Sister and brothers, we have prayed, sung, marched, worked
and witnessed as we have longed for this
day. We have walked through some difficult days in the valley of despair,
trusting always that though the justice arc is mighty long it bends toward holy
ground. When we do the work of love, we come to a time such as this one, when a
U.S. District judge declares that Virginia has “arrived upon another moment in history when We the
People becomes more inclusive, and our freedom more perfect.”
With gratitude
for the sweeping opinion issued yesterday by U.S. District Judge Arenda L.
Wright Allen striking down Virginia’s constitution prohibition on same-sex
marriage, we celebrate on this lovers holiday that Virginia is for lovers – no
strings attached!
As I read the news this morning, I
thought of all the strong and beautiful gay and lesbian folks in whose circles
I am privileged to move. I recall weeping together in the aftermath of setbacks
along the way as votes on marriage or ordination to church office went against
us. None of those defeats was more disheartening than when, in 2006, the voters
in the commonwealth added the hateful language of the Marshall-Newman amendment
to a constitution grounded in the charters of liberty drafted by Thomas
Jefferson, James Madison and George Mason.
That original language, from the
Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, insists that “all men are by nature
equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when
they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or
divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the
means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining
happiness and safety.”
The restrictive language of the 2006
amendment was offensive to the spirit of liberty upon which the commonwealth
was founded. Of course, Virginia’s history includes a great many offenses to
its own foundation, and thus, as Judge Allen’s ruling suggests, our history has
been a long struggle between principles of freedom and realities that are far
from perfect.
Judge Allen’s ruling opens with a
lengthy quotation from another Virginia declaration concerning rights: the
statement by Mildred Loving on the 40th anniversary of the 1967
decision in Loving v. Virginia that
struck down bans on interracial marriage. Speaking in 2007, Mildred Loving
said, “I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no
matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry.
Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over
others. […] I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving,
and loving, are all about.”
I have said often that the simple phrase from 1 John – God
is love – is enough theology for me most days. If God is about love, about
relationships of passion and compassion, of justice and righteousness, of
creativity and concern, then every decision that advances the cause of love
advances the cause of God.
Yesterday’s ruling does just that, and so today – Valentines
Day – is truly a day for celebration of the gift of love and the cause of
justice. Happy Valentines Day!
