The Anglican communion was rocked in 2003 when the Episcopalian Diocese of New Hampshire ordained an openly gay man its ninth Bishop. After a tumultuous decade that featured death threats and bullet-proof vests as well as a wedding to his partner of 25 years, Bishop Gene Robinson will be stepping down from his seat on December 31 of this year. But his work continues. A new documentary film on Bishop Robinson called Love Free or Die will be released this month, and he just published a book called God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage, which answers the challenges to marriage equality that he has faced during his life spent serving the church, God and the power of love. -- Paul Raushenbush
How do you describe the spiritual significance of marriage?
The spiritual union between people is a great learning laboratory for understanding the relationship between God and a person. When you make a place in your heart for someone and you pledge to love him or her in a way that, on good days, exceeds your love for yourself, then it is a window into the way God loves us. As John said in the Gospel: “Where love is there God is also. When two people are in love, we are participating in the reality of God.”
