NO: Why would God (or Californians) want to discourage loving, lifelong commitments?

<p>As married, straight, patriotic, church-going men, we support the freedom of all loving couples to do what we and countless others have done: marry legally and with dignity, affirmed by our families, friends and society. That's why we oppose Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban on the Nov. 4 ballot.</p><p>We have worked, worshipped and socialized with too many gay people to judge their sexual orientation as wrong or unnatural. We know too many gay couples who raise children, biological and adopted, and provide them with every bit as much love, care and moral guidance as we do our own. The idea that our relationships with our wives are diminished by same-sex marriage makes no sense to us.</p><p>If marriage needs to be "protected" from anything, it is from those who aren't prepared for it, gay or straight. The high rates of divorce and broken families make it plain that many straight couples are emotionally underdeveloped, get married for the wrong reasons, make poor spouses and often worse parents. How can one argue that their vows are ipso facto sacred in the eyes of God and worthy of societal and legal sanction, yet a homosexual couple who are better able to commit to each other and to nurture a loving family should be denied the same status?</p><p>We are saddened by the prejudice homosexual people endure. Denouncing same-sex marriage and child-raising by gay people as immoral is both cruel and theologically unsound. Why would God want to limit anyone's sincere expression of mutual love and lifelong commitment? How can it be wrong for more people to take on the responsibilities that marriage entails and upon which society depends?</p><p>Many people go to scripture for guidance in this matter. We do, too. But we lift up foremost the Bible's message of God's love and its repeated calls to care for the powerless. Much of the Bible cannot be understood outside the ancient religious and cultural background within which it was written. We note that the books of Moses affirm polygamy, slavery and genocide. We observe that the very few words on homosexuality in Leviticus are immediately followed by elaborate directions on scattering the blood of bulls on the altar during the Sabbath service. No "believers" today observe such ancient rituals -- they are plainly no longer applicable to the world we live in.</p><p>It is not unfaithful to be open to growth and change. Some who argue against marriage equality today might recall when their traditions specifically kept blacks from church pews or from the priesthood, citing sacred texts to argue that God demanded such exclusion. Interracial marriage was similarly condemned. Thankfully, the culture slowly changed, people questioned the sources of these ancient prejudices, and religious traditions, to their credit, no longer found it tenable to uphold practices that so clearly violated the principles of human equality. We're confident that as the knowledge and self-awareness of humanity continues to evolve, the ancient taboos regarding homosexuality will also be abandoned.</p><p>We have great hope that all religious traditions will one day recognize gay marriage and the inherent sanctity of all human commitments formed in love. The tide of human history, despite significant setbacks, is always moving toward more freedom, love, self-acceptance and acceptance of others just as we are, with all our God-given differences, talents and foibles. We're confident that the better part of human nature will keep percolating in our hearts, moving us inexorably toward the realization that all of God's children deserve respect and the opportunity to know the fullness of married life.</p><p>We believe in a God of love, who offers a seat at an inexhaustible banquet table for everyone. We recall that Jesus did not say one word about homosexuality. His core message was about inviting everyone into the circle of love and denying no one the dignity, respect and compassion that should always bind us together in human community. We extend his invitation again. Please, vote no on Proposition 8.</p><p><em>Chris Bell is the minister and Andrew Hidas is president of the board of trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Santa Rosa.</em></p>