I read that, once more, the Supreme Court rejected yet another bid to reverse the right for all adults to marry the person they love. I have always had the right to marry because I am heterosexual, but people who are not have had to fight their whole lives to have the same right I have. Those who oppose that right point to the Bible, so let me remind everyone that Biblical marriage includes: selling your daughter to an older man – forcing your slave to marry you – marrying your cousin – men having more than one wife – forcing your dead brother’s wife to marry you – etc. The movement around the world to allow equal rights in marriage, among other things, has been a way to try to set things right. It is also something that conservative religious people hate. This is why we speak up.
One of my tasks at our UCC Conference meeting this weekend is to moderate a panel of clergy who, like me, pastor Open & Affirming congregations. When my church voted yes in 2013, one of the things we agreed to was that we would do same-sex marriages, as long as the couple went through counseling and attended church. When I did two such weddings the next year, four members left. They told me that while they were okay with publicly welcoming non-heterosexual people, they believed that marriage was ordained by God to be between one man and one woman. When I pointed out that this was not actually biblically true, it made no difference. Sadly, we said goodbye to them, because our congregation tries to do what Jesus did; welcome and love everyone. This is why we speak up.
I don’t know why some people hate other people based on the way God made them. I don’t know why I evolved from not understanding those differences to accepting them. I don’t know a lot of things about life and people, but I do know this: if people like me – and you? – stop speaking up, a lot of people will lose their rights. If you and I don’t say no to those who dictate through hatred, we will watch atrocities take place. The United States Secretary of Defense’s pastor – a man who not only hates LGBTQ people but also believes that women should not be allowed to vote for themselves – is a regular visitor and worship leader in the White House. There are people like him regularly influencing what happens to people like us. We need to speak up against this attempt at religious bigotry, because if we don’t, innocent people will suffer. If we don’t oppose tyranny, we accept and collude with it. This is why we speak up. This is why we can’t be cowards. God expects it, and people need it. Speak up.
Prayer – Holy God, it is always safer to stay silent than to speak up, but we do not believe in You to be safe. Give us courage, we pray. Amen.
Today’s art is Rachel Morrissey’s “Wishing Tree” (2023).