Longview News-Journal

Letter to the Editor

Monday, June 19, 2006

Why is gay marriage such a hot button issue? I believe the problem is not with "gay marriage" but rather with marriage itself.

In our country marriage constitutes the single largest convergence of church and state. The "ritual" of marriage is a function of religion, seen as a sacrament, ordinance or holy rite/obligation depending on the faith in question. When viewed in this manner it is up to the religious body involved to determine who can or cannot get married.

The civil act of marriage is something else entirely. When two persons are married "under the law" they have engaged in a binding contract with each other and with the state, changing their legal and financial rights and status for the rest of their lives. In this regard marriage should be open to all persons who are able to legally engage in a binding contract. Where we run into a problem is that we have empowered our religious institutions to act as agents of the state.

When a Catholic priest performs the "sacrament" of marriage he is a member of the clergy. When he signs the marriage certificate right after he is an agent of the state. If the government says that homosexuals are able to be legally married the priest is now in a position where his religious tenets prevent him from acting as an agent of the state. The solution to all of this? We need to separate these functions of church and state, defining "marriage" and a union of two people within the context of religious ceremony and according to the doctrines of the specific faith tradition and "civil union" as the legal binding together of two persons under the law into a contractual relationship with certain shared rights and responsibilities. At least those are my thoughts on the subject.

—Ryan Adams, Longview

Additional R E Space

Huey Mitchell

Religious Education is an important and valuable component of the Unitarian Fellowship of Longview. We have excellent teachers and wonderful students, but not adequate space. Therefore, we have begun the process of acquiring additional permanent R E classrooms. What we end up with will depend on our ability to meet all the challenges inherent in this venture. It will require time, effort, tenacity, humor, flexibility, generosity and cooperation. Based on past performance, I know we are eminently capable of success.

The Board and R E committee members investigated several options to determine viable solutions and their approximate cost. The Fellowship was informed of the amount needed and asked if they were willing to allocate funding for additional R E space

At the close of the voting period (midnight Sunday, June 11, 2006) there were 31 responses from the 45 eligible voting members. The results are as follows:

The Board will return to the congregation at a later date with its recommendation on what type of permanent accommodations can be put in place. If the recommendation is approved by the voting members, the proposal to build will then be activated.

Thank You

There are many ways to participate in Religious Education at the Fellowship. One can teach, plan lessons, prepare learning materials, and attend training modules. Our teachers, Jessica Noble, Sheila McElroy, and Gelene Grim do all that. In addition, they donate their time and talent so the UFL does not have to hire and pay teachers.

Sheila and Jessica also raised funds for the R E program by hosting The Therapy Sisters concert, selling food during the intermission, and paying for two newspaper ads to promote the concert.

Robert Marquez can't let all the accolades go to the ladies. He volunteers as R E Teacher's Aide when the nursery and preschool set want to be in on things ... or want to go back to check on Mom or Dad.

The East Texas Literacy Council's "BEE" for Literacy was held at the Pine Tree Junior High cafeteria on June 6th. Sixteen teams competed in the 15th annual spelling bee. Earlier in the year, Phil Fenton invited the UFL to be on the Interfaith Council's team. The Board approved the necessary "fee" (donation) and Tina said she would spell for us. All was fine until Longview Habitat for Humanity set the schedule for the Women Build. Tina would be building walls or decking a roof that day, so Holly volunteered to fill in. However, conflicting commitments prevented her from being able to attend, so Ruth valiantly offered to take up the challenge.

continued on Page 5 ..... see Spelling Bee