Study: Mainline Clergy OK with Gay Rights, Cautious on Gay Marriage

Wednesday May 20, 2009

(RNS) Mainline Protestant clergy are generally more likely than most Americans to endorse gay rights, but only one in three supports same-sex marriage, according to a new study.

About one-third of mainline clergy support civil unions and one-third oppose any legal recognition for gay couples, found Public Religion Research, a Washington-based consulting firm, which released part two of its "Clergy Voices Survey" on Wednesday (May 20).

According to a Washington Post/ABC poll released in April, 49 percent of Americans say they support gay marriage, and 47 percent are opposed.

Five states have legalized gay marriage with a sixth, New Hampshire, set to join their ranks once legal protections for religious groups are put in place. Such assurances that churches and congregations will not be required to perform gay marriages make mainline Protestant clergy much more willing to accept them, according to the report. Support for gay marriage jumped from 32 to 46 percent with the "religious liberty"
assurance, according to the survey.

The "Clergy Voices" report details the response of senior mainline clergy from seven denominations to more than 60 questions about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. The researchers called it "the most in-depth study of mainline clergy attitudes on LGBT issues ever undertaken."

More than two-thirds of mainline clergy support hate crimes legislation and protections from workplace discrimination for gays and lesbians; more than half (55 percent) say gay couples should be allowed to adopt children.

But the survey found "significant and sometimes stark differences" between mainline Protestant denominations, with clergy in the United Church of Christ and Episcopal Church most supportive of LGBT rights.

Clergy in the United Methodist Church and American Baptist Churches USA are least supportive.

The other denominations surveyed were the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Overall, mainline Protestant clergy have become more supportive of equal rights for gays and lesbians over the last decade, and 45 percent now favor the ordination of gays and lesbians with no special requirements, the survey found.

Still, a slight majority (51 percent) of mainline ministers said that disagreements in their church over homosexuality have become a crisis. Among that majority, 40 percent say the crisis is about how the Bible should be read, 27 percent say it concerns what the church is supposed to be and 23 percent say it's about core Christian doctrine, according to the survey.

By Daniel Burke

Religion News Service

Gay activists are wasting all their political capital

Its unbelievable that Gay activists are wasting all their political capital on this Gay marriage fight because this will not stop discrimination. It will not give anymore protection than civil unions yet they rage on. Why are they fighting for the right to wed when hardly any Gay people want to be married? Why are they putting all Gay people at risk of a backlash just to make a point? Calling everyone that does not agree a bigot will not change anything. From my experinces most Gay couples are not interested in marriage only the safety net of benefits and visiting rights in the hopsital etc.. Most American babies are now born of single mothers out of wedlock. Why push for Gay marriage when it turns fellow liberals against the Gay movement? I love Gay people but not this ludicrous push for Gay marriage. America should return to the family unit of a mother and a father to be role models and care takers of the children . I won't budge on my stand because I know what is good for our children. Our culture has become selfish and oblivious to the needs of children. . We are in fact sounding the death knell of our culture by dismantling all the structures that hold it together.

I am glad Prop 8 was upheld in California

I am glad Prop 8 was upheld in California. If Gay activists want some form of civil union like they have in the UK I am OK with that. I have many Gay friends but I do not think we should change the very institution our society is built upon on such a pretense as the need for equal protection for Gay couples to receive social benefits or the right to visit ones companion in the hospital. These are separate issues unrelated to marriage. Marriage is the union of a man and women. Around the world for thousands and thousands of years marriage has always been about protecting the children and providing a safe atmosphere to rear children and protect women when they are preoccupied by small children and pregnant. A man and a women join to become a unit and that is what marriage is. All this hoopla about the right to marry who you please is just a crock of selfish garbage. Gay people deserve the benefits of the state and society concerning inheritance and visiting rights in the hospital but they do not need the protection of marriage. We have become so spoiled and arrogant in the West we have thrown away our neighborhoods and our extended families and our sense of social sacrifice and duty. Do we now want to hold marriage under water until it too is dead? I am not making any moral judgment on Homosexual behavior, however marriage is not something that is for everyone nor has it ever been for everyone. If you don't like what marriage is don't wed. Be happy you made the right choice for you don't try to force the whole world to redefine what marriage is to suit your need for security and acceptance. Marriage is not a shield or a trophy, its a commitment for life. It should never be entered into lightly.