An open letter to Joe Fitzgerald

Gays, marriage, and religious 'truth'

Media by Dan Kennedy

Joe Fitzgerald
Columnist
Boston Herald

Dear Joe,

You seem to like sharing letters from readers in your column. So consider this just one more letter. Quote from it or ignore it as you please.

I'm writing to take you to task for your December 22 column, in which you criticized the Vermont Supreme Court, and supporters of gay marriage, following the court's ruling that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the same rights and protections as heterosexual couples.

The headline -- DON'T CONFUSE RELIGIOUS FACTS WITH HATRED -- revealed the flaw in your argument. Your religious facts are not the same as my religious facts, and I resent your attempt to cite your own personal religious beliefs as justification for denying others their full standing in civil society.

Take, for instance, this statement: "There's nothing hateful about reaffirming truths, however unfashionable they may be, one of which is that same-sex partnerships are an 'abomination' in the Judeo-Christian heritage we celebrate this season, whether your focus is on the eight lights of a menorah or the baby in a manger." Joe, my family and I are in church almost every Sunday, and the "truth" you cite is considered an ugly, hateful lie by our denomination, Unitarian Universalism. The UUs have been performing commitment ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples since the 1970s, and would start marrying gays and lesbians within minutes of a marriage statute's being passed.

Now, maybe you consider the Unitarian Universalists suspect, since it's a non-creedal denomination, and only a small percentage of its members are practicing Christians or Jews. But we're not alone. The Congregationalists, members of a Christian faith, favor full recognition of gays' and lesbians' humanity, as do many Reform Jews and other religious liberals. You wrote, "It's simple: Either Vermont was wrong, or we're no longer that 'one nation, under God' we claim to be." Joe, we were never one nation, under God. We are and always have been one nation, under many gods -- and, for some of us, under no god at all. After all, freedom from religion is as important a constitutional principle as freedom of religion.

You also asserted that "no hate exists at this address." Joe, I believe you. I don't think there's a hateful bone in your body. That's why I'm writing this letter. You've been eloquent, for instance, in defending the dignity of welfare mothers, a class of people that some of your fellow Herald columnists castigate as pariahs and leeches. Nor do you make fun of gays and lesbians, as does your colleague Howie Carr, or describe gay unions as "elevating fornication and sodomy to the status of marriage," as has your colleague Don Feder. Still, you characterized homosexuality as "aberrant behavior," and you justified that description by relying on religious beliefs that are not universal, however much you may think or wish that they were.

On this we can agree: there are universal moral truths. One was put best by George W. Bush's favorite political philosopher: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." That's all that gay and lesbian couples are looking for, Joe. You seem like someone whose heart is open. I hope you'll open your mind as well.

Sincerely,
Dan Kennedy