The Marriage of
Love and Wisdom:
A Response to the Same-Sex
Marriage Ruling
in the United States
The Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss Jr.
M
any people are still responding to the United States Supreme Court
decision of June 26, 2015, in which the United States joined several
other nations in legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. While a number
of people regard the Court’s decision with favor, others see it as a challenge
to their fundamental beliefs – to things they have long held to be true about
marriage and the Lord’s will for us all. I am one of those people.
This article is my attempt to share some New Church teachings that bear
on the subject in a respectful manner. My hope is that readers in the United
States may be aided in their own informed responses to this dramatic shift in
attitudes and practices around marriage in their country. I also hope that those
in other countries may feel invited to consider their views on this important
topic.
Love and wisdom.
I’d like to gather my remarks around the theme of love and wisdom. We might
all agree that the best response to many of life’s challenges comes from love and
wisdom – not love divorced from wisdom, which can sometimes appear soft
and rudderless; not truth alone, which can be cold and harsh; but that useful
interplay of love informed by wisdom.
This is not, therefore, a condemnation of people who, for whatever reason,
identify as gay, or an attempt to speak against those who support them. Rather
my hope is that we can consider some of the reasons the Lord created marriage
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