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Pen Points
Letters to Gay Today |
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We're No Threat to Marriage
Civil laws, such as those regulating personal relationships like romance & marriage et cetera should not be based on anyone's interpretation of any religion's views. As a non-Christian, I do not believe that the government should incorporate religious rules into governing my life. I also don't want the government to be based on the Koran, the Buddha's collected writings, or whatever.
Perhaps marriage should be separated into separate components, civil and religious, in order to satisfy those who would set their own religious rules. Even without any further government intrusion, today no church is compelled to perform any marriage ceremony which conflicts with it's principles. Not to pick on the Catholics (tho their frontal assault on any recognition of gay civil rights may warrant it) but their marriage rules are pretty widely-known. Priests will not marry persons who have been divorced, because the Catholic Church does not recognize divorce (annulments are a rather strange exception) hence in its eyes the parties are married to their former spouses. If the marriage involves a partner of another faith, the couple must pledge to raise their children as Catholic. I'm sure there are some other churches with restrictions outside the law (not illegal, just not a matter of law) such as a complete ban on interfaith marriages, bans in interracial marriages, whatever fits the rules of their faith. This is a crucial thing to remind your friends of when they want to go on about gay marriages, no church will ever be compelled to perform them. Pat Robertson told a lady the other day (I surf TV while I surf the net, wheeeee) that she should not marry an unsaved man. It's his right to give such advice to his parishioners, and to refuse to perform the service if she chooses to pursue marriage to this man. The most absurd thing put forth by the Zealots is to label this whole Crusade as a "Defense of Marriage". Straight couple's betrothals are in no tangible way "threatened" by anything we do at all in this regard. If they want to solidify their marriages, they should look inwardly (my suggestion) or make divorce illegal. THAT will make their eyes widen.
Ellipse Kentucky's Archives Seeks Books & Magazines
Main focus of the library and archives is gay-, lesbian-, bisexual-, and transgender-themed publications, but it also boasts a sizeable number of feminist books and magazines. The Williams-Nichols Institute, Inc., the non-profit corporation overseeing the collection, is a 501(c)3 corporation organized under US tax laws. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent accorded by law. All donations are accepted, but if some items turn out to be duplicates, the organization reserves the right to sell them for whatever it can get on the open market to pay for its ongoing operating expenses. Cash donations in any amount are, of course, always welcomed! For more information, email us back or contact us at:
David Williams, Director
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Reader defends the Rev. Fred Phelps 
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