Feb 13, 2004   | COMMENTS     

BOSTON (AP) — Leaders of churches, synagogues and mosques around Massachusetts condemned the Supreme Judicial Court’s rulings on gay marriage in a joint statement Saturday and urged a constitutional ban on such unions. A statement signed by religious leaders representing a range of faiths and denominations urged lawmakers to support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The statement was released the day before a rally on the Boston Common opposing gay marriage. “Should the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision to redefine marriage as any voluntary union of persons become the law of the land, it would have an enormously negative impact on our society,” the statement read. The signers of the statement included Boston Archbishop Sean O’Malley; Rev. David M. Midwood, president of Vision New England, an organization of evangelical churches; the Islamic Council of New England, which has about 25 centers and mosques; the 80-church Black Ministerial Alliance; 100 Christian Orthodox churches; and two Jewish leaders.

Muslim group withdraws support for anti-gay interfaith coalition
WASHINGTON — A second Muslim group resigned from the Alliance for Marriage, an interfaith coalition backing a constitutional amendment against gay marriage, after being accused of links to extremists, the Washington Post reported. The Islamic Society of North America withdrew from the alliance last week, becoming the second Muslim group to do so in recent weeks, the Post reported. The organization, based in Indiana, is made up of 200 mosques and Muslim professional societies, according to the Post. The group was alleged to have links to extremists, charges which Sayyid M. Syeed, the Islamic Society’s general secretary, called “completely baseless,” the Post reported. “By sitting on the board, we wanted to help the mission. If dropping out would help the same mission, then we should graciously and honorably bow out,” Syeed told the Post.

Group of rabbis supports equal rights for gays
NEW YORK — The Association of Humanistic Rabbis this week issued a statement in support of civil rights for sexual minorities and in support of same-sex marriage, the group said in a news release. According to the organization’s statement, many of its rabbis have spoken out for such equality and performed same-sex marriage ceremonies since the 1960s, when the Humanistic Judaism movement began. The group said in the release: “This is a critical moment in U.S. history where open-minded and open-hearted moral leadership is needed to help our society and the world transcend all bigotries. Thus, the Association of Humanistic Rabbis publicly declares its support for the full equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and their families, and for social change toward understanding and celebrating human diversity.” The group said it is the first association of rabbis to publicly encourage its members to perform same-sex ceremonies and to advocate far-reaching legal and social change for gays.

Va. Episcopal diocese creates ‘reconciliation commission’
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Episcopalians voted last week to create a “reconciliation commission” that will recommend how the 33,000 members of the Diocese of Southern Virginia can surmount disagreements over the denomination’s endorsement of a non-celibate gay man as a bishop. The vote, which came during the diocese’s annual council, acknowledged “the pain, disunity and profound differences” that have lingered since the national church’s General Convention allowed the ordination of Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in August. A majority of the 750 clergy and lay delegates also rejected a resolution that called on the diocese to officially repudiate the Robinson endorsement as well as the General Convention’s affirmation of church blessings for same-gender unions. The idea of establishing a conciliatory commission was borrowed from the larger Diocese of Virginia, which took that action a week ago at its annual meeting.

Archbishop says commission on gay issues has tough task
LONDON (AP) — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on Monday said a commission examining the crisis over gays that is wracking the Anglican Communion has an “exceptionally difficult” task. The commission was set up in October amid the crisis over the selection of gay cleric V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Anglican leaders have warned that his consecration last November could shatter the global Anglican Communion. The commission is also expected to study the blessings given to same-sex couples by the Canadian diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia. “They have been charged with an exceptionally difficult and delicate task,’’ Williams said of the commission members, made up of conservative and liberal church leaders. He added that the commission would likely report at the beginning of next year, with a number of interim reports issued before.