The Oregonian is reporting today that the Oregon Catholic Conference will endorse Measure 36. Measure 36 is the ballot measure voters will consider in November that bans same sex marriage. No one should be surprised by the Catholic position. Their church hierarchy almost always takes the conservative position on the gay marriage question. I actually have a lot of respect for the Oregon Catholic Conference and their work on anti-poverty issues, but on this issue they are simply wrong. My guess is that many members of the Oregon Catholic Conference will simply ignore their leaders and vote against the measure.

Not all Christians support the measure. The Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ is urging their members to vote against Measure 36. This is the conference that I belong to. You can expect that other denominations and individual churches will also oppose the measure. Christians are divided on this issue and even the Catholic Church only speaks for part of their own membership.