Catholic Bishops Condemn Bigoted TV Commercial
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The California Catholic Conference is condemning a blatantly bigoted television commercial that will air today by opponents of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. The commercial depicts supposed missionaries invading a gay couples home and ripping up their marriage license.
According to the Christian Newswire, the commercial was produced by a group called “Courage Campaign Issues Committee,” an online organizing network aligned with MoveOn.org whose goal is to bring about “progressive politics” in California.
Their ad depicts two missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who invade a lesbian couple’s home, steal their weddings rings and rip up their marriage license.
Bishop Stephen Blaire, the President of the California Catholic Conference decried the new advertisement from opponents of Proposition 8 as "a blatant display of religious bigotry and intolerance” and expressed dismay that any public media outlet would give it an airing.
"The YES on 8 campaign is not about discrimination and intolerance; it is about restoring the traditional definition of marriage for the good of society and children," said Bishop Blaire.
"All individuals and groups, whether religious or not, have both a right and a responsibility to participate in a civil debate about this important issue. From the beginning of this campaign the Catholic Conference has stressed the importance of mutual respect and denounces this type of religious bigotry."
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