D. Bruce Haines began issuing marriage licenses to the LBGT Community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania as part of his job of Registrar of Wills. He did it because he sees how equal protection under the law trumps Pennsylvania's DOMA Law. He is actually doing something with the office he was elected to.
But almost immediately folks with rosaries showed up on their knees praying against what D Bruce Haines is doing. A rosary is a big part of Catholic faith. Saying the rosary is a chant that asks for intercession from God the Father, Jesus, The Blessed Mother, The Holy Spirit as those saying the rosary recite prayers like The Apostles' Creed, The Our Father, The Glory Be, and many Hail Mary's.
Can those with the rosaries stop for a moment and allow for the possibility that maybe D. Bruce Haines IS the intercession they are praying for? Last I checked, God is not required to answer your question with the answer that you want.
- You gotta love my Dad.
- Treat each other the way you want to be treated.
Later on He talks about the ONLY sin that won't be forgiven is denying the Holy Spirit.
This is the core of the core.
What happens in the Gospels and the Acts are the relevant issues. The Epistles that make up the back-end of the New Testament is spin after the fact. Revelations are a bad drug trip. The Old Testament is the pre-game show. If you are a Christian, the first five books of the New Testament are it. Everything else is noise.
As Catholics, we believe that divine intervention comes via praying the rosary. Can we be prepared for the possibility that God may actually be hearing the prayers of those LGBT folks who want to get married? I would bet some of them have prayed the rosary. Or maybe they have turned away from God because people with rosaries are getting in between their relationship with God; denying them access to the Holy Spirit? Can you blame them for becoming lost sheep?
Could God decide to bring these sheep back into the fold He may to allow them to get married?
Just because you are praying the loudest in the front of the room does not mean that you have a better hotline to the Holy Spirit.
In those two Commandments, where does it say that is it okay to deny other people their happiness? The first one is your relationship with God. You cannot impose anything on anyone else using that as an excuse. It is a one-on-one with you and the Big Guy.
Looking at treating each other right, how does making other people feel less than you keep you within bounds of this rule? How does judging members of the LGBT community and telling them they are less than Christian or are bigger sinners allow you to keep this commandment?
Can you allow the possibility that God is revealing LGBT people to you as a way to say back-off? Would you blame the LGBT community if they turned the Golden Rule sideways to say -- Okay you want to treat me this way, I guess that gives me license to treat you the same way as you are treating me? What does that look like?
So if you are still not getting it as you pray the rosary, and you want to deny these people equal rights based on YOUR religious beliefs, will you be okay if the folks in the LGBT community hold you bound for the sin of getting denying them access to The Holy Spirit when your time comes?
I think D. Bruce Haines is doing God's work. But who am I to judge?