The Indomitable Richard Aleman…

Last updated on: December 30, 2014 at 5:43 pm by Mark Shea

The Indomitable Richard Aleman… 2014-12-30T17:43:31-07:00 Mark Shea

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…of the Distributist Review (which you really should be reading) writes:

Now that I am working for the Minnesota Catholic Conference, I’m hoping that you might plug our work at the MCC. Although the marriage amendment is an important topic for Minnesotans, we know the impact a “no vote” will have should the state allow the redefinition of marriage. We need Minnesotans to vote YES on November 6th. The Minnesota Catholic Conference, public policy arm of the Church in Minnesota, is not arguing against people of same-sex attraction or going after gay marriage per se. Our strategy is to specifically go after any redefinition of marriage outside of our traditional understanding between one man and one woman. Regardless if polygamists, polyamorous, same-sex, or any other group were to challenge marriage, our bishops would stand opposed to any attempts to redefine it. Unlike NY, where our legislature redefined marriage, the Minnesota Protection Amendment is specifically geared to take away the potential for activist lawyers, judges, or politicians to redefine marriage. Instead, it hands marriage to the people via popular referendum should marriage be challenged in the future. It is, essentially, a proactive measure to defend against any future challenges to marriage between one man and one woman.

So, if either of you could write an article for your respective publications, it would help a lot to support our work. If not, a mention would be extremely helpful. Not only do we need solidarity between Catholics across the country, we could use the attention to procure donations as well. Should you choose the former, I can certainly provide you with the documents and literature to understand the background of the amendment and any other resources you’ll need. Again, the bishops are clear that we are not going after people with same-sex attraction. Rather, we are focusing on the challenge to redefine marriage as a cultural, traditional, and legal institution. While we do speak on the sacramental aspect of marriage, Catholics understand this is a legal battle and so our fight must be expressed in civil terms, drawing upon the social science which empirically demonstrates not only that children need a mom and dad but that being attached to both make it the optimal environment for the rearing of children. The purpose behind any public recognition of marriage is not “love and commitment,” otherwise government would be in the business of legislating relationships between boyfriends and girlfriends, friendships, and acquaintances. No, marriage is unique for a reason because marriage involves the development of our future: children.

FYI: I recently contributed an article to our Diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Spirit. Although the original title was “The Social Free Market,” the article defends against the Left’s cultural equivalent to the Right’s economic free market argument.

We could use plugs for:

Our new Facebook page “Catholic Marriage Matters MN“.

Our Marriage Matters blog for the MCC.

I am pleased as punch to support this important work, as well as Richard’s work to promote economic and social sanity. Check thou it out.

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