Americans United Against Marriage
Did you know that the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State’s (”AU”), in addition to their misguided and historically inaccurate interpretation of the Religion Clauses, are strong opponents of the Federal Marriage Amendment. Did you also know that they support same-sex marriage?
Here’s AU’s position on Marriage & Family Life:
Opponents of church-state separation, led by the Religious Right, extol the “traditional” family of a married couple with children. While many American families fit this mold, others do not. All loving families, regardless of their composition, deserve support from government and society. The government must not deny adoption, child custody and other fundamental rights to families labeled “non-traditional” because of religious bias or narrow interpretations of holy books held by certain religious believers. The government must also recognize that while many couples choose to be married in a house of worship, marriage itself is ultimately a civil institution; access to it should not be defined or limited because of religious strictures.
A crusade is under way to add a “marriage amendment” to the U.S. Constitution. The purpose of the drive is ostensibly to bar the federal and state governments from recognizing marriages between gay couples, although the amendment also would eradicate hundreds of legal rights that gay and lesbian families currently enjoy under a number of state and local laws. Americans United believes that the campaign to place a marriage amendment in the Constitution raises important church-state and religious liberty concerns.
The crux of AU’s position is that because marriage is a civil institution, in essence a government created model of family organization, then that structure (1) can be changed to include “non-traditional” families and (2) any attempt to limit marriage to one man and one woman is the result of religious conservatives’ attempt to change marriage away from civil-centered to a religious-centered institution and that infusion of religion violates the First Amendment. In AU’s view, marriage is about love and that any loving couple deserves government support (i.e., homosexual relationships should receive the same benefits as heterosexual couples).
But, marriage is more than love. Certainly, love brings the happy couple together but love is not the basis of government support of marriage. Traditional marriage is supported by the government because of its benefit to society at-large. A tradtional heterosexual union provides the optimal rearing environment for children and creates stability in societal structure, among other benefits. Same-sex couples are incapable of providing these benefits. Moreover, these benefits are not inherently religious.
A nation’s laws reflect the morality of its citizens. That morality, whether based upon the religiousity or conscience of its citizenry, deserves respect even if its impact is to deprive a small but politically-active group (here gays and lesbians) the “right” to marry. Taken to the extreme, by questioning any law whose basis could be found within the antiquated tomes of the “Religious Right,” many of our laws (murder comes to mind) are a form of government-sponsored religion and are unconstitutional.
That’s exactly what AU would like to see happen–a disappearance of public religion. Not only from the law, but from courthouses, city halls, and schools. Supporting gay marriage is merely a convenient tool for their irreligious purposes.