Bishop Malone (“In Maine, bishop pans gay marriage,” BDN, Nov. 17) is within his rights to tell us what God wants regarding who should be allowed to marry. But I think he must have misunderstood. If it is true that God ordained in marriage “an essential component, namely the ability and obligation to procreate,” then gays should be allowed to marry as they quite often do procreate. Those for whom the sacrament of marriage should be withheld are women past menopause and men who are not fertile.

Many gay couples seek the protection marriage provides in order that their rights as parents will be recognized. They wish to marry in order to procreate.

Perhaps what God said, and Bishop Malone misunderstood, is that states ought not to deliver what only God can, namely a sacrament, but to stick to what states are in business for, protecting rights.

Civil unions to protect property rights should be available without discrimination. Couples wanting God’s blessing as well should find a church willing to confer it.

Karen Saum

Belfast