in view of Warren's extensive work with homosexual groups on AIDS prevention. He must have worked closely with many gays and lesbians who have formed families, who deeply love and are committed to their spouses, and -- in the case of lesbians and bisexuals -- who have adopted or had their own children with the help of assisted fertility methods. |
Reaction to Warren's statement on YouTube:
YouTube viewers were not too kind in their comments about Warren's interview on Larry King Live; some were downright vicious. The posting was viewed by 47,937 surfers within a few days of his appearance on Larry King Live. There were 560 posted comments. I gave up trying to find a neutral or positive one:
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"Revmimbob" wrote: "I have more respect for Fred Phelps and
his zany clan than this bigot. 'Every religion for 5 thousand years says the
definition of marriage is between one man and a woman.' How many wives did
Mohammed have?" |
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Wunderkat08 wrote: "WOW! Rick Warren = Liar. In his recent Larry
King interview he denies making any claim of supporting prop 8. He made it too
easy for us. Wonder what he's going to come up with next." |
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Avalonjoyous wrote: "Rick Warren is nothing more than a homophobic
fascist. All he knows are lies and he has proven it many times. Prop 8 passed
yet people are still not satisfied. They should give themselves a big pat on
the back .....for writing discrimination into the U.S. [sic] Constitution. Oh
yes I would truly feel so proud to deny deserving Americans of THEIR
rights.*Sarcasm in case anyone missed it.*" |
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Ftogyeppf wrote: "Given his Larry King appearance, I think we can
conclude that Rick Warren is a fraud and a liar. 'I did not have sexual
relations with that woman!' " |
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Cherstyler wrote: "He's and idiot and clearly a homophobe preaching
hate. God must be so proud of him." |
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Ofoeti wrote: "Last night Warren told Larry King, 'During the whole
Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a
statement, never -- never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop
8 was going'. Thank goodness for YouTube. You have to wonder why all of these
conservative extremists keep on lying in spite of proof. They must think
Americans are stupid." |
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Kerplukntube wrote: "Rick Warren is a liar. What is it about
'Christians' that they are willing to believe a liar? I conclude they are delusional." |
Grammar, punctuated, and spelling corrected. 4
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- "Rick Warren: Stopping Gay Marriage 'Very Low' on Priority List," U.S. News and World Report, 2009-APR-07, at: http://www.usnews.com/
- "CNN Larry King Live: interview with Pastor Rick Warren," 2009-APR-06, at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/
- "Rick Warren disavows support for Prop. 8," One News Now, 2009-APR-08, at: http://www.onenewsnow.com/
- "Rick Warren Endorses Prop 8," YouTube, at: http://www.youtube.com/
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Copyright © 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Original posting: 2009-MAR-04
Latest update: 2009-MAY-19
Author: B.A. Robinson
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