{"id":6052,"date":"2011-08-09T15:56:19","date_gmt":"2011-08-09T19:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=6052"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:40:06","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:40:06","slug":"i-have-a-public-obligation-to-try-and-change-an-injustice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/08\/i-have-a-public-obligation-to-try-and-change-an-injustice\/","title":{"rendered":""I have a public obligation to try to change that injustice""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

That is how Maryland\u2019s Catholic Governor Martin O\u2019Malley \u00a0responded to a letter from Baltimore\u2019s archbishop, asking that he withdraw his support for a bill that would legalize gay marriage.<\/p>\n

The remarkable \u00a0correspondence was reported in the Catholic Review: <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Two days before Gov. Martin J. O\u2019Malley announced his July 22 decision to sponsor legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland, Archbishop Edwin F. O\u2019Brien sent him a private letter urging O\u2019Malley \u2013 a Catholic \u2013 to \u201crefrain\u201d from promoting the redefinition of marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am well aware that the recent events in New York have intensified pressure on you to lend your active support to legislation to redefine marriage,\u201d Archbishop O\u2019Brien wrote, referring to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s signing of gay marriage legislation in the Empire State.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs advocates for the truths we are compelled to uphold,\u201d Archbishop O\u2019Brien said, \u201cwe speak with equal intensity and urgency in opposition to your promoting a goal that so deeply conflicts with your faith, not to mention the best interests of our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Archbishop O\u2019Brien said it was \u201cespecially hard to fathom your taking such a step, given the fact that our requests last year for you to sponsor legislation to repeal the death penalty and support students in Catholic and other nonpublic schools went unheeded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The archbishop was referring to a long-sought business tax credit that would benefit students and teachers in Catholic and nonpublic schools. O\u2019Malley supports the credit, but did not take a leadership role in trying to pass it. The measure failed.<\/p>\n

In an Aug. 4 response to Archbishop O\u2019Brien, the governor cited a long list of items on which the two agree \u2013 including repealing the death penalty, reducing the incidence of infant mortality, \u201cpromoting the dignity of work and the justice of fair wages,\u201d protecting the environment, feeding the hungry and healing the sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not presume, nor would I ever presume as governor, to question or infringe upon your freedom to define, to preach about, and to administer the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church,\u201d O\u2019Malley said. \u201cBut on the public issue of granting equal civil marital rights to same sex couples, you and I disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Malley said he was \u201csworn to uphold the law without partiality or prejudice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen shortcomings in our laws bring about a result that is unjust,\u201d he asserted, \u201cI have a public obligation to try to change that injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Malley said it was unjust to \u201cdiscriminate\u201d in marital laws and he added that it is also \u201cunjust\u201d to treat the children of families headed by same-sex couples with \u201clesser protections\u201d under the law than the children of families headed by heterosexual couples.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the rest. <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That is how Maryland\u2019s Catholic Governor Martin O\u2019Malley \u00a0responded to a letter from Baltimore\u2019s archbishop, asking that he withdraw his support for a bill that would legalize gay marriage. The remarkable \u00a0correspondence was reported in the Catholic Review: Two days before Gov. Martin J. O\u2019Malley announced his July 22 decision to sponsor legislation legalizing same-sex […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,38],"tags":[376,11206,558],"class_list":["post-6052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marriage","category-politics","tag-gay-marriage","tag-gay-rights","tag-maryland"],"yoast_head":"\n"I have a public obligation to try to change that injustice"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"That is how Maryland's Catholic Governor Martin O'Malley \u00a0responded to a letter from Baltimore's archbishop, asking that he withdraw his support for a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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