Portland Catholics raise $86,000 to fight same-sex marriage in Maine

No doubt, the baby Jesus is beaming with pride in regard to his acolyte, the bishop of Portland, and his minions for doing their part so the fairies can’t marry. Throughout the month of September, the diocese took “special” collections to ensure that people who are fond of people with similar genitalia are denied inheritances, health insurance, and the other benefits most of us take for granted. And to buy air time

Every time I turn on the radio, there is another commercial warning us of the evils of same-sex marriage. One of the supposed “mandates” of the law is our children in the public schools would be indoctrinated with the idea that two people who love one another should be allowed to marry regardless of their orientation.

Huh? The next thing you will know, they will be letting colored folks sit next to us on the bus!

I would like to reassure the opponents of same-sex marriage they need not worry. I’ve met plenty of the recent graduates of the public schools and if their grasp of history, literature, biology and mathematics is any indication of their ability to retain knowledge – the Gay and Lesbian community should be in for a real disappointment.

(For the fact-based community: there are no plans to teach about same-sex marriage in the schools.)

But the part of the commercial that catches my attention is the ominous warning: “this law could possibly do away with the church’s tax-exempt status”. Now, we are getting down to the meat and potatoes of the issue – the Benjamins!

Personally, I think tax-exempt status for churches is an egregious violation of the constitution and should be ended immediately. Tax-exempt status should be reserved to those organizations that can be shown to provide a public good. I’ll be damned if I can see the public good in buggering children and helping the perpetrators escape justice. But, that’s just me.

It seems the threat to the holy gravy train lies in the fact that by treating evil homosexuals like citizens, the churches won’t be able to discriminate against them any more in matters of employment, adoption, etc. and still be able to suck on the public teat. It seems the state isn’t really interested in the Bishop’s (and others of his ilk’s) hate-filled, homophobic rants, and what really hurts; it doesn’t want to pay for them anymore.

I can’t help but wonder what the baby Jesus would have done with the 86 G’s? Maybe help the poor, or feed the hungry – you know – that whole “sermon on the mount” thing. Maybe, just maybe show a little compassion too.


Barney F. McClelland 10/10/09