LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

I've been following the whole sanctity of marriage debate, and seen various points of view expressed about it. The most outrage has been from the Christian Right, who believe that they should be the sole beneficiaries of this institution, and other people shouldn't have a look in.

I didn't thing much about that until I read an article from Americans United for Separation of Church and State that stated this whole thing is meant to serve the interests of the Religious Right, who will be instrumental in getting Bush reelected.

A Federal Marriage Amendment, the AU letter asserts, would harm religious liberty by writing the view of marriage favored by certain religious groups into constitutional law for all to follow. The letter notes that some religious denominations approve of same-sex unions and others do not.

“Far from protecting religion, the Federal Marriage Amendment would harm religion by expressing a preference for those religions that limit marriage to a man and woman and by relegating to second-class status the members of religions that have chosen to recognize same-sex unions,” reads the AU letter. “Not only would the Amendment thereby contravene the longstanding Establishment Clause principle that government should not endorse some religious perspectives over others, but it would do so through a change to the Constitution itself, reflecting the government’s greatest imprimatur and rendering this preference even more egregious.”

Religious Right groups and their allies have been pushing for a marriage amendment in light of recent state court rulings requiring state governments to recognize gay marriages or civil unions. While religious groups have the right to advocate for the amendment, Americans United asserts in its letter to Congress that the drive is misguided because the amendment “would enshrine into the Constitution a particular religious viewpoint and would severely limit the religious liberty of millions of Americans.”

I seriously doubt that the Constitution will be amended for this purpose, but the fact that people are seriously discussing doing so should be a cause for alarm to anyone who values freedom from religion.

Sunfell