As goes Maine...

 

Tomorrow voters in Maine will cast their individual ballots on the proposal to determine the meaning of marriage—the Question 1 initiative. A “yes” is a vote for the defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Sound familiar? There are strong parallels between this issue and the Proposition 8 question that California voters addressed a few months ago.

The matter in the Maine ballot clearly addresses the question of what a marriage is and what it is not. The current law and Catholic teaching on the matter run a parallel course. But, like in many states a strong, aggressive lobby wishes to change all this. Their success in litigation and ballot initiatives is mixed, but they have made remarkable and perilous headway in “redefining” marriage.

I write tonight to bring to the attention of the Mirror of Justice community the work of a group of individuals who claim to be “faithful Catholics” who believe that marriage ought to be between a man and a man or a woman and a woman in addition to the union of one man and one woman. They criticize their bishop, Bishop Richard Malone of Portland, Maine. They claim to offer a “Catholic case for same-sex marriage.” [HERE] Moreover, they allege that the bishop “has missed the point.”

He has not.

The so-called Catholics who advocate for same-sex marriage are the ones who are in error. I have argued why this is so enough times in the past. [Download Equality and Same Sex Marriage] Some of the Catholic advocates argue that they are “obligated” to follow “their own informed consciences on the matter.” If they were Catholic, they would know that this formulation is in error if one follows Church teaching. They are obligated to follow a well-formed conscience, not a subjectively determined one that is premised on grave error. But I digress.

Bishop Malone has offered his own perspective [HERE].

Pollsters appear to agree that the outcome of the initiative is too close to call. That being said, I shall pray that sense and sensibility and the reasoned position of the Church will prevail. Perhaps others may wish to join me in this effort.

 

RJA sj