On Valentine's Day, Reverend Billy Talen sponsored an “unMarriage event [1],” where he invited all couples to “unmarry” until everyone has the opportunity to marry whomever they want. As if that wasn't enough, Talen wrote a chraming article entitled, “Meditations Before the 'UnMarriage Until Gay Marriage [2]'” that was featured February 16 on The Huffington Post. His meditations included dividing people into categories such as “fear people,” “hate people,” and “the killer people.”
Talen attempted to equate opposition to gay marriage with violent behavior. He stated that, “Making marriage a gated community, is tantamount to violence. Marriage as a private club for heterosexuals – this is a kind of extortion. We should have long ago recognized the pain and suffering that comes from this social concoction. Reserving state-sanctioned love for certain approved citizens? This is the essential structure for racism, earth-death and war.”
Don't worry, though, Talen has a plan: “I'm wondering if all-genders marriage in this country might be the most peaceful thing to happen in decades. The
Talen might not gain respect from the Mormans, for he singled them out for their stance against Prop 8. He wrote they “were on a mission of sexual fear – that is Hate. The religious fundamentalists do that. And it is still a tragic mystery of our human race.”
There are, of course, other reasons people are against gay marriage. Talen wrote, “They want to elevate the heterosexual marriage ceremony to an old
But then, this comes from a man who's definition of love is “when the barriers fall with the clothing, and in the sensual closeness the ego is dissolved on the wind.” That would have made for a nice Valentine's Day card for his Unmarriage Event.