Gays In Minnesota

The latest Minnesota Poll shows that a majority of Minnesotans reject gay clergy and consider homosexuality a sin.

This was interesting, following as it did last week's Time/CBS poll that showed similar results nationwide.

Says the Strib:

"Most Minnesotans believe it is wrong to ordain sexually active gays and lesbians to the clergy, most object to giving same-sex couples the same legal rights as married people and most say homosexuality is a sin.
Those results are from a Minnesota Poll of the state's religious beliefs and practices, taken of 1,049 people Dec. 2-8.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents oppose ordaining gays and lesbians. Fifty-three percent said homosexuality is sinful, and 51 percent oppose granting homosexual couples the same legal rights as married people.
The numbers sear through the consciousness of Christian churches, particularly mainline Protestant denominations grappling with how to minister to gays and lesbians and whether to allow them into the ministry."

I keep going back and forth on this issue.

As I said in the piece earlier in the week, I think the gay movement - like the feminists and Afro-Americans before them - have done a great job of alienating those that should support them - indeed, want to support them in many cases. Despite some peoples' best efforts to convince people otherwise, I'm perhaps one of the most pro-gay-rights conservative Christians you'll ever meet. I think there is a legitimate case to be made for gay civil unions. I have trouble with the notion of gay marriage - in spite of Andrew Sullivan's very logical case for the subject, I'm neither convinced nor convincingly opposed.

Pieces like this - by the Strib, which would have to be considered pro-gay-marriage - might tend to push me back to the "anti" camp. As they do with so many of their polls, they try to equate correlation with causation:

Consistently, through all three poll questions, a profile of those who oppose and support gay rights emerges among Minnesotans.

• Younger, more educated, politically liberal and religiously inactive Minnesotans are more likely to favor legal rights for couples, are less likely to believe that homosexuality is a sin and would allow ordination.
• Those on the other side are older, less educated, politically conservative and more religiously active.

Catch that? "If you oppose gay marriage, it's because you're an old, stupid, fundie dittohead".

It'll be interesting to see how these polls are spun in the next few weeks.

Posted by Mitch at December 26, 2003 08:32 AM