By Bob Allen
The Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral and religious liberty concerns led 30 faith leaders and educators in an open letter urging Congress to pass a Republican-backed bill that would bar the government from penalizing individuals or groups who refuse to participate in same-sex weddings.
Russell Moore, president the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, joined Bishop Richard Malone of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Hispanic Leadership Conference head Samuel Rodriguez and National Religious Broadcasters CEO Jerry Johnson as lead signers of a letter supporting the First Amendment Defense Act.
The bill, introduced June 17 by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), prohibits the federal government from taking “any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.”
The bill defines “discriminatory action” to include revocation of a charity’s tax-exempt status and denial of government contracts and accreditation of persons or groups who discriminate on moral grounds.
Moore and the other faith leaders say that after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, the respect for religious belief concerning the nature of marriage is no longer secure.
“Some are already calling for governmental discrimination against those who hold to their religiously informed belief that marriage is only the union of one man and one woman,” said the letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio). “This must not be allowed to happen.”
The signers warned that government discrimination on the basis of religious and moral belief about marriage “will have devastating effects on people of faith, their institutions, and the communities they serve.”
“Millions of law-abiding, faithful people are likely to be suddenly deemed bigots and social outcasts,” the letter claimed. “Their institutions will be crippled and many may cease to exist. Most distressing, millions of people will lose the safety net and affirming services they depend on each and every day, from daycare to meals to job training to adoption.”
Supporters of the bill base the claim that religious liberty is under threat on an exchange during oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, the case in which the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on June 26 that the 14th Amendment requires states to license and recognize marriage between two people of the same sex.
In response to a hypothetical question by Justice Samuel Alito if a university or college might lose its tax-exempt status if it opposed same-sex marriage, U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli replied: “You know, I don’t think I can answer that question without knowing more specifics, but it’s certainly going to be an issue.”
Moore and the other religious leaders said it should never be “an issue” for “any individual or institution to be discriminated against by the federal government for deciding to honor the dictates of their faith regarding marriage.”
“Many of the Supreme Court justices have acknowledged the ancient roots of heterosexual marriage,” they said in the open letter. “Indeed, until only very recently, it was the only acceptable form of marriage in practically every society on the planet. It would then seem arbitrary and capricious to marginalize or punish persons and institutions whose definition of marriage the government shared up until last month.”
Opponents to the First Amendment Defense Act claim it appeals to unfounded fears and would open the door to discrimination against LGBT Americans.
Ian Thompson of the American Civil Liberties Union described the bill as “anti-LGBT legislation” that “would undermine the rule of law and promote taxpayer-funded discrimination.”
The Humans Right Campaign, the largest civil rights organization for LGBT Americans, called it an attempt by House Republicans “to harm LGBT families under the guise of religious freedom.”
“The right to believe is fundamental,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “The right to use taxpayer dollars to discriminate is not.”
“Religious freedom is valued by all Americans, but this bill has nothing to do with the First Amendment,” Warbelow said.
Media Matters for America assessed the bill as “built on debunked right-wing talking points” that are “part of conservative media’s long-standing religious liberty fearmongering campaign.”
In addition to Moore, other Southern Baptist leaders signing the letter included the presidents of the six SBC seminaries, administrators at Cedarville University, Union University, Criswell College and North Greenville University and Moore’s predecessor at the ERLC, Richard Land, now president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, N.C.
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