It’s nominally Episcopal but I’ve always thought of it as the beating heart of ceremonial deism, so no surprise that it would shift as the wider public does.

Say this for the dean, too: He makes no bones about his political intentions. Although if you’re head of the National Cathedral and reaching out to press a hot button, why bother doing that? Why pretend it’s a purely religious decision when it’s not?

“I read the Bible as seriously as fundamentalists do,” Hall told the AP. “And my reading of the Bible leads me to want to do this because I think it’s being faithful to the kind of community that Jesus would have us be.”

Celebrating same-sex weddings is important beyond the Episcopal Church, Hall said. Church debate is largely settled on the matter, allowing for local decisions, he said. The move is also a chance to influence the nation.

“As a kind of tall-steeple, public church in the nation’s capital, by saying we’re going to bless same-sex marriages, conduct same-sex marriages, we are really trying to take the next step for marriage equality in the nation and in the culture,” Hall said.

This comes on the same day that lefties are grumbling at Obama for letting the benediction at his inauguration be delivered by a pastor from Atlanta who opposes gay marriage, believes homosexuality is a sin, and thinks Christ can help lead gays out of their “lifestyle.” Looking forward to the official White House statement about how those views are allegedly too far out of the mainstream of Christian thinking to earn him a spot at the national table on the 21st.

Exit question: Second look at the blessings of atheism instead?