N.Y. Archbishop: Polygamy Next?

Now that his state has legalized same-sex marriage, New York Roman Catholic archbishop Timothy Dolan (pictured) is worried that polygamous unions are next and that religious liberty is in danger.

In a post published Thursday on his blog, Dolan writes, "Now we ring the steeple bell again at this latest dilution of the authentic understanding of marriage, worried that the next step will be another redefinition to justify multiple partners and infidelity. If you think I'm exaggerating, within days of the passage of this bill, one major newspaper ran a flattering profile of a proponent of what was called 'nonmonogamy.' Apparently, 'nonmonogamy' is the idea that society is unrealistic to think that one man and one woman should remain faithful in marriage, and that openness to some infidelity should be the norm!" He compares the church's opposition to same-sex marriage to its opposition to divorce, contraception, and sex outside marriage.

Even though, in keeping with the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom, no church is obligated to perform same-sex unions, Dolan fears this freedom is in jeopardy. "Editorials already call for the removal of guarantees of religious liberty, with crusaders calling for people of faith to be coerced to acceptance of this redefinition," he writes. "If the experience of those few other states and countries where this is already law is any indication, the churches, and believers, will soon be harassed, threatened, and hauled into court for their conviction that marriage is between one man, one woman, forever, bringing children into the world."

He also contends that the church's stand against the marriage equality law "was pro-marriage, never anti-gay," and he says to gay people, "If I have offended any of you in my strenuous defense of marriage, I apologize, and assure you it was unintentional." He claims, however, that "theophobia," which he defines as "a hatred by some of God, faith, religion, and the Church," is a bigger problem than homophobia.

Read the full post here.