Maggie Gallagher is co-founder of the National Organization of Marriage, an organization devoted to preserving the idea that marriage can only be between a man and a woman, a view that is becoming an increasingly unpopular despite her boast that “we fight gay marriage—and win.” The problem is that gay people seem to keep inviting her and other opponents of same-sex marriage to their weddings and, to her dismay, some of her fellow-travelers seem to be actually going to them.
But not our Maggie! She is made of sterner stuff and knows that you cannot oppose such marriages and also attend them because that would make you a condoner of sin. Or something. But since they keep inviting her to their weddings, she has written an open letter to all gay people explaining why she won’t attend, however nicely they ask. Here’s her letter:
Here’s what I think. We are born male and female, and marriage is the union of husband to wife that celebrates the necessity of the two genders’ coming together to make the future happen. I know you don’t think that. I know the law no longer thinks that. But I have staked my life on this truth.
The problem for me in celebrating your gay wedding, as much as I love you, is that I would be witnessing and celebrating your attempt not only to commit yourself to a relationship that keeps you from God’s plan but, worse, I would be witnessing and celebrating your attempt to hold the man you love to a vow that he will avoid God’s plan. To vow oneself to sin is one thing, to try to hold someone you love to it — that’s not something I can celebrate.
And I would be party to the idea that two men can make a marriage, which I do not believe.
On your happy day you should be surrounded by people who can honor your vow and help you keep it. I can’t do that.
“Porneia” is a word in the Bible that has been much mistranslated. But I think it means a sexual relationship that cannot by its nature become a marriage. That’s why Christ said that marriage is forever, unless it is porneia.
I understand that you might well want to rupture our friendship over this, my honest view. I choose to love you both and keep you in my life.
But let us somehow against all odds find a way to love each other as we are, and not how each of us would wish the other to be.
Since the Greek word porneia “has a very broad meaning and includes illicit sexual behavior such as prostitution, homosexuality, lesbianism, incest, premarital sex and bestiality”, what she seems to be saying is that she thinks your marriage is deeply immoral, akin to even bestiality, and is hoping that it fails.
But that doesn’t mean she dislikes you. She says that she still loves you and wants to be friends with you. Good luck with that, Maggie!
Every time I hear or read something about Maggie, I’m reminded of this:
The problem is that gay people seem to keep inviting her and other opponents of same-sex marriage to their weddings
Trolling level: Elite
Wait -- illicit sexual activity such as “premarital sex”??? Holy shit. Literally.
I’m surprised Gallagher hasn’t reported the repeated sending of invitations as a terrorist threat.
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/05/pro_choice_activists_glitter_bomb_antiabortion_congressman_spark_fbi_investigation/
Other rightwingnuts have.
No. No he did not. Even if he existed, he would have spoken Hebrew, not Greek, to his followers. So you have at least two translations already. And even the one we know about is very broad.
In what conceivable sense has she staked her life on this thing she calls a truth?
Sigurd,
Good point. One thing that has characterized the opposition to same sex marriage is hyperbole. Everything is described in apocalyptic terms.
… I don’t think those words mean what she thinks they mean. Perhaps the pronoun “us” confuses her. In her mind the word apparently doesn’t include her. She writes rather well structured sentences for someone with such low reading comprehension. That must be quite challenging.
Jesus and his followers spoke Aramaic. Hebrew was already just a liturgical language.
I’m sure Maggie Gallagher also has turned down the marriage invitations of all her heterosexual friends and relatives who have been previously married, or who were living together before marriage. I’m sure she also writes them a nice letter like the one to gay people, where she explains how she can’t attend because it would be condoning their sinful life choices.
@JimB #10: To crank up the trolling one more notch, I wish I could go back in time before my (straight) wedding to invite Maggie, then immediately follow it with an un-invitation: “Dear Maggie, with the greatest regret I realise that you did not know that my spouse and I ‘lived together’ before marriage. I would not wish for you to be present, with a face like a smacked arse, at our wedding and inadvertently condone our sinful life choices.