RELIGION AND STATE

Below is a third extract from my article: EQUALITY AND OTHER MYTHS.

I felt that it was necessary to give all sides a voice and was glad that I did.

Whilst most thinkers would argue that religion has its place, today there are many who believe that this place is not in politics and that any religion which advocates discrimination does not belong in America.
 
Society has grown increasingly diverse and to a greater extent secular. With religion removed from public schools and other common areas, the most important issue for many is the debate regarding the separation of church and state.
 
When religious beliefs are at odds with a law which governs the state, many religious leaders find this to be just cause in changing that law. This is exactly the situation with Proposition 8.
 
Joseph L Conn, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, tells of the collaboration between those Conservative religious forces who “wanted to write their theological viewpoint about marriage into civil law, and they didn’t mind trampling on the rights of same-sex couples in the process”. He talks of how “well-funded sectarian allies manipulate the democratic process to take away the civil rights of a small minority of Americans” and in doing so, “fundamental constitutional safeguards are gravely jeopardized".
 
A perfect illustration of this point is the recruitment of the Mormon Church by Archbishop George H. Niederauer in the battle over Proposition 8. Writing in Catholic San Francisco, Archbishop George H. Niederauer, tells of how “Last May, the staff of the (state Catholic) Conference office informed me that leaders and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) had given their support to the campaign for Proposition 22 in the year 2000, and were already considering an involvement in connection with Proposition 8. Accordingly, I was asked to contact leaders of the LDS Church whom I had come to know during my eleven years as Bishop of Salt Lake City, to ask them to cooperate again, in this election cycle. I did write to them and they urged the members of their Church, especially those in California, to become involved.”
 
According to the LDS Newsroom, August 2008, “the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose to become involved in defending the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman because it is a compelling moral issue of profound importance to our religion and to the future of our society.”
 
Christian Post Reporter, Lawrence Jones, wrote that, “While the debate over Proposition 8 has included a variety of topics – from youth education to civil rights – many conservative Christian pastors around California have made it loud and clear that marriage is above all else a moral issue.”
 
“For 5,000 years, every culture and every religion – not just Christianity – has defined marriage as a contract between men and women,” wrote influential pastor Rick Warren in his News & Views e-mail last October. “There is no reason to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2% of our population.”
 
In an interview for Belief.net Rick Warren, who leads the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, compared the "redefinition of marriage" to include gay marriage to legitimizing incest, child abuse, and polygamy..
 
While I believe in freedom of speech, I was disappointed President Obama asked Rick Warren to participate in our inauguration. It may be a "moral " issue for Mr. Warren, but it is a whole life issue including political, moral, social, financial, emotional, and sexual issue for those of us who live our lives as gay Americans. My God speaks to me a language of LOVE and acceptance, not one of HATE and discrimination. Dr.John R. Shafer, Indianapolis, IN
 
Rick Warren is certainly not alone in his desire to uncompromisingly preach the biblical definition marriage. Notably he is supported by the Rev. Jim Garlow, whose Skyline Church in San Diego County hosted a rally in support of Proposition 8, which was broadcast to more than 170 churches across California.
 
During this event, Garlow urged that, "We must fear God more than man – whatever it costs us," and asked that Christians fast and pray for the measure to succeed.
 
Unable to speak directly with Rev. Garlow, I was however grateful to hear from his colleague Pastor Chris Clark of the East Clairemont Baptist Church in San Diego who worked closely alongside Garlow in getting Proposition 8 onto the California ballot.
 
Do you believe that American citizens are offered full equality regardless of race, gender, religious belief or sexuality?
 
Pastor Chris Clark: The United States Declaration of Independence declares in its preamble the principle that all men are created equal. While it is true that we in America have struggled in insuring those equal rights to all Americans throughout our history—witness the issues of slavery and civil rights, to name just two—I would maintain that all Americans are afforded equal rights under our laws.
 
What, in your opinion, is the threat to the institution of marriage through the introduction of marriage equality for same sex partners?
 
Pastor Chris Clark: Proposition 8 does NOT deny anyone the right to marry. As it has been throughout the 160-year history of California —and the 232-year history of the United States —any adult is free to marry. What NO ONE is free to do is to redefine marriage for all of society in order to satisfy their own personal preferences. Marriage has always been defined the union of one man and one woman. Therefore, every Californian is free to marry—every man is free to marry one woman, and every woman is free to marry one man.. There is no inequality in that; in fact, marriage equality does in fact exist in California.

VALUES NOT GENDER

Despite what many may believe, not all Christian pastors are supporters of Proposition 8 and there are those who hold much more liberal views regarding the issue of same-sex marriage. The Rev. Rick Mixon, for example, is of the opinion that marriage is an issue of civil rights and that churches should not impose their religious views of marriage on the state's Constitution.
 
Quoted in The San Jose Mercury News, the Rev. Rick Mixon, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Palo Alto said, “Clergy, especially Baptist clergy, have no business acting as agents of the state, whether in making wedding proclamations on the state's behalf or in signing wedding licenses.”
 
The Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, in the Whittier Daily News stated, “We believe that the important thing about a marriage are the values that make up a marriage, not the gender of the people involved.”
 
Speaking of Social Conservatives and the various pro-Prop8 religious groups, including the Mormon Church in Utah, Deepak Chopra writes, “One wonders what business it is of theirs. Marriage has its public side, but given the sharp decline in marriage since the Seventies, what precious institution are they protecting?”. He adds that, “If the answer is that a sacrament is at stake, these religious groups have no business interjecting their beliefs into public policy. Various religions traditionally ban the eating of pork, shellfish, and meat on Friday, but we don't allow those strictures to govern policy. As for the condemnation of homosexuality by scripture, many of those same scriptures advocate polygamy. Trying to condemn homosexuality on religious grounds is a ship that has already sailed in every secular society, and the vast bulk of psychological research has already removed homosexual behaviour out of the category of pathology”.