DNC Chairman Howard Dean and Pope Benedict on Gay Unions
Pope Benedict XVI today, in an audience at the Vatican, met with Catholics at an an international congress celebrating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. The May 11-13 congress was titled “Loving Human Love: The Heritage of John Paul II on Marriage and the Family.” The Pope said:
“There is a special urgency today to avoid confusion with other types of unions based on a weak love. Only the rock of total and irrevocable love between a man and a woman is capable of being the foundation of building a society that becomes a home for all mankind.”
“The sexual differences in the bodies of men and women isn’t just a biological fact, but holds a far more profound significance: It expresses that form of love with which the man and woman, becoming one body, can create a true communion of people open to the transmission of life.”
In August of 2005, Pope Benedict said of homosexual marriage:
“Matrimony was not just a casual sociological construction that changed in certain times in history but rather an institution that had its roots in the most profound essence of the human being.”
“The various forms of the dissolution of matrimony today, like free unions, trial marriages and going up to pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex, are rather expressions of an anarchic freedom that wrongly passes for true freedom of man..”
Meanwhile, gearing up for the 2006 mid-term elections, DNC chairman Howard Dean appeared on Pat Robertson’s The 700 Club with this to say:
The Democratic Party platform from 2004 says marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s what it says. I think where we may take exception with some religious leaders us that we believe inclusion, that everybody deserves to live with dignity and respect and that equal rights under the law are important.
Watch the video (via to Expose the Left)
The Democratic Party’s actual platform reads:
“We support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation and seek equal responsibilities, benefits and protection for these families. In our country, marriage has been defined at the state level for 200 years, and we believe it should continue to be defined there. We repudiate President Bush’s divisive effort to politicize the Constitution by pursuing a ‘Federal Marriage Amendment.â€
He continued to pander…
“The truth is, we have an enormous amount in common with the Christian community, and particularly with the evangelical Christian community.
“One of the biggest things that Democrats worry about is the materialism of our country, what’s on television that our kids are seeing, and the lack of spirituality. And that’s something we have in common.”
“I think what we have in common with the evangelical community is that we ought to have a lot fewer abortions than we do. The abortions have actually gone up in the last few years. We should have far fewer abortions … we ought to make sure that there’s not just abstinence, but family planning used to get rid of abortion, and that is something that we share.”
Dean admitted later that he was “mistaken” about the DNC platform on gay unions and issued this written statement:
“The Democratic Party remains committed to equal protection under the law for all Americans.”
Gay Democrats aren’t taking it lying down.
“Disturbingly, this is not the first time he has misrepresented this important and affirming plank, and he has been asked before to correct the record and to cease making these misleading statements. In light of Governor Dean’s pandering and insulting interview today with the Christian Broadcasting Network, we have decided to return the DNC’s recent $5,000 contribution to us.” -Matt Foreman, the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
“Gov. Dean’s comments weren’t a mere slip of the tongue but a glaring reminder of the governor’s lack of leadership on this issue.” -Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign President
Gay Republicans piled on:
“Howard Dean puts his foot in his mouth so often he should consider opening a pedicure department at the Democratic National Committee.
“It’s hard to figure out Howard Dean. Is he the governor that signed civil unions into law? Is he the presidential candidate who said he was going to be a leader on LGBT issues? Or is he the Democratic chairman who has been sending mixed messages at the DNC?” -Patrick Guerriero, president of the National Log Cabin Republicans
Imagine that. If Dean had gotten away with his “mistake” he could say that he and the Pope have a lot in common.
Additional: A 4 min. 48 sec. excerpt from Howard Dean’s remarks on June 6, 2006 about the Republican “white Christian party”.
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Cross-posted at Amy’s Blog
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