"I'm extremely happy about today's ruling. For our church, the question of same sex/same-gender marriage has always been both a theological issue and a justice issue.  We recognize that the Jewish and Christian tradition we're a part of doesn't speak with one voice about marriage.  In the Christian Bible itself, we see multiple models of marriage taken for granted as "normal" (polygamy is one example).   So we recognize that we've always had to make decisions about what's good and right for us here and now by bringing our deepest values and our best judgment to the texts and to the tradition, and to set those values in dialogue with our texts and traditions. 

Importantly, those "deepest values" can arise from within the tradition itself.  I think that's true in this case.  Many of us (and I'm speaking here specifically of folks at The United Church of Granville, though I believe this could be said of many faith-full people around this country) have adopted as a core value the idea that the whole of the broad Jewish and Christian tradition can be summed up in the "great commandments" to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.   Using that as a "measuring rod"--as the prime core value we bring to help us interpret our texts and traditions--many of us come down on the side of marriage equality.  Using that rule--and the priority it places on reciprocity--we've come to the same place the church eventually came to on the issues of slavery and patriarchy.  Clearly, there are Biblical texts which take the slave system for granted--and that even promote it.   Likewise, most Biblical texts assume an ancient, patriarchal worldview--one in which women were considered property.  But we've come to understand that those assumptions of ancient peoples were part of the context--not part of the living core--of our broad tradition.  The core is about treating all people fairly and justly--just as we would want to be treated.  The core is about mutual understanding and honor and compassion.

I have known many, many loving, committed, same-sex or same-gender couples. I've seen partnerships in which people have been faithful to one another for decades. But even if those couples have been legally married elsewhere, I've also seen that here in Ohio, they've not had the rights & privileges of other married couples--and this has done them real harm.  It's done them harm when they're in hospital emergency rooms, and in funeral homes (where they're not recognized as legal "family"), it's done them harm when discussing benefits with their employers, and the list goes on and on...  Many of us feel that the only just and fair response is to legalize same-sex/same-gender marriage so that all families have the same rights and protections under law.  That's what makes it, for us, a justice issue as well as a theological issue.  So many members of the LGBTQ community have waited too long for their relationships to be legally recognized by their home state of Ohio, and that's one reason I'm excited about the ruling today.

But we also recognize that the struggle for full equality will need to continue.  For example, we as a country need to make sure that employers can't fire people simply on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  That's not "loving your neighbor as yourself"--that's discrimination.  We, as a society, need to be clear about that.  So I'm glad today.  But I hope, going forward, that the good people of this country will stay engaged in the struggle for equal rights and protections for every single American, until we're all the way there--to treating every single person in the same way we ourselves would want to be treated."   

-  Rev. Dwight Davidson, The United Church of Granville 

Thursday-night Sitting Zen (Zazen)...