Duke U. To Allow Homosexual Marriage Ceremonies
Duke U. To Allow Homosexual Marriage Ceremonies
By Fred Jackson and Jim Brown
(AgapePress) – The attack on God’s design for marriage continues at yet another prestigious school. A well-known university affiliated with the United Methodist Church says it will allow its chapel to be used for homosexual commitment ceremonies.
Both the president of Duke University as well as the dean of its famous gothic chapel have signed off on a report which recommends the change.
The student government report cited other universities such as Emory, Harvard, and Stanford, which already allow the homosexual marriage ceremonies. In September, Wake Forest University allowed a lesbian couple to hold a same-sex union in its chapel.
The official policy of the United Methodist Church is that it opposes such same-sex ceremonies, but Duke officials say they see no conflict with that policy, arguing the chapel is a university facility, and therefore not tied to any particular denomination.
Unitarians, United Church of Christ members and some Baptists want to conduct the homosexual ceremonies at the chapel.
But at least one group on campus is putting up a protest. According to a report in the liberal New York Times newspaper, leaders of a student group called the Duke Conservative Union say the school is undermining the family and violating the rights of religious students. A spokesman for the group says “this issue is not finished.â€