c. 2006 Religion News Service
New Jersey Lawmakers Approve Gay Civil Unions
TRENTON, N.J. (RNS) State lawmakers voted Thursday (Dec. 14) to make New Jersey the third state in the nation to allow gay couples to form civil unions with all the rights and responsibilities of married couples.
The historic votes by both houses of the state Legislature came just 50 days after the state Supreme Court declared that New Jersey’s constitution requires equality for same-sex couples and gave lawmakers six months to enact change.
The bill amending New Jersey’s 1912 marriage law was adopted over the objections of social conservatives _ who said it threatens the sanctity of marriage and who railed against judicial activism _ as well as of gay-rights activists, who pressed lawmakers to call it marriage. The court had left it to the Legislature to decide whether to use that term.
The bill passed 56-19 in the Assembly and 23-12 in the Senate. Five members abstained in each house.
“Today, the people of the state of New Jersey, through us, proclaim the dignity of all relationships,” said Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, a Democrat who sponsored the bill. The measure, he said, is “nothing short of recognizing love matters.”
Civil unions would give gay couples all the rights and obligations of their heterosexual counterparts _ everything from the right to prenuptial agreements to equal application of adoption, child support and alimony laws.
Gov. Jon Corzine commended lawmakers for their swift action and said he would sign the bill once his staff ensured it complies with the Supreme Court ruling. The law would go into effect 60 days after it is signed.
“I’ve been for civil unions for a long time,” Corzine said.
The governor said it’s possible civil unions could evolve into gay marriage, but stressed it’s important not to “get so far out in front of the public that we’re not dealing with general society’s belief.”
Massachusetts is the only state in the nation to allow gay marriage. Connecticut and Vermont allow civil unions. California has a strong domestic partnership law that provides most of the rights of civil unions, according to the Marriage Law Foundation in Utah.
Assemblyman Ronald Dancer, a Republican, said his personal faith prevented him from supporting the bill.
“I cannot compromise my religious beliefs and faith,” Dancer said. “Let marriage be known by no other name, nor let marriage ever be redefined.”
_ Kate Coscarelli and Deborah Howlett
Watchdog Group Says TV Open to Spirituality But Intolerant of Religion
(RNS) Network television in America is moderately tolerant of spirituality and openly hostile to organized religion, according to a new study by a conservative media watchdog group.
The Parents Television Council said Fox led the six commercial networks _ ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, WB and UPN _ in anti-religious references during prime time in the study period of September 2005 to August 2006. (WB and UPN merged into the new CW network in September.) Nearly half (49.7 percent) of Fox’s religious mentions were negative, the study said. It was followed closely by NBC (39.3 percent) and UPN (35.4 percent).
Comedies such as Fox’s “The Family Guy” were the biggest offenders, but the phenomenon was more widespread, the report said. ABC’s “Boston Legal” and CBS’ “C.S.I,” for example, “viciously caricature religious individuals and beliefs and put diatribes against religion into the mouths of their lead characters,” a statement by the group said.
Of the negative treatment, 95.5 percent occurred in scripted dramas and comedy programs; 4.5 percent was seen in “reality programs.” Nearly two-thirds of references to faith were delivered in a positive light, but nearly half of the depictions of laity and religious institutions were negative.
Brent Bozell, the president of the group, told reporters Thursday (Dec. 14) that the results imply a concerted hostility in Hollywood toward organized religion. He said most Americans are religious themselves and would like to see God mentioned more on television.
“Hollywood is completely disconnected,” he said. “More specifically, the broadcast entertainment industry is completely disconnected with American public opinion.”
Insults to religion went up as the prime-time hours rolled by, the report said. The 8 p.m. block had the highest percentage of positive depictions of religion, while at 10 p.m. negative portrayals outnumbered positive ones across the board.
“A family that is trying to instill religious values in children is swimming upstream if that child is watching TV these days,” Bozell said.
_ Jason Kane
Sudan’s Lost Boys Ordained as Episcopal Clergy
EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) Three years ago, a scattering of Lost Boys from Sudan found a spiritual home at Grace Episcopal Church here. Recently they became their own ecclesiastical body.
Two leaders of Sudanese Grace Episcopal Church were ordained as deacons by Episcopal Bishop Robert Gepert of the Diocese of Western Michigan.
Abraham Anei and Zachariah Char are among the first Sudanese ordained as Episcopal clergy in the United States.
“I’m the mother of the people,” said Anei, 26, who came to this country in 2001 after fleeing civil war in his homeland. “I’m not being ordained for just Sudanese Grace Episcopal Church. I’ll be ordained for all West Michigan.”
Char, 24, next spring will receive another ordination as priest. He said the clerical status will give the Sudanese church stability, enabling it to grow as a social and religious center for countrymen already in West Michigan and those yet to come.
The clergy designation gives Anei and Char authority to carry out diaconal functions during worship. As a priest, Char will be able to celebrate the Eucharist in the Dinka language, perform weddings and act as a congregational confidant.
In sum, the community will experience the fullness of worship, Char said.
“This is our home. We are trying to prepare the place for the Sudanese who will come,” Char said. “Our ordination is going to make a difference. It’s going to give us more possibilities. We will be the same as other parishes.”
Now a parochial mission church of Grace Episcopal, the Sudanese congregation has been like a child to its host church, said Margaret Burrows-Getz, refugee coordinator at Grace. The hope is for Sudanese Grace to “become a strong, independent church.”
Char and Anei, both church leaders in their youth, were chosen in 2003 by the congregation to become candidates for ordination.
Looking back at their tragic past of evading gunfire and crocodiles in their search for refuge, they see a future ordained by God.
“I am not a swimmer,” Anei said. “Who made me swim past the river? God did.”
_ Matt Vande Bunte
Quote of the Day: Brynn Kushner of College Park, Md.
“When I was younger, my mom told me that I was born on Christmas because, being Jewish, she had nothing better to do that day.”
_ Brynn Kushner of College Park, Md., writing in a Washington Post forum about being Jewish during the Christmas season (Dec. 15).
KRE/PH END RNS
