Portland Press Herald

Dear God,

First, I know you're busy. What with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, famine in Africa, the global economic crisis and that wacky family out in Colorado with the tin-foil flying saucer, it's clear that you have your hands full protecting us humans from ourselves.

But it's getting close to Election Day up here in Maine and, as I'm sure you're well aware, we're all twisted in a knot over same-sex marriage.

Actually, it's not all of us. The latest polls say half of us, maybe a few more, have no problem whatsoever with extending equal protection under our state Constitution to gay and lesbian couples so they can legally marry just as heterosexual couples do.

Rather, God, I'm taking these few moments to reflect on those ever-so-certain folks at Stand for Marriage Maine who insist that they – and they alone – know what is best for society because, well, they apparently know you better than the rest of us do.

To be perfectly honest, God, I know very little about your individual relationship with each of those folks – or anyone else, for that matter. The way I see it, that's between you and them.

But I do know this. I've been in regular contact with you all my life – from times so good I just had to thank you, to times so difficult that I know I'd never have survived without you.

Thus when I say that I know you and you know me, I do so with complete confidence that no one – at least in this world – is in a position to state otherwise.

So back to the same-sex marriage debate.

Just this morning I was perusing the Stand for Marriage Maine Web site and there they were, God, invoking your name in a plea for more money.

"This is a God-sized task and we can only win this one on our knees," said Joey Marshall, pastor of the Living Stone Community Church in Standish. "We must pray that God will reveal the truth to those who are deceived."

I'm assuming he's talking about folks like me. But I've got to tell you, God, the only deceiving I see going on around Maine is by people like Pastor Joey.

They hammer away incessantly at their claim that "explicit" teaching of same-sex marriage will be required in public schools if the law is allowed to stand – despite assertions from three Maine attorneys general (one current and two former) that the statute contains no such mandate. Nor, for that matter, does any other state law.

They identify two women as "teachers" in their television ads, implying that they're public school educators when, in fact, both teach at the same private, religious academy in Orrington. (I'll leave it to you to judge whether that's "bearing false witness" against their gay and lesbian neighbors.)

And on the rare occasion when they're not fixated on our schools, same-sex marriage opponents argue that gay and lesbian couples already have all the civil rights they need without encroaching upon what Marc Mutty, their campaign manager, recently called "God's precious institution of marriage."

Marriage, no doubt, is precious – at least when it doesn't end in divorce. And while some correctly note that we're talking about a civil institution here, not a religious one, I have no quarrel whatsoever with those who hear the word "marriage" and envision a church rather than a city hall.

But God, the more I hear about this "separate but equal" approach, in which same-sex couples would get "civil unions" while the rest of us get "marriage," the more I'm reminded of those water fountains and restrooms that until half a century ago were marked "white" and "colored."

Sure, African Americans in the deep South back then had access to drinkable water and a public toilet. But, even as a young child, I knew something fundamentally wrong was going on down there, something totally lacking in human dignity, something God never, ever intended.

I knew that because, of all the things I carried into life from my eight years of schooling by the Sisters of Charity and another four by the Xaverian brothers, the most important were the two things Jesus said when asked to name the most important commandments: To love you with all that we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

I've met many same-sex couples over the years who are doing just that, God. And I know many – I'm sure you know them, too – who want nothing more, and nothing less, than to join hands, pledge their lives to each other and enjoy the respect and protection that society rightfully bestows on such loving unions.

I see nothing wrong with that. Truth be told, I see a lot right with it.

Even as I wrap this up, God, I already can hear the righteous sabers rattling.

I'll undoubtedly be branded a "heathen" and a "relativist" who has the audacity to speak to you without so much as a Scripture citation to prove that I know the first thing about who you are or where you're coming from.

I'll plead guilty to the Scripture charge. I decided a long time ago it's best left to others to draw that irrefutable line from the fatted calf to the Wendy's quarter-pounder.

But when I vote "no" on Question 1 come Nov. 3, I'll make no apologies for believing, deep in my heart and even deeper in my soul, that I'm doing the right thing here.

Like I said before, God, I know you're busy. So I'm not sure you caught the end of Stand for Marriage Maine's recent fundraising appeal.

Emphasizing the importance of spiritual reflection at times like this, Pastor Joey wrote, "I pray that God finds righteous men and women in the state of Maine fervently praying and standing for the truth in God's Word."

So do I.

Columnist Bill Nemitz can be contacted at 791-6323 or at: bnemitz@pressherald.com