Gays in Church and State

摘要

With god, say the faithful, all things are possible. Even in the church. The cautious, usually genial and conflict-averse Episcopalian faith made ecclesiastical history last week by elevating an openly gay priest, the Rev. Gene Robinson, to be the Bishop of New Hampshire. Convening in Minneapolis, the church leaders also voted to permit local churches to bless same-sex unions (which many already do). Those blessings are symbolic, and affect only the 2.3 million Episcopalians in the United States. But the moves come just after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay privacy rights and amid the Massachusetts Supreme Court's deliberation of a case that could legalize gay marriage there. For both church and state, a cultural showdown is underwav.