Gay Marriage Stalls in Rhode Island

As gay marriage is otherwise sweeping across New England, Rhode Island is an island of reactionaries. Why? Because of that bastion of 13th century thinking, the Roman Catholic Church. Just as the Church wrongly clung to ignorance as it prosecuted Galileo and as it still treats women as inferior beings, the Church refuses to accept modern medical and mental health knowledge concerning sexual orientation. For an institution that has such a horrific history of being wrong on so many issues, one would think that someone at the Vatican might ponder whether or not the Church's certitude on same sex relationships might just be incorrect. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post that look at the Church's obstruction of modern thought:

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Gay marriage could soon become the law of the land across New England _ except in the heavily Roman Catholic state of Rhode Island. A string of sudden successes for gay marriage advocates has left Rhode Island a political outlier. . . . Yet the movement has stalled in Rhode Island, perhaps even lost ground, after a stalemate at the Statehouse, a loss in the state's top court and continued opposition from religious leaders.

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Religion remains among the biggest hurdles. A recent survey by Trinity College in Connecticut showed 46 percent of Rhode Islanders identify themselves as Roman Catholic, a larger percentage than any other state. Given its size, the church carries political clout. On the last Inauguration Day, every statewide elected official began the morning with a special Mass at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, celebrated by Bishop Thomas Tobin.

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Tobin does not hesitate to tussle with politicians, especially on gay marriage. He calls gay unions a perversion of natural law and a violation of an institution that Catholics believe was created by God. Two years ago, he harshly criticized Attorney General Patrick Lynch, a Catholic, for advising state agencies to recognize the marriages of gay couples wed outside Rhode Island. "We don't see it as a civil rights issue," Tobin said in a recent interview, "because there's never a right to do something that's morally wrong."

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Even if a simple majority of lawmakers backed Perry's bill, Republican Gov. Don Carcieri _ another Catholic _ would almost certainly veto it. Overriding a veto requires the support of 60 percent of lawmakers in each chamber. . . . It might become slightly easier for those looking to legalize gay marriage in Rhode Island when Carcieri finishes his second and final term as governor in January 2011. Potential candidates including former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, and Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts and Attorney General Patrick Lynch, both Democrats, support gay marriage.

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Bishop Tobin worries about "moral wrongs" unless of course it involves the Catholic Church and the sexual abuse of minors by priests. Then, like all the rest of the morally bankrupt hierarchy his voice is silent. If Tobin wants any credibility on any issue, he must first start loudly demanding that his compatriots who enabled and/or covered up the sexual abuse of minors be removed from their positions. Since I doubt that will ever happen, the pompous hypocrite ought to simply shut up. He's a fraud plain and simple.