Caroline Finnegan
Part 1 of Series
Religious Beliefs on Gay Marriage
Dash
The Catholic Church
The year is 2013 A.D.. We are living 2,013 years after the birth of Jesus Christ.
Before Christ, B.C. and Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord) A.D., were
created to mark the birth of Jesus Christ as a dividing point in world history.
As of 2010, there were an estimated 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in the
world, according to the Census of the 2012 Pontifical Yearbook. Catholicism is the
largest religious denomination in the United States with 77.7 million members.
Illinois has the 11th highest percentage of Catholics (30 percent) of all the States.
The people that observe the Catholic faith believe that the sanctity of marriage
should be reserved for a man and a woman.
According to AmericanCatholic.org, “the Catholic Church opposes gay
marriage and the social acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex relationships,
but teaches that homosexual persons deserve respect, justice and pastoral care.”
March was a month of marriage in the United States. The Supreme Court
heard arguments in two landmark cases: one involving California’s Proposition 8
and the other involving the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Do You Remember, the Twenty-First Night of September?
Do you remember, the twenty-first night of September? The gay people of the
United States certainly do. On that day in 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the
Defense of Marriage Act, also known as DOMA, that defined marriage as the legal
union between one man and one woman. The law was passed with ease by large
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majorities of congress.
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is marriage between two
persons of the same biological sex and/or gender. Legal recognition of same-sex
marriage is commonly referred to as marriage equality or equal marriage.
Section 2 of DOMA gives States the ability to decide their own jurisdiction
over the topic of gay marriage. In other words, States do not have to recognize the
same-sex marriage laws of another State. Section 3 defines marriage as heterosexual
and does not recognize same-sex marriages for federal purposes including
“insurance benefits for government employees, Social Security survivors’ benefits,
immigration and the filing of joint tax returns.”
The year DOMA passed, only 25 percent of Americans said that gay and
lesbian couples should have the right to marry, according to an average of national
polls.
Today, 53 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage and 57 percent
said they had a family member or close friend who is gay or lesbian, according to a
CNN/ORC International Poll released last week.
Recently, Clinton and key legislators have changed their positions and
advocated the repeal of the law. In 2011, the Obama administration announced that
it had determined that Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional and would not
defend it in court, though the law would still be enforced. The House General
Counsel now defends the law in place of the Department of Justice, under
instructions from the House of Representatives.
Section 3 of DOMA has been found unconstitutional in eight federal courts –
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including the First and Second Circuit Court of Appeals – on issues including
bankruptcy, public employee benefits, estate taxes, and immigration. On March 27,
the U.S. Supreme Court heard an appeal of one of the cases, The United States vs.
Windsor appellate case.
As of January 2013, nine states—Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington—have
legalized the marriage between two people of the same sex.
While many gay people and supporters of gay marriage are rejoicing in the
news that the court is paying more attention to their cases, the Catholic church will
not be in support a repeal.
The Catholic Church is part of the 42 percent of Americans that believe that
marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman.
AmericanCatholic.org recently came out with an updated opinion on gay
marriage. The site says that Catholics are, “pressured by some to accept too much,
too easily and embarrassed by others for their intolerance and hostility toward gay
and lesbian persons. The Catholic Church in recent decades has striven to chart a
mid-course that is moral yet pastoral, true to sexual moral tradition yet not
inflexible or intolerant. “
“God created humanity, man and woman together, as a reflection of himself.
Man alone and woman alone don’t yet make up a complete mirroring of God unless
they are unified together,” said Shawn Reeves, Director of Religious Education at the
St. John Newman Center. “There are many other things that God created that are
genderless, but the fact that he chose to make gender in His creation that He calls
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His image insinuates that gender has meaning and that the union of these two
genders is part of his design for what human flourishing is meant to be,” said
Reeves.
As a student at the University of Illinois in the late ‘90’s, Shawn Reeves
converted to Catholicism through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, or RCIA
program, at the Newman Center. A few years after graduation, Reeves completed a
graduate program in theology before working for the Newman Center.
“I was not raised Catholic myself, so I can sympathize to a certain extent with
people who are coming from a different faith tradition,” he said. “It’s very difficult to
come up with a susinct brief explanation of Catholicism because the Catholic faith is
so rich and has so many facets to it.”
During an interview at the Newman center, he did his best to explain the
2,000 year old religion in just a few sentences.
“At the risk of oversimplifying, the Catholic faith is founded on the belief that
God exists,” he said. “That he has intimately pursued us in joining with our
nature, drawing us into union with his divinity, then, manifesting the glory of the
union of heaven and earth, the union of the divine and the human through the
life of the community by mysteries which we call sacraments and by the revelation
of the scriptures.”
The Catholic Church teaches its followers that the truth of their religion is
found in the Bible, as interpreted by the church, and in church tradition, according
to Christianity.com. The clergy election that appoints the body of all people ordained
for religious duties in the Roman Catholic Church choose only males, with the
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exception of nuns, and all are unmarried.
The Nicene Creed is one that Catholics say at each mass, the ancient
celebration and act of worship in Catholicism. It states that they believe in one God,
the maker of heaven and earth, and believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, who is God’s
son. For their salvation, Jesus came down from heaven and was born to a virgin
named Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit and became man. Catholics
believe that Jesus was crucified by Pontius Pilot, and died on a cross. Three days
later, Jesus rose form the dead. The Nicene Creed states that followers of Jesus also
believe that the sacrament of Baptism will cleanse people of their sins, their
immoral acts against divine law and that the dead will resurrect into heaven.
According to Fr. Charles Klamut, the Assistant Chaplain at the St. John’s
Catholic Chapel in Champaign, “Catholics are followers of Jesus Christ who was
crucified and rose as the answer to the deepest needs of the heart, which includes
following today in the context of the church, Christ’s body on Earth.”
Gianna Bosco, 22, went to a Catholic school for 11 years. “They teach you all
about the upbringing of Jesus and how he was the messiah and how he saved the
human race,” she said. “My faith isn’t as strong because I don’t have religion class
everyday, but I still believe in everything that I was taught.”
As for the subject of gay marriage, Bosco says that she holds a neutral position
on the topic. She doesn’t not support gay marriage but she also doesn’t advocate
it.
“I always think about it in terms of adoption because gay people can’t have
their own kids. I think kids brought up in a gay family would have a lot more
psychological issues than a kid brought up by normal parenting,” she said.
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On March 26 of this year, thousands of supporters of traditional
marriage protested on the day the Supreme Court hearing’s began, holding up signs
that read “every child deserves a mom and dad,” according to the Catholic News
Service.
Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordilleone of San Francisco, chairman of the U.S.
bishops’ Subcommitee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage began the hearing
rally by saying, “it is not our intention to offend anyone, and if we have I apologize;
please try to listen to us fairly, and calmly, and try to understand us and our
position. Only men can be fathers and only women can be mothers,” he said, noting:
“I find it hard to believe I have to stand here and say that.”
According to Shawn Reeves, child bearing is another issue the church
discusses when defending their position on gay marriage.
“Sex between two parties of the same gender must take a different method of
the unifying demension,” said Reeves, “which can not be replicated exactly as it is
with parties of opposite genders and also have inherently no capacity for that love
to proceed forth from that event, that sexual union, in a way in which that love
becomes personified in the generation of a new person.”
Catholicism in Action
It’s late in the afternoon on a spring Sunday. On the corner of Sixth street and
Armory in Champaign, students and families are walking into the St. John Newman
Chapel to attend 5:00 p.m. mass. The Church is a modest red brick but there are
marble floors and huge stained glass windows of brilliant colors lining the walls.
There are pews on either side of the gigantic room and at the front there is a large
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statue of Jesus Christ on the cross and three people kneeling below him, all carved
out of marble. The altar is a table adorned with a decorative tablecloth and two huge
candles. To signal the beginning of the service, the Priest, the leader of the mass, and
others walk down the aisle as the congregation sing a song.
The Priest speaks to the congregation using his own words in what the
Catholics refer to as the homily. Today, he is speaking about the sacrament of
Reconciliation, which allows members of the church to confess their sins to the
Priest in a confidential manner and to be absolved of their wrongdoings because
they are asking for forgiveness.
The Catholic Church believes that being gay is a sin, but if homosexuals can
ask God for forgiveness, he can reconcile with them.
“When people are confessing their sins, my first thought is not that these is a bad
person,” began Fr. Anthony Co, “but my first thought is wow, what a beautiful thing
like this person is really sorry. I don’t really hear the sin, I hear that persons
eagerness, they’re so eager to right their relationship with God that they’re willing
to come clean before the Priest, and that’s just amazing. Sometimes it moves me to
tears. If you knew how beautiful you looked when you were making that act of
repentance, you wouldn’t feel embarrassed or ashamed, and if that’s the way I view
a person, a flawed and sinful man, how must God?” he said.
Fr. Charles Klamut, another Priest at the St. John Newman Chapel, answered
God’s call to ordination in the early ’90’s. He attributes the clarity he had about joining
the priesthood to the acclaimed novel and play from Victor Hugo, Les Miserables and the
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exchange between Monseigneur Bienvenu and the main character Jean Valjean. Fr.
Klamut recalls his first thoughts to become ordained in an article he wrote called, “The
Man is Me,” published in America magazine, the National Catholic Review.
In the beginning of the story, the bishop Beinvenu allows Valjean, a wanderer and
convicted felon, to stay at his monestary. The first night Valjean attempts to steal silver
from Monseigneur Bienvenu, and although he is caught by the cops, the Bishop allows
Valjean to keep the silver and offers him candlesticks as well. The Bishop tells him that
he bought his soul for God with the silver and must use the rest of his life to become a
good man. Fr. Klamut writes, “Sacrificial love follows like concentric ripples from that
first “stone” dropped in the water, the bishop’s mercy toward Valjean…He treated
Valjean as he treated everyone: as Christ would.”
Fr. Klamut believes that through his position in the church he can teach the
message of Jesus Christ to love all.
“The one thing I don’t agree with in the church is not letting gay people get
married,” said Maryl Montagne, a 20-year old student who was born and raised a
Catholic. “I go to church every Sunday and I have a strong faith; I just try to live my life
in a Catholic way by treating everyone the way they would want to be treated,” she said.
“We love our gay brothers and sisters,” said Fr. Klamut in an interview. “Our
stance on marriage is not discrimination, the church simply doesn’t have authority to
redefine marriage. Everyone is equally loved by God and has access to God through
Jesus,” he said.
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Caroline Finnegan
Part 2 of Series
Religious Beliefs on Gay Marriage
Dash
Judaism
“If there’s anything that 3,000 years of Jewish history has shown us –3,000
years of so much exile and persecution–it’s that the only hope for humankind is to
strive toward ever-more loving and just societies,” said Senior Rabbi Gil Steinlauf, in
an article titled, “The Queerness of Love: A Jewish Case for Same-Sex Marriage,” in
the Jewish Journal.
Rabbi Steinlauf recalls the first time he officiated a gay marriage, just one
year ago. It was the first in the 145-year history of his synagogue, the Adas
Congregation in Washington D.C..
“All the blessings and rituals and formulae under the wedding canopy affirm
one idea: when two human beings find each other and love each other, it is Godly,”
he wrote.
Same-sex marriage in the Jewish faith has been a major subject of debate
within different denominations of Judaism. “There is no one Judaism, there are
Judaisms, plural,” said Rogerio Cukierman, a Reform Rabbi at the Hillel at the University
of Illinois.
The three most liberal types of Judaism: Reconstructionist, Conservative and
Reform, changed their views to support the union of same-sex marriage. “The
Reconstructionist movement, a small but powerful movement 40 years ago changed
Judaism and gay marriage dramatically,” said Rabbi Cukierman. Then Reform
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Judaism, which is now the largest denomination in the United States, and
Conservative Judaism changed.”
Conservative Judaism, specifically, began allowing the ordination of gay and
lesbian Rabbis in 2006 and in 2012, they formally approved same-sex marriage
ceremonies.
“The same-sex marriage movement is a progressive understanding of the
scripture and a reflection of society, as well,” said Rabbi Cukierman. “If you go to
scripture, it says men should not lie with men, women should be stoned to death,
the only way of interacting with the Devine is through animal sacrifices, and if
someone hits you really hard and damages one of your eyes, you have the right to
hit them really hard and damage one of their eyes. We’re coming to understand that
these things are not allowed. You’re not allowed to do that. There is the
understanding that passages should be converted to a contemporary perspective.”
“A good thing about Judaism is that it kinda changes with the times,”
said Robbie Schnitzer, President of the Illini Hillel at the University of Illinois.
“One thing that has changed is women’s rights within the Torah. Women
aren’t really as important in the Torah, and some Orthodox believe it should be that
way, but especially with Reform and Conservative Judaism, women are involved and
gay people are involved,” he said.
Schnitzer has practiced Conservative Judaism for his entire life; he was born
and raised in the north suburbs of Chicago.
His mother is a Rabbi; she graduated Rabbinical school at the Hebrew
Seminary of the Deaf in Skokie, IL in June 2010. “She was one of three women in the
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graduating class. The other two were both gay,” said Schnitzer. “And that’s a good
thing.”
The Doom of DOMA
Edie Windsor is an 83-year old lesbian widow. After a 40-year engagement to
Thea Spyer, the two married in Canada in 2007. When Spyer died two years later,
the Defense of Marriage Act prohibited the IRS from treating Windsor as a surviving
spouse, forcing her to pay more than $600,000 in federal and state estate taxes.
Windsor filed a federal lawsuit, now known famously as the United States v.
Windsor, which was recently heard by the highest court in our nation.
Recently major Jewish organizations have been speaking out against the ban
on gay marriage. “Except for Orthodoxy, Tabletmag.com reported, “the Union for
Reform Judaism; the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Conservative
Rabbinical Assembly and the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Reconstructionist
Rabbinical Association and College joined civil rights groups and a list of 278
prominent American corporations, from Citigroup to Apple, asking the court to
recognize same-sex marriage.
Reconstructionist, Reform and Conservative Judaism organizations have
joined corporations and civil rights groups to file friend-of-the-court briefs in favor
of repealing DOMA, arguing that the law is unconstitutional because it interferes
with religion. They believe that religion should have to right to determine what
counts as a marriage, not the law.
In February 2011, the Obama administration told the Department of Justice
to stop defending DOMA in court. On May 9, 2012, Barack Obama became the first
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sitting U.S. president to publicly declare support for legalizing gay marriage.
In October 2012, the White House ordered the Board of Immigration
Appeals to stop deporting gay non-American spouses of US citizens who had begun
the immigration process, according to the TimesofIsreal.com.
One month later, Maine, Maryland and Washington became the first states to
legalize same-sex marriage through popular vote.
In March 2013, the highest court in the nation listened to arguments against
the Defense Of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, considered a swing vote, voiced concerns
about the federal law DOMA holding too much power over state law, according to
the Huffington Post. He asked, “The question is whether or not the federal
government, under our federalism scheme, has the authority to regulate marriage.”
Elena Kagan is an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. As the former
Dean of Students at Harvard University, she has reportedly been known for
“queerifying Harvard,” questioning Harvard’s founding mottos “For Christ and the
Church,” and “For the Glory of Christ.” To integrate LGBTQ practices into the
historical university, Kagan hired a former ACLU lawyer and bisexual and
transgender professors to teach subjects ranging from sadomasochism, to
polygamy, to transgender law courses. Kagan is both Jewish and an alleged lesbian.
The World of Judiasm
According to the CIA World Fact book, as of 2012, there were 13.75 million
Jews in the world. The largest population of Jewish people, 43 percent. live in Isreal.
According to the Jewish Virtual Library, 5.4 million Jews live in the United States.
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Illinois is ranked tenth in States with the highest proportion of Jews with 2.3
percent.
Reform Judaism, founded by German Jews looking for a more assimilated
Judaism, is the most liberal branch of Judaism. Reform Judaism breaks traditional
religious observances by allowing women to be ordained, supporting interfaith
marriages and allowing the full participation of gay and lesbian members.
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside of the US, is the
most prevalent form of Judaism in North America and holds traditional beliefs but
permits contemporary adaptations. Founded by immigrants from Eastern Europe,
Conservatives were interested in a traditional Judaism in an American context.
Conservative Judaism holds moderate beliefs in the middle of the spectrum between
Orthodox and Reform.
Reconstructivism, the most recent denomination, believes Judaism is an
evolving process that should incorporate the modern world.
Orthodox Judaism believes that both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah
are of divine origin, containing God’s exact words without any human influence.
Followers of the Orthodox secular of Judaism attend Synagogue three times a day
and adhere to strict rules. Wearing clothing that is not too bright or tight fitting,
covering elbows and knees, and donning a Kipah on their heads, the Hebrew name
for some type of skullcap.
The traditional view held by Orthodox Jews is that homosexual relationships
are categorically forbidden by the Torah.
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“The Jewish world is very diverse,” said Rabbi Cukierman. “For example, at
the Hillel on Friday nights we have three services, Orthodox, Conservative and
Reform. I tend to compare that to Catholic, Episcopalians and the United Church of
Christ. As far as gay marriage goes, it all depends on the movement of Judaism and
to some extent, the community.”
Campus Life as a Jewish Illini
Last Sunday I interviewed a few people at the Margie K. and Louis N. Cohen
Center for Jewish Life, more commonly known as the University of Illinois Hillel.
According to Hillel’s website, they are the largest Jewish campus organization in the
world with sites at 550 colleges and universities. Their mission is “to enrich the lives
of Jewish students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world.” Their
vision is “a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment
to Jewish life, learning and Israel.”
It is the warmest Sunday we’ve had in awhile I think to myself as I walk
up the modern-looking building on John Street in Champaign, the unofficial heart of
campus, right down the street from Joe’s Brewery and across from Fat Sandwich.
Inside the building it is spotless and updated. A student is working behind the front
desk and in the main room students are watching TV, doing homework and enjoying
some food the Hillel has set up on tables. Almost immediately I notice all of the royal
blue and white decorations that adorn the room. Streamers and garland hang over
the walls and flags with the Jewish star on them, the flag of Israel, are hanging from
the ceiling and stuck in vases of white and blue chrysanthemums.
This Saturday, the 13th of April, marked the beginning of Israel week. The
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Jewish students at the University of Illinois will be celebrating Israel’s birthday
through a series of events at the college. Hila Lipschitz traveled from Israel to live
and work at the Hillel. As part of her job as the Israel Fellow, she plans events for
Israel week like a bagel brunch, a movie night, an Israel bar crawl and even a Jewish,
Gay pride event.
“Tel Aviv is one of the most gay friendly cities in the world,” she said when I
asked her about gay marriage in Israel.
In fact, last year, Tel Aviv was proclaimed the best gay travel destination of 2011,
according to Haaretz.com. In a world-wide survey conducted by GayCities.com
and American Airlines, 43 percent of voters cast their ballot for Tel Aviv.
This year, the Israel Illini, a group at the University of Illinois dedicated to
learning and educating about Israel and PRIDE, an LGBT organization on campus will
co-host the “3rd Annual Pride in Tel Aviv Party” at C Street, a dance club and gay bar in
downtown Champaign. The Tel Aviv freedom of expression party will take place on
April 25.
The presence of Jewish students on the University of Illinois campus is strong.
ReformJudaismmag.com ranked U of I number 25 on the list of public universities that
“Jews Choose.” The University has one of the largest Greek systems in the nation and is
home to two predominately Jewish sororities, Sigma Delta Tau (SDT) and Alpha Epsilon
Phi (AEPhi), as well as and three Jewish fraternities: Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT), Alpha
Epsilon Pi (AEPi) and Sigma Alpha Mu (Sammies). Although initially created as a
response to anti-Semitism, these fraternities and sororities have remained popular on
college campuses as a place for Jewish men and women to develop leadership skills, to
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give back to the community and to meet friends.
Jordan Arbus, a member of Sammies fraternity at the University of Illinois said
that most of their new members are recruited form high school or overnight camp.
According to Arbus, most members of the Sammies are reform Jews which “is like the
least Jewish you can be,” although the members attend some services at Hillel. “I, along
with most Jews, are in favor of gay marriage, as we’re part of the liberals.”
Another campus organization designated for Jewish students is Naches. Naches is
a new group on campus that serves the Jewish LGBT community. According to their
mission statement, Naches aims to work for the full inclusion of LGBT Jews in the
Jewish life through spiritual, social, and educational programming. Naches is open to
gay people that celebrated all different forms of Judaism.
Steven Mazzone, 22, was raised Jewish but doesn’t consider himself very
religious. He, however, has developed an opinion of gay marriage based around
Judaism. “In my synagogue we learned the importance of being involved in the
surrounding community, not just the Jewish community, and that really set the tone
for how I feel about gay marriage and gays in the community. I think we need to
accept people for who they are; everyone has a right to do what makes them happy,”
he said.
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Caroline Finnegan
Part 3 of Series
Religious Beliefs on Gay Marriage
Dash
Christian Reform
“The One with the Lesbian Wedding,” aired on January 18, 1996. It was the
eleventh episode of season two of the TV comedy Friends. Marta Kauffman, the cocreator of this sitcom that won the ASCAP “Top TV Series” from 1995-2005, said,
“NBC expected thousands and thousands of phone calls and hate mail but actually
received only four complaints by telephone.” The New York Times wrote, “the
biggest news about the wedding on Friends was that it was almost no news at all.”
Only two networks, one in Ohio and one in Texas, refused to air the episode.
For those that did, the episode was the highest rated television program for the
week with 31.6 million people watching.
While gay marriage wasn’t legalized until the 2000s, both Friends and the tv
show Roseann featured gay weddings in 1996. Since then, shows like Glee, Modern
Family, Will and Grace and Gossip Girl have made gay relationships on TV just a part
of the storyline, without causing too much controversy. Does being exposed to gay
television make people more likely to be in favor of gay marriage?
“I think that watching gay people on TV makes gay relationships more a part
of our daily life,” said Melissa Gildner, 22. “If people are homophobic they can see
these things on TV and maybe become more accustomed to it,” she said, “and maybe
they’ll see that gay people are just like everyone else.”
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According to dictionary.com, gay marriage is the union of two same-sex
partners; also called same-sex marriage, same-gender marriage and homosexual
marriage.
The first country in the world to legalize gay marriage was the Netherlands,
in 2001.
Since then, nine more countries worldwide followed suite: South Africa,
Belgium, Sweden, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Iceland, Norway and Argentina.
In America, only nine states recognize gay marriage: Connecticut, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Iowa and
Washington; 30 states have constitutional amendments prohibiting it.
There are an estimated 9 million Americans who are gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender in the United States today, according to a 2011 study done by
UCLA.
In 2008, gay marriage was legalized in California. The law was only active for
142 days before voters banned it with Proposition 8. During that window, 18,000
gay couples married, according to Politico.com.
Proposition 8 was passed in the November 2008 election and reversed, by
popular vote, the Supreme Court’s earlier decision that recognized gay marriage
equality.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in March of this year about DOMA and
Proposition 8 and are expected to issue its rulings in June.
While some have argued that the hearings seemed hopeful for gays, in recent
news, there were a threatening number of Republicans still in opposition.
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On April 13, Republican leaders met and unanimously approved a resolution
Friday urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8, according to an
article by the LA Times.
“No matter what the Supreme Court decides, we are going to be in a stronger
place in July than where we were before,” Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to
Marry, told Time magazine.
“We are going to win the freedom to marry, whether in June or in the next
round, when we go back to the court with more states, more public support and
perhaps new justices,” he said.
After hearing arguments for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and
Proposition 8, “the justices of the Supreme Court seemed reluctant to declare that
there is a constitutional right for gay and lesbian couples to marry…but the majority
also don’t seem to think that the federal government has the right to discriminate
against such marriages, as the 1996 DOMA does,” Howard Fineman wrote in the
Huffington Post.
The United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ was formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1957 when two
Protestant churches, the Congregational Christian Church and the Evangelical and
Reformed Church, merged together.
The Congregational Church has roots in Puritan England and the English
Reformation, while the Christian Church was created on the American frontier. Both
the Evangelical and Reformed Churches originated from the Protestant Reformation
in Europe and were then established in America by German and Swiss immigrants.
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The Evangelical side is German-American with beginnings in the Mississippi Valley
while the Reformed side is German-Swiss, originally made up of churches in
Pennsylvania from the early 1700s.
The UCC is a Protestant Christian denomination in the Reformed tradition.
The Church has a constitution in which they acknowledge the sole Head,
Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior. They look to the Word of God in
Scriptures, and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, to prosper its creative
and redemptive work in the world. Perhaps most poignant in the argument of gay
marriage, the United Church of Christ’s Constitution also says that “it reaffirms the
responsibility of the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in reality
of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God.”
According to the 2010 annual report on the UCC website, there are 5,287
congregations of the United Church of Christ and approximately 1 million members.
The United Church of Christ is a place of “extravagant welcome,” and maintaining
liberal views on social issues like civil rights, women’s rights, abortion and gay
rights.
The United Church of Christ believes “that God is still speaking,” which means
that their faith is based around the idea that God’s testament changes with the
times. “Our faith is 2,000 years old, our thinking is not,” the UCC website says. They
also believe that religion and science are not mutually exclusive, and the head and
the heart are both welcomed into their places of worship. One of their missions is to
be “a united and uniting church,” so they join in many partnerships with other
churches, like Churches Uniting in Christ, the WCC, World Council of Churches and
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the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The Church recognizes two sacraments:
Baptism and Holy Communion.
The United Church of Christ became the first mainline Christian
denomination to support same-sex marriage officially, according to an article in The
New York Times.
UCC made their support for gay marriage official on July 4, 2005. At the 25th
General Synod, the yearly meetings of the church, delegates adopted the resolution,
“Equal Marriage Rights for All.”
In the resolution, the United Church of Christ cited, “the Bible affirms and
celebrates human expressions of love and partnership, calling us to live out fully
that gift of God in responsible, faithful, committed relationships that recognize and
respect the image of God in all people; and the life and example of Jesus provides a
model of radically inclusive love and abundant welcome for all; whereas many UCC
pastors and congregations have held commitment services for gay and lesbian
couples for some time, consistent with the call to loving, long-term committed
relationships to nurture family life; whereas children of families headed by samegender couples should receive all legal rights and protections and equal marriage
rights for couples regardless of gender is an issue deserving of serious, faithful
discussion by people of faith, taking into consideration the long, complex history of
marriage and family life, layered as it is with cultural practices, economic realities,
political dynamics, religious history and biblical interpretation.”
The United Church of Christ in Champaign is a sandy-colored brick building
just across the street from the busy coffee shop, Espresso Royale. You can’t miss the
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rainbow flags that hang from the side of the building; today, especially, they’re
waving their vibrant colors dramatically in the wind. Inside, the sanctuary is mostly
wood; it’s modest in both size and décor. The pews are all wood, and the detailing
on the ceiling is wood. Everything in the room looks golden yellow from the sun. It’s
early afternoon and the sun is shining through the massive windows that line both
sides of the room.
On their Facebook page, Community UCC writes that their organization,
“celebrates the diversity of creation, and welcomes persons of any age, race, gender
identity, sexual orientation or life condition. No matter who you are or where you
are on life’s journey, you are welcome here…we REALLY mean it!” UCC is unique in
that it posts videos of their worship services on their page for everyone to enjoy. In
one of the video, the choir introduces the Christian song, “Hallelujah!” but takes out
kazoos and plays them instead of singing as part of UCC’s Holy Humor Sunday. It is
clear that Community UCC doesn’t have as strict rules as Judaism or Catholicism,
which attracts many different types of people.
Rev. Leah Robberts-Mosster is a Pastor at the United Church of Christ in
Champaign, which members call Community UCC. When asked how her
congregation includes gay people she said, “how does any church incorporate
straight people, divorced people, older people, college students, etc.? Gay people are
no different from any other folk who might seek to be part of our community,” said
Robberts-Mosster. “GLBTQ people are involved in full measure of membership at
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CUCC.”
“UCC Is very out in the fact that they’re allies, they hang up the rainbow flag,
they mention it in different prayers and things,” said Harrison Hakes, a gay member
of Community UCC.
“But it’s not like ‘oh, there’s Harrison he’s gay,’ it’s like, ‘oh there’s
Harrison, he likes this movie, and he happens to have a boyfriend.’ They include gay
people and include talking about it but it’s not like they beat it to death,” said Hakes.
Hakes is also a member of Building Bridges, an LGBT and Allies Christian
group, a unique organization at the University of Illinois. Students in the group are
both gay and Christian and attend different churches on campus. Building Bridges,
according to Hakes, has established a safe place for people who want to come and
talk about their sexuality and spirituality in the same context. “We have Christian
right in the name,” said Hakes.
According to their mission statement, Building Bridges hosts spiritual
discussions and the sharing of personal experiences while respected the diversity of
members’ spiritual backgrounds and are committed to breaking down stereotypes
and to building an understanding between diverse groups.
Building Bridges is a discussion-based group that meets weekly to talk about
things like “marriage, human rights and the recent Facebook activism.”
Hakes is referring to the phenomenon that occurred when Facebook users
changed their main picture to a red equal sign in support of marriage equality this
March when the Supreme Court was hearing arguments against Prop 8 and DOMA.
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Charts published by Facebook showed that 2.7 million people changed their main
photo.
Julia Barrow, 21, changed her picture in support of gay marriage. “I would
say I’m fairly liberal and I’m also not very religious,” said Barrow. “But I don’t really
see a connection between religion and gay marriage to begin with. To me, it has to
do with human rights and frankly I don’t understand how different religions can
preach to accept everyone and love them unconditionally and then tell people they
can’t get married. ” she said.
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Caroline Finnegan
Gay Marriage and
Three Different Religious Beliefs
Self-Critique/Dash
The main article my series sought to answer was what do different religions
believe about gay marriage? The answer to that question would be that Catholicism
does not support gay marriage, Judaism, with the exception of Orthodoxy does
support gay marriage and Christian Reform supports gay marriage. The news peg of
my series is the Supreme Court hearings of DOMA and Proposition 8 that happened
at the end of March.
The first main strength of my series is that I have included so much
information, another strength was that I incorporated all different aspects of gay
marriage into each article, another strength is that I didn’t repeat information and
each article had new insight on the same topic so I think they all tied together. The
fourth strength of my series was the ledes of each article because they were creative
and not too cliché like some gay marriage article can be and finally, I thought that I
reported fairly and accurately without allowing my opinion to interfere with any of
the articles.
The weaknesses of my series included waiting for sources because it was a
complete pain having to track people down or give them time to get back to me
without being proactive, I also thought that sometimes there was too much
information, but I had to fill 24 pages. Another weakness was the statistics, I used
them in all the articles but hopefully they read easily and translate well with the
reader. I think another weakness might have been not actually getting to speak with
enough gay people in all of my reporting and finally, for some interviews I wish I
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had prepared more controversial questions, I might have played it a little safe in
some cases.
I chose this specific writing style because I think it reads easily, especially
when I’m giving tons of numbers and statistics. I chose to break up the articles in
some places by giving them sub-headlines because with all of the information the
reader would have had to jump around too much and would have been confused. I
broke up the articles where I thought it would be most logical to create a new topic
under the main heading.
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Maryl Montagne
Student
847-345-2270
April 6
Shawn Reeves
Director of Religious Education
St. John's Chapel
(217) 255-6621
April 5
Fr. Charles Klamut
Priest
St. John’s Chapel
charles.klamut@sjcnc.org.
April 8
Gianna Bosco
Student
April 6
GiannaBosco@gmail.com
Vickie Hart
Employee
St. John Newman Center
vickie.hart@sjcnc.org
April 4
Fr. Anthony Co
Priest
St. John’s Chapel
April 7
Not direct interview, went to a mass and
quoted his service
Kelsey Butler
Soldier in Isreali Defense Forces
Contacted via Facebook
April 9
Steven Mazzone
Student
847-989-0840
mazzone@wisc.edu
April 8
Rabbi Mazalit Appel
Rabbi
mazalit@illinihillel.org
217 979 4444
April 17
Robert Schnitzer
2013 Executive Board President
schnitz3@illinois.edu
April 7
Hila Lipschitz
Jewish Agency Israel Fellow
Hila@illinihillel.org
April 7
Jordan Arbus
Member of SAM Jewish Fraternity
(847) 751-3503
April 14
Rabbi Rogerio Z. Cukierman
Rabbi
Rogerio@illinihillel.org
April 17
Rev. Leah Robberts-Mosster
Pastor, Community United Church of
Christ
Leah@community-ucc.org
April 17
Julia Barrow
Non-Religious Student
847-917-9560
April 16
Melissa Gildner
Non-Religious Student
309-212-6508
April 16
Harrison Hakes
President of Building Bridges
309-706-9768
April 17
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