Dear Cardinal George

Dear Cardinal George,

My family and I will not be attending Mass this weekend, and our kids will not be attending Religious Ed.  I realize that a) you're probably not reading this and b) that our attendance can be rather spotty.  But this time, I'm not attending because of you.

Your letter to Catholics that you declared MUST be published in all parish bulletins in the Archdiocese of Chicago has way over stepped your bounds.  You, Cardinal George, do not get to tell me how to vote.  You, Cardinal George, do not get to dictate which citizens in the state of Illinois enjoy the civil benefits and responsibilities of marriage.  You get to refuse people the sacrament of marriage, but not the civil right to it.  Kindly respect the separation of Church and State.

I will not allow you to tell me that my dearest friend, who has had and held, in sickness and health, for richer or poorer, and cherished, forsaking all others the amazing partner that God sent him, does not have a "natural" love.

I will not allow you to tell my son that his friends, the most darling 7 year old twin girls, do not have a "natural" family because they have two loving moms.

I will not allow you to tell any of my friends who are still seeking their match that if God sends them someone of the same gender, it is not a "natural" love.

I will not allow a man, who has chosen a life without adult, romantic love and companionship, to define a marriage only as consummated by vaginal intercourse. 

I will not allow you to place more legitimacy on Kim Kardashian's 72 hour sham marriage than any gay couple who have been patiently waiting for a lifetime for their relationship to be recognized.

I will not allow you, Cardinal George, to define God as one who denies anyone the great love that He sends them. Your statements fly in the face of every teaching I have ever received from my Catholic education; that God is good, and loving and that His plan for us is a mystery and the love and people he sends us are the gifts that we are to receive graciously.  That God does not exclude or deny us good things.

Should the citizens of Illinois vote to recognize committed, loving homosexual relationships as the marriages they are, there is no statute requiring a religious organization to perform the marriage ceremony or recognize it as the sacrament of marriage.  It would simply confer the same rights I enjoy as a married person (tax benefits, inheritance privileges, recognizing a legal relationship) and responsibilities (alimony and child support in cases of divorce).  These laws are outside of your jurisdiction, Cardinal.

So my family will not be joining you this Sunday at Mass.  We will, however, keep you in our prayers that you realize the error of your statement.  We will pray that God sends you some sign that God has made us all different in His infinite Wisdom and that God, not a priest, bishop, cardinal or pope, creates a marriage.

"For whenever two or more of you are gathered in My Name, there is love"-- The Wedding Song (There is Love), Paul Stookey