Proposition 8

CALIFORNIA ORTHODOX BISHOPS ANNOUNCE SUPPORT OF MARRIAGE AMENDMENT The decision of the California Supreme Court on May 15, 2008, unilaterally redefines the sacred institution of marriage in a manner unprecedented in human history – and alien to our Christian tradition. We, the Orthodox Christian bishops of California, were saddened by this decision which constitutes a direct attack upon the longstanding role and freedom of religion in American life. A majority of the justices declared not only that same-sex couplings must be allowed to exist at those couples’ discretion as “marriages”, but that the stat of California is forbidden to refer to these couplings as anything but “marriages”. Orthodox Christianity holds in high regard the God-ordained institution of marriage and the family. The Orthodox Church must and shall remain true to its faith and tradition, and affirm that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, given by God to one another for mutual support, encouragement, love and the ability to bear children. As members of the Church and as citizens of this great land, we cannot withdraw from the society in which we live. Our parishes and our faithful are called upon to be “salt and light”, to paraphrase Christ, and, as such, they engage with their neighbors in acts of charity and love. We will continue our charitable works and our engagement with society—including to faithfully teach the truth about Christian principles of living. The Orthodox Church in the United States thrives and grows, in many respects, because of the enduring principles upon which this great country was founded. Our definitions of basic institution such as marriage, shaped by the unfathomable forces of love and nature, coupled with the experience of all recorded human history, rightly derive from what the Founder of our country knew as the “natural law” of “nature and nature’s God”. It is in this light that the Orthodox Christian bishops of California reject the decision of the California Supreme Court in marriage cases. The institution of marriage emanates from something transcending our passing political institutions, and cannot be unilaterally altered in this way. We therefore must act when that promulgation directly contradicts our faith – and threatens the very foundation of Orthodoxy’s flourishing in America. Therefore, we, the Orthodox bishops of California, call upon the faithful, as responsible and concerned citizens of California, to overturn this ruling by the California Supreme Court by voting in favor of Proposition 8 this coming November. This proposition is a regrettably necessary measure to restore the ture definition of marriage in the eyes of our state. A state that believes same-sex couplings constitute “marriage” implicitly – and sooner or later, explicitly – denies the role of the Church and all fatihs that adhere to traditional values in public life. Please exercise your citizenship and vote in November. The passage of Proposition 8 in an imperative. With Archpastoral Blessings, METROPOLITAN GERASIMOS BISHOP JOSEPH Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco Diocese of Los Angeles & West Antiochian Archdiocese of North America BISHOP MAXIM BISHOP BENJAMIN Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America Orthodox Church in America, Diocese of the West

The state should be out of the marriage business altogether. Civil marriage used to regulate sexual expression, but for the past half-century it has served only to regulate property. Civil marriage is NOT marriage for an Orthodox Christian under any circumstances and people need to be clear about this. People wonder when their children are surprised that they cannot marry say, an unbaptized person or a cousin, in the Orthodox Church when it is permitted by civil law. We need to make clearer distinctions between civil \\"marriage\\" and Orthodox marriage. I worry that some of these political campaigns are actually obscuring the nature of Christian marriage. I repeat: every Orthodox Christian needs to understand clearly that civil marriage properly has no relationship to religious marriage.

Thimios, I\'ve never seen this letter from the Bishops (outside of here). Where did you find it? I\'m disappointed that the Metropolis didn\'t distribute it via the normal e-mail distribution.

I reieved in a letter from my Priest. I do not now how public it was sent. It was also handed out at our Church.

hooray! it passed! Even if not many Californians are religious, at least they have a sense of right and wrong

Ah, but the judges, who now rule this great land, will overturn it. The suit has already been filed.

I don\'t think the above can be repeated enough. I generally wish there was no use of the word marriage in legal documents. On another note the Mormon church lost tax exempt status in California due to their monetary contributions.