Aha. It looks as if I have found the man who might, in the end, find a way to convince me that there is some way to integrate gay marriage into my list of good things. That would be quite a feat, but Joe Perez appears to have the qualifications.
I would say that my greatest difficulty with the idea of same-sex marriage is its threat to the very sacrament of Holy Matrimony. I see the political activism of various queer nations & friends as an overproduction within our democracy which is both arrogant, deceptive and counter to the very liberating aspects of the legacy of Stonewall. I support equal rights for registered domestic partners, such as we have here in California, but I do not endorse any cross of the line between Church and State. I cannot believe that such social and political activism can be contained within a purely secular context and that congregations will force the hand of the clergy and church hierarchs.
While I am not so personally vested in the affairs of other sects, I think this is a dangerous precedent for my own Episcopal and Catholic Churches. In fact, in light of the possibility that Episcopalians might change, I have seriously considered joining the Catholic Church in some official way. This is a consequence of my fundamental belief and understanding of religious traditions as well considered and evolved moral frameworks which counter the vagueries and fashions enabled by today's ultra-fast market economies and regimes of information. I expect the internet to be fast, I don't expect it to be heavy enough to bulldoze ancient and active religions.
Clearly, however, homosexuality has endured the centuries. Has it been relegated to the proper margins? That is a question I do not know the answer to, however I find it difficult to believe that in the most libertine and free society in mankind's history, our political emphasis is in line with all human experience. As the puppeteer so concisely parodied "Everybody has AIDS' is simply not the case, nor should Rent' be canonical.
Anyway, I am looking forward to checking out Mr. Perez blog, Rising Up in the future.
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