I would like to share with you a moving "Minute" against Amendment 1 to the North Carolina Constitution. A "Minute" is a written expression of the "sense" of the members of the entire meeting on matters of importance. As you know, this amendment would place a ban on equal marriage and civil unions directly in the State's Constitution. The "Minute" was agreed upon by the Spring Friends Meeting (Religious Society of Friends or Quakers) of Snow Camp, North Carolina this April. It will be/has been sent to numerous newspapers in the region.
In the minute, the Friends spoke of once facing similar discrimination. This is because many Quaker meetings do not have a priest or a minister. Marriages were "officiated" by being witnessed by members of the meeting, rather than by an official designate. This was for many years unacceptable under North Carolina state law, and for at least one generation, there were no Quakers in North Carolina who were married in the eyes of the State.
Spring Friends Meeting, of The Religious Society of Friends, offers this declaration of our position on the North Carolina ballot measure regarding the proposed Marriage Protection Amendment. We do not support the proposed Amendment One to the North Carolina constitution. Snow Camp, North Carolina, April 15th, 2012--
As members of The Religious Society of Friends, Quakers, we strive for a society free from discrimination based on race, creed, disability, age, gender, or sexual orientation. The proposed amendment is in direct opposition to our principles of equality and tolerance for all persons who likewise strive for peaceful existence with one another. Our religious tradition supports marriage based upon the ideal of divinely inspired, selfless love and commitment between two individuals. Our faith is founded upon the basis of Love for one another and the principle that there is that of God in every person. From a historical perspective, Quakers themselves had at one time faced trials with regards to their rights to legally exist as married parties. Spring Friends Meeting stands in sympathy with those who today seek a similar commitment but would be denied legal recognition of their marriage. To take any other stand would be hypocritical to our heritage as Friends and contrary to the foundational Love of our overall Faith.
We believe that marriage is a matter of religion rather than government and that the Government is to take no position regarding marriage, other than to guarantee the “free exercise thereof”. A constitution should define the operation of government and guarantee specific rights. It should be used to protect citizens, not to single out certain groups as unwelcome or immoral. To enshrine a prohibition on same sex
marriage in the North Carolina Constitution would be a step in the wrong direction.
Committed relationships can provide, to quote William Penn, “Shape, Strength, Courage and good Conditions”. These benefits can be most effectively realized when the government refrains from determining who can and cannot enter into a committed relationship.
Spring Friends Meeting believes that the effort to divide our citizens for political purposes is detrimental to our state and short sighted. We as a religious group urge all North Carolinians to reject the proposed amendment banning gay and lesbian civil unions or marriage as it marginalizes and discriminates against some and denies a basic
right which should be afforded to all.
For further information please visit Spring's website at: http://springfriends.quaker.org/
Spring Friends Meeting is located in Alamance county and its first recorded worship was in 1761. It is affiliated with North Carolina Yearly Meeting, Friends General Conference and Piedmont Friends Fellowship.