Marriage Gets a Boost in the Bronx

March for Dignity held as NY tries one more time to force same-sex marraige law

The March for Dignity gathered New Yorkers and others from around the country to say one more time that marriage is between a man and a woman. A the march and other messages, including one from New York's archbishop, declared, the word "marriage" really needs no adjective to clarify its meaning. Catholic Online had a chance to catch up with Brian Brown of the National Organization of Marriage at the march.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - On Sunday, May 15, thousands gathered, despite the rain, to march to the building that houses the Supreme Court of Bronx County in New York City on behalf of traditional marriage. The event brought together those from various racial, ethnic, political and religious backgrounds to affirm the truth of marriage.

The March for Dignity, which was specifically targeting the Hispanic community, was coordinated by Senator Rev. Ruben Diaz, Dr. Hector A. Chiesa, president of Radio Vision Cristiana Int and the Rev. Eric Salgado, President of Radio Cantico Nuevo. The National Organization for Marriage, with its president, Brian Brown, also participated.

Participants wanted to send a strong message to Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, who is determined to pass a same-sex marriage bill, even though it was defeated in 2009, calling it a "fundamental civil rights issue.

Senator (and pastor) Ruben Diaz told the gathering in Spanish, "We're going this afternoon to tell our governor that the religious of the city does not agree with the law that permits the marriage of man with man or woman with woman because when God created the world believe Adam and Eve and not Adam and Adam or Eve and Eve."

Senator DĂ­az, called for Christians in New York City, to join the fight for moral values, as well as the civic, social and cultural rights that are contained in the Bible.

"It is time for our community to stand up and fight for those moral, social, civic and cultural rights found in the Bible and our grandparents taught us in our Hispanic countries."

On the Friday prior to the March, New York's Archbishop Timothy Dolan wrote about traditional marriage in his blog, "The Gospel in the Digital Age."

"We are not anti anybody; we are pro-marriage.  The definition of marriage is a given:  it is a lifelong union of love and fidelity leading, please God, to children, between one man and one woman.

"History, Natural Law, the Bible (if you're so inclined), the religions of the world, human experience, and just plain gumption tell us this is so.  The definition of marriage is hardwired into our human reason.

"To uphold that traditional definition, to strengthen it, and to defend it is not a posture of bigotry or bullying.  Nor is it a denial of the 'right' of anybody.  As the philosophers remind us, in a civilized, moral society, we have the right to do what we ought, not to do whatever we want.  Not every desire is a right.

"To tamper with that definition, or to engage in some Orwellian social engineering about the nature and purpose of marriage, is perilous to all of us.  If the definition of marriage is continually being altered, could it not in the future be morphed again to include multiple spouses or even family members?

"Nor is it 'imposing' some narrow outmoded religious conviction.  One might well ask just who is doing the "imposing" here:  those who simply defend what the human drama has accepted from the start, a belief embedded in nature and at the core of every civilization - the definition of marriage - or those who all of a sudden want to scrap it because 'progressive, enlightened, tolerant culture' calls for it."

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), whose mission to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it, was a strong supporter of the March for Dignity.

Founded in 2007, NOM assists in bringing about organized opposition to same-sex marriage in state legislatures and serves as a national resource for marriage-related initiatives at the state and local level.

At the March, Catholic Online had a chance to connect with NOM President, Brian Brown. The report is found in our video section.

-----

Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'

Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online