Panel shows seven sides of gay marriage dispute
Panel members of various academic and religious backgrounds discussed the issues of same-sex marriage and homosexuality in the TSC auditorium, Tuesday, in an installment of the ongoing Women and Gender Lecture Series.
Moderators mentioned last week’s showing of USU graduate Reed Cowan’s film “8: A Mormon Proposition,” and rules of civility were read to prepare the audience for emotions that could potentially run high during the forum.
The Rev. Susan Springer of Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Logan said all voices are important to such a discussion and, as a society, it is necessary that they are made public. Springer was one of the seven panel members.
“Currently, the Episcopal Diocese of Utah permits the blessing of same gender unions, but not every Episcopal diocese in this country permits them,” Springer said. “Unlike, for example, the Roman Catholic and LDS churches, Episcopalians have no central figure or group that is our doctrinal authority.”
Practicing members of Hindu, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Latter-day Saint, Jewish and Evangelical faiths were also on the panel. The members each took a turn speaking briefly about how their specific denomination views same-sex marriage and same-gender attraction.
Each participant made clear that they could not speak for their denomination as a whole, but rather simply provide their own interpretation of their religion’s respective beliefs.
Some panelists chose to cite religious texts. Adjunct assistant professor of philosophy Harrison Kleiner read from Pope John Paul II’s book “The Theology of the Body.”
Citing the former pope’s work, Kleiner said, according to the Roman Catholic faith, homosexuality, sodomy and contraception are all equally considered evil because they all go against the natural purpose of sex, which is procreation.
“The Catholic Church has an unambiguous position on the nature and meaning of marriage,” Kleiner said. “The Catholic Church believes that marriage is a faithful, exclusive and lifelong union between a man and a woman.”
Pastor Eldon Peterson of the Cache Valley Bible Fellowship said from an Evangelical Biblical point of view, homosexuality is a sexual sin like many other sexual sins, but his church is open to anyone looking for help.
Kleiner said he teaches a social ethics course which spends a couple of weeks talking about the subject of gay marriage.
“In my experience teaching that class, students typically come into the conversation, on all sides, from very emotional points of view.”
But all of them, after discussing it in a level-headed and reasonable way, even if they don’t change their mind, I’m convinced that they all leave the class better citizens,” he said.
Reformed Jewish representative Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman said that unlike the other panelists’ denominations, Judaism is about this life. She said that salvation is not based in decisions regarding gay marriage.
“We have to love each other and recognize that God resides within all of us,”
Schwartzman said. Like most religious denominations, she said that reformed Judaism is different from its conservative and orthodox counterparts.
“If I presented Judaism as a monolith, I would be doing it a disservice,” she said. “We have an obligation to be in dialogue with our sacred text, and that means that we have to interpret it and we have to weigh modernity and tradition together.”
Schwartzman said the world of reformed Judaism is open to observing and condoning gay marriage as long as it follows along with secular laws.
Gastroenterologist Vikram Garg, a practicing member of the Hindu faith, gave a short background of his religion and its history. Hinduism has no one religious leader that will take a stand on the subject of homosexuality.
“Love, in Hinduism, means a devotion between two people, whether it is romantic or platonic,” Garg said. “There’s really no information in religious scriptures about marriage and same sex.”
Each panelist was given an eight-minute period to speak for their faith. Following the speaking session, members of the audience were invited to stand up and ask questions of any of the seven panel members.
Five members of the audience subsequently asked questions. Several questions were asked regarding why religion has such a big concern with gay marriage.
“Increasingly, groups are seeking to harness religion along with other social institutions, such as family and church, to accomplish their aims of cultural reconstruction,” said William Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation and member of the LDS faith.
A graduate student of psychology who introduced himself as Josh asked, “What does each religion do to support GLBT, even though you may not support the act, what do you do to support them and further their rights in the communities that they live in?”
English professor Michael Sowder, a representative of the Buddhist community, said his faith welcomes gay and lesbian members of the community as it would welcome anybody. Homosexuality is not a matter of religious debate, according to Western Buddhist philosophies.
“Compassion is the ultimate ideal in Buddhism,” Sowder said. “Why is sexuality such a highly charged issue in religion? I think that’s why we have this focus on it, it freaks us out.”
“We endeavor to be a safe place and to be welcoming,” Springer said, of her Episcopal faith. “We’re not perfect, we don’t always succeed, but that’s our goal.” Springer said she felt like she was speaking for the entire panel when she said dialogs among panels like this one are necessary for moving forward.
– daniel.whitney.smith@aggiemail.usu.edu