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Churches see defeat of gay marriage as a biblical — not political — cause
| Saturday, Oct 4 2008 12:00 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Oct 6 2008 7:37 AM
Protecting what they see as the only form of biblically sanctioned marriage — between a man and a woman — is galvanizing Kern churches to campaign for Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage.
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Setting aside denominational differences — and even reluctance by some churches to engage in political matters — many Mormons, Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans and others are coming together under the Sacramento-based Protect Marriage Coalition, said Michael Hawkins, Bakersfield Stake President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Church teams are canvassing neighborhoods, phoning and registering voters, hosting satellite simulcast rallies, taking special offerings to raise funds, and distributing “Yes on 8” fliers, bumper stickers and lawn signs.
“I doubt that anything that’s happening at the churches that are supportive of ‘No on 8’ is as big as the other side,” said local gay activist Whitney Weddell, a member of Metropolitan Community Church of the Harvest. She added that local opposition to Proposition 8 is being led mainly by gay rights groups.
Ann Kinnett, administrator of Center for Spiritual Living — a religious science congregation that is among a half-dozen gay-friendly churches in town — said her church is not participating in a “Vote No on 8” campaign. “We’re just doing church right now,” she said.
MORMON MOBILIZATION
On June 29, while the city of San Francisco was celebrating its Gay Pride parade, Mormon bishops throughout the state were reading a letter to their congregants.
“In March 2000, California voters overwhelmingly approved a state law providing that ‘Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid...,’” began the letter from church leaders in Salt Lake City.
“The California Supreme Court recently reversed this vote of the people,” it continued, explaining that Proposition 8 would amend the state Constitution and restore the March 2000 definition of marriage.
“We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment,” thousands in Kern’s Mormons were told.
“Members were concerned,” Hawkins said. “It was a somber mood. There certainly was no celebration of any kind.
“Each member is left to his own conscience how they will vote,” he said.
CONSCIENCE AS GUIDE
“I’m troubled that churches would do this on the one hand, because I think they’re wrong,” said Christopher Meyers, director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics at CSUB. “On the other hand, an organization that builds itself around moral beliefs should be able to advocate on behalf of those beliefs.
“It certainly creates a moral tension for the congregant,” Meyers said. He said there is “a tremendous amount of subtle and not-so-subtle pressure” for believers to follow their church’s agenda.
“One of the great things about the U.S. is you don’t have to be a member of any given church or congregation. So if the (one) that you are attending offends you, you have every freedom to find a church that is more tolerant and inclusive and go there to commune with God,” he said.
INTERDENOMINATIONAL EFFORT
Another church deeply involved in Protect Marriage efforts is the nondenominational Calvary Bible Church on Manor Street.
Senior pastor Ted Duncan said, “We’ve been pro-marriage from Day One as a union between one man and one woman. We were very active with Prop. 22 when that was passed in 2000.
“We’re not a red-hot political church that jumps on every issue. But we don’t consider (Prop. 8) a political issue. It’s a biblical issue.
“We’re promoting Proposition 4 with the same amount of enthusiasm,” he said, referring to the measure that would require a doctor to inform parents or guardians of a minor seeking an abortion.
Other nondenominational congregations — RiverLakes Community Church and Calvary Chapel Westbrook — as well as Canyon Hills Assembly of God Church are listed by the Church Communication Network as host sites for Protect Marriage statewide simulcast rallies.
“Our congregation believes that this is an issue that we should get involved in,” said Rev. Jim Beilstein, pastor of the small Peace Lutheran Church in Taft, which is also hosting the simulcasts. “We don’t as a congregation endorse candidates, but we do get involved in issues we consider biblical.”
Under the federal tax code, religious leaders may talk about and support public policy issues without compromising their church’s tax-exempt status as long as they do not endorse a particular political party or candidate or spend a substantial amount of their church budgets or time on lobbying.
CATHOLIC EFFORTS
Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno Bishop John Steinbock was at Garces Memorial High School last week for the blessing of local Catholic television station that is now available on cable in the greater Bakersfield area.
He said KNXT will be used to rally Catholics to vote yes on 8 in November. Steinbock also said a broader plan was in place to send notices to all dioceses in California to ask for congregants’ support of the proposition.
“I strongly urge people to vote yes on Proposition 8,” he said, “because this isn’t a political question, it’s a moral question.”
A DIFFERENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE
However, Rev. Ray Hammond pastor of Grace Bible Church of Bakersfield, a nondenominational conservative congregation, is wary about churches that use lobbying efforts and tell their congregants to vote in the name of morality or “biblical principles.”
Hammond has been preaching a series of sermons called “The Christian and Politics.”
“I believe in marriage between a man and a woman,” he said unequivocally. “Personally, I will vote yes on the proposition.
“My concern is that when churches organize together like this and tell their people how to vote on moral issues, they send a message not endorsed by the Bible,” he said. “The Bible never says it is the church’s responsibility to moralize secular culture.”