Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America<\/a>
\nApr 25, 2006<\/p>\nThroughout America, the institution of marriage is suffering. As leaders in our nation’s religious communities, we cannot sit idly by. It is our duty to speak. And so across the lines of theological division, we have united to affirm, in one voice, the following:<\/p>\n
For millennia our societies have recognized the union of a man and a woman in the bond of marriage. Cross-culturally virtually every known human society understands marriage as a union of male and female. As such marriage is a universal, natural, covenantal union of a man and a woman intended for personal love, support and fulfillment, and the bearing and rearing of children. Sanctioned by and ordained of God, marriage both precedes and sustains civil society.<\/p>\n
Marriage is particularly important for the rearing of children as they flourish best under the long term care and nurture of their father and mother. For this and other reasons, when marriage is entered into and gotten out of lightly, when it is no longer the boundary of sexual activity, or when it is allowed to be radically redefined, a host of personal and civic ills can be expected to follow. Such a point has always been stressed by the world’s great monotheistic religious traditions and is, today, increasingly confirmed by impeccable social science research.<\/p>\n
Long concerned with rates of divorce, out-of-wedlock births, and absentee fathers, we have recently watched with extreme alarm the growing trend of some courts to make marriage something it is not: an elastic concept able to accommodate almost any individual preference. This does not so much modify or even weaken marriage as abolish it. The danger this betokens for family life and a general condition of social justice and ordered liberty is hard to overestimate.<\/p>\n
Therefore, we take the unprecedented stand of uniting to call for a constitutional amendment to establish a uniform national definition of marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman. We are convinced that this is the only measure that will adequately protect marriage from those who would circumvent the legislative process and force a redefinition of it on the whole of our society. We encourage all citizens of good will across the country to step forward boldly and exercise their right to work through our constitutionally established democratic procedures to amend the Constitution to include a national definition of marriage. We hereby announce our support for S.J. Res.1, the Marriage Protection Amendment.<\/p>\n
May God bless all marriages and all those who labor to protect the sanctity and promote the goodness of marriage throughout this nation.<\/p>\n
Signed,<\/p>\n
The Right Reverend Keith L. Ackerman, SSC
\nEpiscopal Bishop of Quincy, IL<\/p>\n
Daniel Akin, Ph.D.
\nPresident, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary<\/p>\n
The Right Reverend Peter H. Beckwith
\nEpiscopal Bishop of Springfield, IL<\/p>\n
Bishop Charles E. Blake
\nFirst Assistant Presiding Bishop, Church of God in Christ (COGIC)<\/p>\n
The Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
\nRoman Catholic Archbishop of Denver, CO<\/p>\n
Charles W. Colson
\nFounder and Chairman, Prison Fellowship<\/p>\n
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America
\nPrimate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America<\/strong><\/p>\nJames C. Dobson, Ph.D.
\nFounder and Chairman, Focus on the Family<\/p>\n
David Dockery, Ph.D.
\nPresident, Union University, Jackson, Tennessee
\nChairman, Board of Directors, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities<\/p>\n
The Right Reverend Robert Duncan
\nBishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA
\nModerator of the Anglican Communion Network<\/p>\n
His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, OMI
\nRoman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago, IL<\/p>\n
Timothy George, Th.D.
\nDean, Beeson Divinity School of Samford University
\nExecutive Editor of Christianity Today<\/p>\n
The Most Reverend Jose H. Gomez
\nRoman Catholic Archbishop of San Antonio, TX<\/p>\n
The Reverend Ted Haggard
\nPresident, National Association of Evangelicals<\/p>\n
The Reverend Dr. Jack W. Hayford
\nPresident, The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
\nFounder\/Chancellor, The King’s College and Seminary
\nPastor Emeritus, The Church On The Way<\/p>\n
The Most Blessed Herman
\nArchbishop of Washington and New York
\nPrimate, The Orthodox Church in America<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Right Reverend John W. Howe
\nEpiscopal Bishop of Central Florida<\/p>\n
Bishop Harry R. Jackson
\nSenior Pastor, Hope Christian Church, Lanham, MD
\nPresident, High Impact Leadership Coalition<\/p>\n
His Eminence William Cardinal Keeler
\nRoman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore, MD<\/p>\n
The Reverend Dr. D. James Kennedy
\nChancellor, Knox Theological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale, FL<\/p>\n
The Reverend Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick
\nPresident, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod<\/p>\n
Dr. Richard Land
\nPresident, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention<\/p>\n
Rabbi Daniel Lapin
\nPresident, Toward Tradition<\/p>\n
Steve W. Lemke, Ph.D.
\nProvost, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary<\/p>\n
The Reverend Dr. Peter A. Lillback
\nSenior Pastor, Proclamation Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, PA
\nPresident, Westminster Theological Seminary<\/p>\n
The Reverend Herbert H. Lusk, II
\nSenior Pastor, Greater Exodus Baptist Church
\nPresident & CEO, People For People, Inc<\/p>\n
The Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino
\nRoman Catholic Bishop of Madison, WI<\/p>\n
The Most Reverend John Myers
\nRoman Catholic Archbishop of Newark, NJ<\/p>\n
The Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann
\nRoman Catholic Archbishop of Kansas City, KS<\/p>\n
Elder Russell M. Nelson
\nQuorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints<\/p>\n
The Reverend Richard John Neuhaus
\nEditor in chief of FIRST THINGS<\/p>\n
The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt
\nRoman Catholic Bishop of New Ulm, MN<\/p>\n
Rabbi David Novak
\nJ. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies,
\nProfessor of the Study of Religion and Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto
\nVisiting Professor of Religion, Princeton University (2006)<\/p>\n
The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted
\nRoman Catholic Bishop of Phoenix, AZ<\/p>\n
His Eminence Sean Patrick Cardinal O’Malley, O.F.M., Cap.
\nRoman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, MA<\/p>\n
Dr. Paige Patterson
\nPresident, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary<\/p>\n
His Eminence Justin Cardinal Rigali
\nRoman Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia, PA<\/p>\n
The Reverend Eugene F. Rivers, III
\nFounder and President, The Seymour Institute for Advanced Christian Studies<\/p>\n
The Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, Jr.
\nPresident, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
\nNational Hispanic Association of Evangelicals<\/p>\n
Rabbi Meir Soloveichik
\nAssociate Rabbi, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun of Manhattan, NY<\/p>\n
The Most Reverend John G. Vlazny
\nRoman Catholic Archbishop of Portland, OR<\/p>\n
The Reverend Dr. Rick Warren
\nFounding Pastor, The Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA
\nAuthor, The Purpose-Driven Life<\/p>\n
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
\nExecutive Vice President, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America<\/p>\n
The Reverend David Welch
\nExecutive Director, U.S. Pastor Council<\/p>\n
The Most Reverend John W. Yanta
\nRoman Catholic Bishop of Amarillo, TX<\/p>\n
Malcolm B. Yarnell, III, Ph.D.
\nDirector, Center for Theological Research
\nSouthwestern Baptist Theological Seminary<\/p>\n
Institutional affiliations are provided for purposes of identification only.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Given the vitriol, smug arrogance, and sectarian sentiment with which some Orthodox Christians have greeted Orthodox Christian participation in the Manhattan Declaration, let us review the 2006 letter below which was signed by Archbishop Demetrios and Metropolitan Herman. In fact — and this may be upsetting to some readers so brace yourself — Archbishop Demetrios […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1784],"tags":[196,11,114,1111,257,296,48,239,137],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5257"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5257"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5267,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5257\/revisions\/5267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}