The intensity of the uproar greeting the prospect of legal Gay marriage seemed to us an inverse barometer of how weak its critics' arguments are. Some claim homosexuality is unnatural — yet, it occurs throughout nature, as Bruce Bagemihl, Ph.D., shows in his book, Biological Exuberance. As for same sex marriage, we could start with life-long pair bondings common in the animal kingdom (Ibid) and move into history and mythology which indicate the prevalence of human homosexual bondings over the millennia. (One member told us of his findings in Indian and Greek mythology where virtually every god has both a same sex and discordant sex partner. This he felt is only hinted at in traditional Hebrew mythology in stories like Joseph-Potiphar, David-Jonathan, Ruth-Naomi (did anyone catch the Lesbian love scene in Section III of last week's Christian Science Bible Lesson? see Ruth 4: 13, 16, 17), and of course Jesus-John.

Then there is the documented history of legal and extra-legal same sex unions in antiquity and medieval times, along with ceremonies, described in John Boswell's book, Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe.

When pontiffs and presidents start throwing around words like "legalization of evil" and "sinners" we have to pay attention. It looks like they're trying to get the case out of the courts, where logic should prevail, and into the political arena, where it often does not and passions can be whipped up. Thank God for those Catholic politicians who've learned the lesson of Al Smith and John Kennedy. They quickly scorned the directions issued by semi-delusional prelates in the Roman curia. Protestants are learning more slowly.

The case in Christian Science for same-sex unions is clear. Our readings include statements from our texts underpinning such phenomena. Briefly, with God as both male and female in one and each of us His reflection, there is any number of ways for the male-female equation to be represented on the human level. The harmony of one's bondings, relationships and marriage would depend on linking up his or her own male-female energies individually in a meaningful way.

It's significant, we felt, that Mary Baker Eddy, our founder, did not provide for weddings in the church. Christian Scientists must seek out legally authorized clergy or state officers to perform the ceremony. But if she forsook such ceremonies she certainly did not stint on her metaphysical inquiry into the nature of marriage. In addition to her insights into human relationships she discussed two further steps — the inner marriage of each person's male-female-ness and the final, though ever-resurgent, marriage of God and man. Here's how she put it in Unity of Good, page 17:7: "Hourly, in Christian Science, man...weds himself with God, or rather he ratifies a union predestined from all eternity".

A couple of our members thought non-Gay people should welcome us into the precincts of marriage with delight. Since Gay folks are becoming known as arbiters of good taste — think of the Fab Five on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy — we might bring some new joy to a pretty dilapidated institution.

The financial case for full marriage for Gay people is illustrated by the experience of one of our members. He suddenly lost his lover of twenty years and was overcome by grief. He worked on this in Science and through support groups for several years, but also had to contend with the inheritance and tax laws. He got none of the partner's city pension nor Social Security benefits. He owed federal taxes on the half of the house owned by the lover. Years later, he found a new intimate friend who is not American. After much legal wrangling they found that the lover was not accepted to live and work here. (A marriage would of course have provided that right immediately.) They now reside in Britain where European Union laws accord foreign same sex partners the right to live with their British partners.

One member felt there could be a very nasty reaction from overt and latent homophobes as we move towards full legalization of same-sex unions. There may be a long period in the wilderness. He reminded us that Mrs. Eddy did not live to exercise the right to vote, but was able to say this: "Our laws are not impartial, to say the least, in their discrimination as to the person, property, and parental claims of the two sexes. If the elective franchise for women will remedy the evil without encouraging difficulties of greater magnitude, let us hope it will be granted." (Science and Health, pg. 63:18) Her political equanimity did not interfere with her saying and, dare we say, practice of this: "The Mind or intelligence of production names the female gender last in the ascending order of creation. The intelligent individual idea, be it male or female, rising from the lesser to the greater, unfolds the infinitude of Love." (Ibid, pg. 508:21) He wondered whether we could keep our metaphysical cool in the face of political disappointment and work on to bring in the kingdom of wholeness and oneness, implied in the symbol of Gay marriage.

A member who could not attend sent us a testimony by e-mail, as follows:

I wish to go deeper than the idea of "Gay Marriage" and understand that all marriage is a committment to spirit—to creator creating through me. I'm understanding how marriage is between my concept of individuated self and creator/godgoddessallthatis!

As a gay man I feel that I have many marriages—with female friends, with male friends, with clients and that I am able to become an instrument for spirit awakening and growth through living my truth with all beings: marrying myself to all others, consciously committing myself to the highest good with all others. So "Gay Marriage" to me is an ever evolving experience of gay being, not just an experience of being recognized by a dualistic society. My needs are met by creator, not by other humans, and I wish to lift my limitation on marriage or relationship of any kind to represent a true connection to the love of creator creating and being ecstatically fulfilled!

The shift from "Abundance" to "Gay Marriage" is the constant inclusion of all beings, all experience, all thought, all emotion, all constriction, all fear, all desire to be the experience of exchanging vows! We must consciously direct ourselves to the true source of love and as we "marry" we become the vessels of this love and share it with all abundantly!

In my relationship to my religious right father, I've had to own my identity and understand that my human father can not support me, and will not support my identity as "gay." His belief system entitles him to view me as lost, as devious, as fallen, sinful; and everytime I assert my identity with him, he takes this as my lack of purity, my arrogance, my sin. So when we speak of gay marriage I understand it from the sense that I am wanting to look beyond the societal constructions of ignorant imbalance and shakey judgments and create a relationship of honor, love and peace with my divine identity and share this body with all who will partake!

1) "My boyfriend said having sex with me is like going to church."

2) "My Gay brother's grandchildren call him Big Daddy. They call his lover Other Daddy which comes out sounding like Utter Daddy or Udder Daddy. And it's all happening deep in the heart of Texas!"

3) "I just loved the Irish Government's reaction to the papal screed on Gay unions. Officials informed the local priesthood they'd be brought up on charges if they read any of the many sections in it considered hate speech under Irish law."

For next week we'll look at Inequality. One of our members got into a discussion with a very dark-skinned African American who talked of his pain at being relegated to the bottom of the heap because of his skin color. This made some in the group wonder how others — say American Muslims or effeminate Gay men — cope with attempts to impose inferiority upon them. And how we handle the parts of ourselves we'd rather no one see.