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The state’s battle over gay rights will preoccupy many worshipers in Maine this weekend.
The only question on Tuesday’s special election ballot will ask voters, “Do you want to reject the law passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations?” A yes vote would kill the law. A no vote would allow the law to take effect 30 days after the election results become official.
Organizations supporting and opposing the ballot question have asked ministers, rabbis and lay leaders to include the topic in sermons.
The Religious Coalition Against Discrimination, an interfaith group which includes Roman Catholics, Protestants and Jews, has named Feb. 6-8 the “Sabbath Against Discrimination.” The group prepared a packet that included suggested Scripture texts, exegetical material, liturgy, worship resources, as well as a “reflection on what the Bible says regarding homosexuality.” It concluded by asking pastors to “join us both in getting the message out and in taking a stand against discrimination by opposing Question #1.”
The Christian Civic League of Maine, which circulated petitions to put the question on the ballot, sent letters to 260 pastors across Maine stating the organization’s views on homosexuality and urging people to vote yes for the repeal of the law which added “sexual orientation” to the Maine Human Rights Act.
“To the extent laws like the one that are the subject of the people’s veto are meant to affirm sexual sin in Maine, we are emphatically opposed,” wrote Michael Heath, executive director of the league. “In other words, we support rejecting the law. Hence the people’s veto of `gay’ rights …”
The Christian Coalition of Maine, which supports the repeal of the law, has distributed 180,000 voter guides to 892 evangelical and Catholic churches throughout the state, according to Paul Volle, executive director for the state branch of the National Christian Coalition.
“We’ve contacted 50,000 people in a poll we’ve conducted,” Volle said. “We’re finding that only 25 percent of the people we’ve called even know there’s a special election. … We focused the guide on educating, identifying and getting our constituents out to vote.”
Both sides use the Bible to support their positions. The CCLM’s position paper on the 1998 ballot question states that “homosexuality is wrong based on Biblical references to homosexuality as sin. The ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in the book of Genesis were destroyed for their immorality and sodomy [homosexuality].”
However, RCAD’s literature states that “Genesis 1:26-28 is a culturally-bound account, explaining the origin or strong attraction of the sexes for each other and placing it within God’s good creation … Nor should the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah … be used to condemn homosexuality, but rather to condemn rape as inhospitality …”
The Unitarian-Universalists, as well as Reform Jews, have supported efforts to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for many years, just as many Baptist, Apostolic and fundamentalist churches have fought those efforts.
While mainline Protestant churches — Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran — argue at the national level about the ordination of homosexual clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions, arguments over civil rights for gays and lesbians, the lifestyle itself and addressing political issues from the pulpit occupy individual churches and their pastors.
The Rev. Susan W. Hassinger, bishop of the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, sent a letter dated Jan. 20 to all 180 United Methodist churches in the state outlining the denomination’s stance on “equal rights regardless of sexual orientation,” requesting it be read each Sunday before the referendum vote.
The Rev. Vicki Woods, district superintendent, said that it is the first time she can remember a bishop commenting on a political issue in Maine, adding that the church does take stands on political issues, especially if they have to do with justice.
While Hassinger does not tell churchgoers how to vote, she does quote the 1996 “Book of Discipline” in the two-page letter. She quoted the section on Social Principles on the Nurturing Community, stating that “Although we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching, we affirm that God’s grace is available to all …”
She also quoted a section on community which states, “Certain basic human rights and civil liberties are due all persons. We are committed to supporting those rights and liberties for homosexual persons.”
The Rev. James Young, pastor of the Orono United Methodist Church, urged members of his congregation from the pulpit and in the monthly church bulletin to vote no. He also sent a letter to the editor which was published in the Bangor Daily News.
“In our United Methodist tradition,” he wrote, “we have the Wesleyan Quadrilateral … Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience. For most of us, scripture is the longest side of the four sides on almost every issue. However, there are times when reason and experience overrule scripture and tradition. … While selective scripture and tradition have been used to discriminate against gays and lesbians, once again reason and experience show us it is wrong. Let us not go back. Let us say NO to discrimination on Feb. 10.”
The Rev. Michael Pike, pastor of the Corinth United Methodist Church, will not read the bishop’s letter to his congregation.
“I am at odds with the bishop on this issue,” he said, “and I am in the minority on this issue in my denomination. … I don’t feel that civil rights legislation is the best way to resolve all that society is wrestling with around this issue.
“The Bible and church are places that help discern what’s good for society. When there is no discernment between right and wrong, we lose God’s order for the universe,” Pike said. “It says in Genesis that `God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female, he created them.’ If God had meant for there to be other options he would have outlined them in Genesis.”
Earlier this week the Episcopal Diocese of Maine issued a press release affirming a resolution passed in 1995 that addresses the issue and encourages residents to vote Tuesday. The resolution stated that “the Episcopal Diocese of Maine declares its belief in God’s love for all people; remembers the charge of Christ to humankind that we should love one another as He loved us; and deplores all things which further hatred, division and isolation among the children of God.”
The Rev. Allan Sandlin, pastor of St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church in Blue Hill, said that he has discussed the coming election in previous sermons and the denomination’s resolution has been distributed in the church bulletin.
However, the Rev. Kevin Holsapple, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bangor, decided not to discuss the issue from the pulpit. “The church must speak on political issues, but not necessarily the clergy,” he said. “I’m not an expert on political issues. I try to be an expert on what I’ve been called to do.”
The Rev. James Haddix, pastor at All Soul’s Congregational Church in Bangor, agreed with Holsapple. “I do not speak on political issues from the pulpit,” he said. “There have been small group discussions about the issue at the church.”
The Somesville Union Meeting House, UCC, was the first of its sect in Maine to become an “Open and Affirming Congregation,” according to its pastor, the Rev. David Stillman. The 70-member congregation wrote a statement that “affirms all people regardless of sexual orientation and welcomes them to join us,” he said. “We also agreed to stand in witness with them. We have talked about this for the past few weeks and will again this Sunday. It’s very important to us.”
Parishioners at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Ellsworth will not hear their pastor, the Rev. Jack Maxim, discuss the election from the pulpit Sunday.
“The pulpit is not the proper place to do that [discuss politics],” he said. “Members of the congregation have discussed the issue in our adult forum and are aware of the ELCA’s [Evangelical Lutheran Church of America] statement on the issue.”
The Roman Catholic diocese of Portland has remained neutral on the election even though it opposes discrimination against homosexuals. In a statement published in The Church World, the diocesean newspaper, the Public Policy Committee stated, “The teaching of the Church makes it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended.”
“The diocese is not neutral: It supports the human rights of gay individuals in … terms of housing, credit, employment and public accommodation,” said the Rev. Paul Cote, who leads the committee. “It’s just the current legislation is considered flawed.”
The diocese has stated that the law is ambiguous about what kinds of religiously affiliated organizations, such as schools and charities, could be exempt from the law. The committee stressed that the church approves of sex only between a man and a woman within marriage. The church teaches that homosexual orientation itself cannot be considered sinful.
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