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Officials of Declining Churches Oppose Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

"Denominations supporting the marriage of man and woman more accurately represent the Body of Christ than the liberal church officials put forward by the Human Rights Campaign." -- Alan Wisdom, IRD Vice President and author of "Is Marriage Worth Defending?"

Contact: Mikhail Bell, Institute on Religion and Democracy, 202-682-4131, 202-413-5639 cell, mbell@TheIRD.org

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Officials from declining U.S. "mainline" Protestant denominations joined a May 24 Capitol Hill press conference to urge repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The press conference was sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, which bills itself as "America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality."

Among the church officials were the President of the United Church of Christ, a former moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), an Episcopal priest, and a dissident United Methodist bishop. The United Methodist Church officially supports "laws in civil society that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman." Thanks to its expanding overseas African membership and its growing evangelical component inside the U.S., the United Methodist Church stands out among liberal-led mainline Protestant denominations in its firm adherence to traditional marriage.

The Human Rights Campaign event hailed the recent Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) decision to abandon its expectation that church leaders practice fidelity in marriage or chastity in singleness. All the denominations that have liberalized their sexual standards are experiencing divisions and declining membership.

The Institute on Religion and Democracy has published a paper "Is Marriage Worth Defending?" that makes the case for the crucial role traditional marriage plays in civil society. It is available free for download at www.TheIRD.org, and author Alan Wisdom is available for media interviews.

IRD Vice President Alan Wisdom commented:

    "Global and U.S. Christianity overwhelmingly uphold the marriage of man and woman as the foundation of civil society.

    "Denominations like the United Church of Christ, Episcopal Church, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, along with the PCUSA, represent the fading past of liberal Protestantism, not the dynamic future of growing, multicultural Christianity.

    "Denominations supporting the marriage of man and woman, such as the increasingly international United Methodist Church, more accurately represent the Body of Christ than do the liberal church officials put forward by the Human Rights Campaign."
 
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