Question of the Day

Filed in Delaware by on May 25, 2012

If inter-racial marriage was against the views of Kevin Kelley’s faith, would he be against it?

The reason I ask the question:

During Wednesday night’s debate at Trinity Episcopal Church, that meant fielding a surprise question about his views on gay marriage[.] “My faith does not support gay marriage,” said Kelley, who is Catholic. “My faith says that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

Kelley quickly realized his cross-up and took a chance to start over. The longtime city councilman said that while he does not support gay marriage, civil unions could be a “way to go if you feel that you have a partner you want to share your life with.”

Some may view this question unfair. But I have come to despise people hiding behind religion as an excuse to deny people equality. And I really despise the doctrines of one religion dictating government policy. Call me crazy, but that is unconstitutional. If you religiously oppose gay marriage, Mr. Kelley, that’s fine. Don’t enter into a gay marriage. No one is forcing you.

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Comments (11)

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  1. AQC says:

    Maybe he’s evolving?

  2. Geezer says:

    DD: Take the advice I gave to Rusty. Kelley has to be careful about the question because a lot of black churches are homophobic, and he’s running for mayor in a city in which many of the eligible black voters are church-affiliated.

    It might not be courageous, but it’s entirely understandable. Since when are you an idealist instead of a pragmatic?

  3. JJ says:

    Kelley waffles on everything else, at last he staked a clear position as anti gay marriage, whatever his reasons. he also admitted last week he made a big mistake supporting Buccini Pollin and the em domain stuff. Several years late, but thats finally ‘evolving’……

  4. mike4smom says:

    Was this really a legit question for ONE candidate in the Mayoral race for Wilmington? The question was only posed to Kelley, who everyone knows is Catholic.

    Really does the Mayor of Wilmington have much say in the legality of gay marriage in Delaware?

    Aren’t there more important issues facing the Mayor of Wilmington like gun violence, drug crimes, union contracts and where the revenue is coming from?

  5. Another Mike says:

    Mike4smom is correct. Same-sex marriage is not something the city would really ever deal with. And to ask just Kelley is wrong. I would like to see what loaded, irrelevant questions they asked of the other candidates.

    The mayor and city government have only a few jobs: get the snow plowed and trash collected, keep crime down, don’t go into debt, expand your tax base. That should be enough to keep hizzonah working at least 40 hours a week.

  6. cassandra_m says:

    Marriages and civil unions are not things that the Mayor of Wilmington has any authority over. Kevin should have been better prepared for questions like this — social issues questions that the Mayor doesn’t have much authority to deal with. Wilmington does have plenty of problems that a mayor can address and fix.

    That said, Kelly retreating on a question of civil rights to the position of his church doesn’t send a warm and accepting signal to the pretty diverse community he wants to be mayor of.

  7. John Manifold says:

    The Mayor performs marriages.

  8. mike4smom says:

    Your closing point is a good one Cassandra. Perhaps Kevin should have been better prepared to answer, but based on the questions I have heard posed at other debates this one seemed to come from out of the blue and to only ask ONE candidate this question seemed odd.

  9. Geezer says:

    Cass: The most interesting thing about “retreating to the position of his church” is that such hand-washing will become increasingly offputting to non-Catholic voters as the church in American continues to align itself with far-right evangelical elements.

    I know plenty of people who consider themselves Catholics who behave however they please despite the teaching of their church — using contraceptives, getting abortions when unwanted pregnancies occur, etc. If forced to choose between the tenets of their church, which most have never given a second thought since childhood, and their actual lifestyle, I don’t think too many will choose the church.

    I think we’re witnessing the first stages of the decimation of the Catholic Church in America.

  10. cassandra_m says:

    What is interesting to watch about the Catholic Church in America is that as their own authority has been squandered via the priests molesting kids incidents (and in how badly they’ve handled the entire thing), they seem to think that they’ll get back that authority by invoking an intense authoritarianism that deliberately blurs the line between your civic responsibilities and your faith responsibilities and asks you to privilege priests over the Founding Fathers.

  11. Liberal Elite says:

    @G “I think we’re witnessing the first stages of the decimation of the Catholic Church in America.”

    It’s not so much that the church has changed. It’s more like the church has failed to keep up. It’s wholly unprepared for the digital age. It much preferred an age when it could control communication. For most of the last 2000 years, the church controlled the media. Most literate people WERE the church.

    Not only has the church lost its voice, it’s lost the ability to control the voices of others, including their own nuns. I’ll bet the nun thing really has them pissed off. They act like bad controlling boyfriends. I’m waiting for the nuns to wise up and dump those bums.