I wonder what the person is like and just what he or she is thinking. I'm referring to the person who twice tore up our "Vote No; Don't Limit the Freedom to Marry" lawn sign.
Was it a common vandal, a kid blowing off steam? No, the sign for a candidate we support still stands tall.
Was he or she fearful that same-sex marriage will somehow destroy marriage? What? How? Come on! Who determined that gay marriages would suffer the sad divorce rates of hetero ones? Freedom to marry would force nothing upon churches. But the politics of fear live on.
Did this person strike out to protect a sacred tradition and institution? Distress of losing institutional practices prevented my grandmother from voting and slaves from exercising the most basic freedoms of life. This vandal seems to be hoarding the cherished freedom to marry. Is it because he or she feels threatened by a fear that gayness might finally be proven to be biological? After all, if gayness were biological, it would be God's product. And God does not err.
As a married couple, my wife and I have tried to find reasons we should support Minnesota's marriage amendment. Would it, as Catholic bishops say, destroy the oft-stated purpose of marriage, procreation? That seems a thin argument.
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As of last May, the Duluth diocese spent $50,000 to promote the amendment, and the Twin Cities archdiocese kicked in at least $650,000. Why have my bishops prioritized financial resources in this direction rather than honoring our time-honored, proud Catholic tradition of fighting for social justice?
I guess I'll never know why this vandal acted. But to me the two great commandments are pretty clear. Doesn't one of them, "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself," trump biblical interpretations steeped in fear?
Jerry Kimball
Duluth
