Religious arguments about same-sex marriage
Encyclopedia
Arguments both in favor and in opposition of same-sex marriage
s are often made on religious grounds and/or formulated in terms of religious doctrine.
. Some examples of religious organizations voicing their support for marriage equality
include the Metropolitan Community Church
, the United Church of Christ
, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
, the Episcopal Church of the United States
, the Anglican Church of Canada
, the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
and the Unitarian Universalists
church which has long supported the rights of gays and lesbians to marry both in the church and through the state. Numerous progressive congregations and organizations within mainline christian denominations, that have not yet officially voiced official support for marriage equality, have spoken out themselves in support of equal marriage rights in the church and through the state.
Some biblical scholars who hold to the progressive Christian view of marriage equality make the claim that the word "homosexual" as found in many modern versions of the Bible is a transliteration and is not found in the original biblical texts. This argument from scripture holds that since the original authors of the Bible never mention 'homosexuals' or committed Christian homosexual couples, there cannot exist a biblical prohibition of marriage rights for them. It is also believed that biblical texts interpreted by some to discuss homosexuality refer only to specific sex acts and idolatrous worship which lack relevance to contemporary same-sex relationships. Christians who support religious and legal recognition of same-sex marriage may base on their belief in marriage equality in the view that marriage, as an institution, and the structure of the family is a biblical moral imperative that should be honored by all couples, heterosexual and homosexual alike. Supporting marriage rights for gays and lesbians reflects their Christ-like commitment to the equality and dignity of all persons. It is believed by some that, "human sexual orientations, whether heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual, are a gift from God."
Several well established Christian
denominations support the legality of same-sex marriage and perform same-sex weddings and blessings religiously. The three largest of these denominations in North America are the Episcopal Church of the United States
, the United Church of Canada
and the United Church of Christ
. In August 2009 the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
, the United States' largest Lutheran church, adopted a supporting the full inclusion of "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same gender relationships" of both laypersons and clergy. The resolution, which will take effect in November, allows congregations to fully recognize same-sex relationships as marriages. The Episcopal Church at their 2009 General Convention
declared that: “bishops, particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same- gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this Church."
Some same-sex married couples have challenged religious organizations that exclude them from access to public facilities maintained by those organizations, such as schools, health care centers, social service agencies, summer camps, homeless shelters, nursing homes, orphanages, retreat houses, community centers, and athletic programs. Opponents of same-sex marriages have expressed concerns that this limits their religious freedoms. For example, conservatives worry that a Christian college would risk its tax-exempt status by refusing to admit a legally married gay couple to married-student housing. Some legal analysts suggest that failure to reflect gay rights within their organizations may cost some religious groups their tax-exempt status.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
argue that by defining marriage as an opposite-sex institution, the state infringes upon the constitutional right to freedom of religion.
Religious arguments for and against marriage rights for same-sex couples are not always evenly divided among conservative faiths and progressive faiths. While self-identified progressive faith organizations such as the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers), support marriage equality, other more conservative and or orthodox organizations including some Mennonite
churches, the Church of the Brethren
, the Old Catholic Church
, the Church of Sweden
and the Church of Scotland
also support marriage rights for gay and lesbian persons.
such as the Metropolitan Community Church
, the United Church of Christ and liberal congregations within the mainline denominations interpret the passage in Romans as relating to specific instances of Graeco-Roman temple sex acts and idolatrous worship lacking relevance to contemporary same-sex relationships.
was active in the campaign that led to legal recognition of same-sex marriages in Canada. The United Church now allows individual congregations to decide whether or not to perform these marriages.
Likewise, in the Protestant Church of the Netherlands, where same-sex marriages have been legal since 2001, individual congregations decide if they will perform them.
Some Christians support religious and legal recognition of same-sex marriages based on a moral commitment to equality, or a belief that "human sexual orientations, whether heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual, are a gift from God", as affirmed by the United Church of Canada's 37th General Council.
, the Bible
may be interpreted literally or within historical-cultural context. Under a literalist reading, the Bible can be read as condemning homosexuality
(and, by extension, gay marriage) Read in cultural context, the Bible "was not addressing our current questions about sexual ethics and does not condemn gay sex [or gay marriage]s as we understand it today." Helminiak argues that Biblical passages said to be against homosexuality [and same-sex marriage]s do not actually say anything against gay and lesbian sexual relationships or identity. "The sin of Sodom
was inhospitality, not homosexuality. Jude
condemns sex with angels, not sex between two men. Not a single Bible text indisputably refers to lesbian sex. [...] there follows no valid conclusion whatsoever about homosexuality. Biblical figures [...] may well have been involved in homogenital relationships, seen as part of God's plan. And Jesus himself said nothing at all about homosexuality, not even when face to face with a man in a gay relationship." Lisa Miller
also argues for a move beyond literalism
. The Bible was written for a world unlike our own. Monogamy
, for example, only became the norm in the Christian
world in the last 150 years or so. However, Miller argues that the Bible supports the idea of monogamous relationships, including gay marriage.
, delegates voted overwhelmingly that they would perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, and the church has been performing weddings with and without state sanction ever since.
The British Unitarian church is also at the forefront of the struggle for equal marriage rights.
support the inclusion of same-sex unions within the definition of marriage. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
leaves the choice to individual rabbis.
Some Conservative Jews
reject recognition of same-sex unions as marriages, but permit celebration of commitment ceremonies, in part as an expression of their belief that scripture requires monogamy of all sexually active couples.
There is no objection of the Buddha found in the Tipitaka. Buddha was neither supportive nor against marriages between members of the same gender. Also, from the Tipitaka, it is clear that the Buddha acknowledged the difference between hermaphrodites and homosexual practitioners. Hermaphrodites and eunuchs are not allowed to be ordained, but there is no sanction against homosexuality. As for the lay homosexual people, Buddha gave no rule or advice as to whether they should be allowed to marry or not. Buddha posted himself simply as the one who shows the way. He did not insist that he had any right to enforce on others what they should do. With this principle, the original teachings of the Buddha do not cover social ceremonies or rituals. Weddings and marriages of all kinds are regarded as mundane and have no place in Buddhism.
On October 11, 1995, some religious leaders gave testimony to the Commission on Sexual Orientation and the Law in support of same-gender marriages. Robert Aitken
, co-founder and teacher of the Honolulu Diamond Sangha, a Zen Buddhist society established in 1959, with centers in Manoa and Palolo, gave written testimony on the subject of same-sex marriage. Aitken explains that by applying the Four Noble Abodes (loving kindness, compassion, joy in the attainment of others, and equanimity) to the issue of same-sex marriage, he finds compassion for and with the gay or lesbian couple who wish to confirm their love in a legal marriage. Aitken cites a precept about sex which Zen Buddhists inherit from earlier classical Buddhists teachings.
It is one of the sixteen precepts accepted by all Zen Buddhist monks, nuns and seriously committed lay people. He understands this to mean that self-centered sexual conduct is inappropriate, and he vows to avoid it. He believes that self-centered sex is exploitive sex, non-consensual sex, sex that harms others. It is unwholesome and destructive in a heterosexual as well as in a homosexual context. He goes on to explain that The Legislative Reference Bureau compiled a formidable list of rights that are extended to married couples in Hawai'i, but which are denied to couples
who are gay and lesbian.
He argues that gay and lesbian unions would be "settled even more" if they were acknowledged with basic married rights. Aitken says, "A long-standing injustice would be corrected, and the entire gay and lesbian community would feel more accepted. This would stabilize a significant segment of our society, and we would all of us be better able to acknowledge our diversity. I urge you to advise the Legislature and the people of Hawai'i that legalizing gay and lesbian marriages will
be humane and in keeping with perenniel principles of decency and mutual encouragement."
, similar to many other religions. A liberal view is presented by Mathematician Shakuntala Devi, in her 1977 book, The World of Homosexuals, in which she interviewed Srinivasa Raghavachariar, head priest of the Srirangam temple. He said that same-sex lovers must have been cross-sex lovers in a former life. The sex may change but the soul retains its attachments, hence the love impels these souls towards one another.
In 2002, Ruth Vanita (writer/reporter for GALVA - The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association, Inc.) interviewed a Shaiva priest who performed the marriage of two women; he told me that, having studied Hindu scriptures, he had concluded, “Marriage is a union of spirits, and the spirit is not male or female” (p. 147).
As Amara Das Wilhelm, a Krishna devotee and founder of GALVA, notes in his book, Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex, "several Gaudiya Vaishnava authorities emphasize that since everyone passes through various forms, genders and species in a series of lives, we should not judge each other by the material body but view everyone equally on a spiritual plane, and be compassionate as God is."
According to Ruth Vanita, "Indian newspapers, over the last 25 years, have reported several same-sex weddings and same-sex joint suicides, mostly by Hindu female couples in small towns, unconnected to any gay movement. Several weddings took place by Hindu rites, with some family support, while the suicides resulted from families forcibly separating lovers." According to Vanita, the phenomena of increased visibility of same-sex weddings "...suggest the wide range of Hindu attitudes to homosexuality today. The millennia-long debate in Hindu society, somewhat suppressed in the colonial period, has revived. In 2004, Hinduism Today reporter Rajiv Malik asked several Hindu swamis (teachers) their opinion of same-sex marriage. The swamis expressed a range of opinions, positive and negative. They felt free to differ with each other; this is evidence of the liveliness of the debate, made possible by the fact that Hinduism has no one hierarchy or leader. As Mahant Ram Puri remarked, “We do not have a rule book in Hinduism. We have a hundred million authorities.”
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
, which is part of the United States Bill of Rights
, expressly forbids laws being made "respecting an establishment of religion" and that prohibit the free exercise of religion. Thus, according to this argument, the state has no authority to define marriage as between one man and woman because there are various religions which hold that gay marriage is morally equivalent to heterosexual marriage.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
prominently expresses concern that heterosexual-only marriage laws impose a specific religious doctrine as state policy. According to them, "a marriage amendment in the Constitution [raises] important church-state and religious liberty concerns."
.
, Church of God in Christ
, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as Mormons), the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference
, the Conservative Mennonite Conference
, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America
, the Hutterite Brethren
, the Orthodox Church in America
, the Brethren in Christ, the Mennonite Church USA
, the Roman Catholic Church
, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
, the Southern Baptist Convention
, and the United Pentecostal Church International
. In 2009, a group of Christian leaders from various denominations issued the Manhattan Declaration
, an "influential statement that united evangelicals and Catholic leaders in fighting abortion and gay marriage"; as of November 2010, the Declaration had been signed by over 475,000 individuals.
argues from a theological perspective against recognizing same-sex unions. According to Catholic moral doctrine, acts of sexual intimacy are only proper between a man and a woman within wedlock. Secular government recognition of any other union within the definition of "marriage" would therefore reflect a belief in the moral equivalence of acts between a husband and wife and acts between two men or two women; this belief is contrary to Catholic doctrinal teaching.
Catholic opponents also argue that inclusion of same-sex unions within the definition of marriage would also evidence rejection of the idea that, in general, it is best that children be raised by their biological mother and father, and that it is the community's interest in ensuring the well-being of children is the sole basis for the government's licensee and involvement in marriage.
tradition, religious objections to same-sex marriages are often based upon the Bible
.
Some religious arguments against same-sex marriage are based upon Old Testament
biblical
passages such as Genesis 19:4-11, Leviticus
18:22, and Leviticus
20:13, while others are based upon New Testament
biblical
passages such as Romans
1, I Corinthians 6:8-10, and Jude
1:7. Conservative Christians
note that the book of Leviticus
contains a prohibition against male-male sexuality. Some Biblical scholars interpret Genesis 19:5 as indicating that homosexual behavior led to the destruction of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
. While the Biblical passages mentioned above do not define the institution of marriage, Genesis 2:22-24 reads as follows: "Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man.' For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." This passage is quoted by Jesus
in the New Testament
Gospel
of Matthew
. Some Christians hold the belief that Romans 1 proscribes all homosexual behavior, regardless of its relational context.
, a pastor of the conservative Evangelical Christian Saddleback
megachurch
, homosexuals are people who "think they are smarter than God" and who choose "to disobey God's sexual instructions." According to Warren, marriage is an ordinance from God that unites a man and a woman. James Dobson
, in Marriage Under Fire and elsewhere, argues that legalization for or passive tolerance of same-sex marriages would widen the definition of families.
Exodus International
and others take the view that I Corinthians 6:9-11 offers Christian believers freedom from the sin of homosexual behavior
. Evangelical author and counselor Joe Dallas
notes that the Biblical passages relating to homosexual behavior uniformly prohibit that behavior.
is also opposed to same-sex marriage, as is the Unification Church
.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that children are entitled to be raised by a mother and a father who honor their marital vows with complete fidelity. They believe marriage is not primarily a contract between individuals to ratify their affections and provide for mutual obligations, but are an important part of rearing children. They teach that same-sex marriage undermines the purpose of marriage.
maintains the traditional Jewish bans on both sexual acts and marriage amongst members of the same sex. The Orthodox Union in the United States supported a federal Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.
, being the more conservative wing of Buddhism are less supportive of gay rights and marriages. Human rights issues have received poor attention in Theravada countries, as the culture is rooted in the belief in the Law of Karma, which is more popular among Thai Buddhists than philosophical and advanced scriptural studies in Buddhism. Many monasteries and monks advocate their lay followers to see the world through the lens of karma, i.e., every person is born to pay back their sins. According to their explanations, all homosexuals and sexual deviants were once offenders of the Third Precept (prohibiting sexual misconduct) - at least in their past lives, and they must pay off their past sins in their present life. Therefore, they deserve all that society gives to them. This belief system creates strong conservative values in Theravada Buddhist culture. For these reasons, it is unlikely that Buddhists will easily approve a law to allow gay marriage. Gay and lesbian activists in Thailand will probably not be as successful as their fellows in European countries or Canada. It is important to note, however, that Theravada Buddhists outside of the South-East Asian Area, are generally more supportive, or neutral, to same-sex marriage, and LGBT rights as a whole.
. There is concern that religious communities might not be able to decide what type of marriages to solemnize. Some same-sex married couples have challenged religious organizations that exclude them from access to public facilities maintained by those organizations, such as schools, health care centers, social service agencies, summer camps, homeless shelters, nursing homes, orphanages, retreat houses, community centers, and athletic programs. Opponents of same-sex marriage have expressed concerns that this limits their religious freedoms. For example, conservatives worry that a Christian college would risk its tax-exempt status by refusing to admit a legally married gay couple to married-student housing. Some legal analysts suggest that failure to reflect gay rights within their organizations may cost some religious groups their tax-exempt status. In addition, religious opponents of same-sex marriage express concern about several specific instances in which they contend that religious freedoms have been abridged due to legal recognition of same-sex unions, including (a) an incident in which the Knights of Columbus were sued for declining to allow a same-sex wedding reception on their property; (b) removal of real property tax exemption from a New Jersey Christian organization that did not allow a civil union ceremony to be performed on their property; (c) requirements that judges and justices of the peace perform same-sex wedding ceremonies; and (d) the forced closing of Catholic adoption agencies which refused to place children in the homes of married same-sex partners.
There is also a concern that religious people might be marginalized for their beliefs about marriage. Opponents point to the way Carrie Prejean
was treated during the Miss USA 2009 controversy
. There are also concerns about violence and intimidation against religious people. After a vote to make same-sex marriage illegal in California, same-sex marriage supporters published names of donors to the bill and classified them based on religion and many religious symbols were targeted. Elder Dallin H. Oaks
of the LDS Church likened the attacks against religious people to voter intimidation against black people during the American civil rights movement. Some governments have made special provisions for religious protections within the texts of same-sex marriage laws.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
argue that by defining marriage as an opposite-sex institution, the state infringes upon the constitutional right to freedom of religion. In this view, religious groups that do wish to celebrate same-sex marriages are discriminated against when government policies do not permit their religious groups to celebrate marriages as they see fit.
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
s are often made on religious grounds and/or formulated in terms of religious doctrine.
Christianity
Support and affirmation of marriage rights for same-sex couples increasingly come from those who practice progressive ChristianityProgressive Christianity
Progressive Christianity is the name given to a movement within contemporary Christianity characterized by willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity with a strong emphasis on social justice or care for the poor and the oppressed and environmental stewardship of the Earth...
. Some examples of religious organizations voicing their support for marriage equality
Marriage Equality
Marriage Equality USA is an organization working for marriage equality for all non-heterosexual couples. The group works by doing public education and outreach, media campaigns and holding visibility events. Marriage Equality, Inc...
include the Metropolitan Community Church
Metropolitan Community Church
The Metropolitan Community Church or The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is an international Protestant Christian denomination...
, the United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...
, the Episcopal Church of the United States
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
, the Anglican Church of Canada
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
, the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
and the Unitarian Universalists
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a...
church which has long supported the rights of gays and lesbians to marry both in the church and through the state. Numerous progressive congregations and organizations within mainline christian denominations, that have not yet officially voiced official support for marriage equality, have spoken out themselves in support of equal marriage rights in the church and through the state.
Some biblical scholars who hold to the progressive Christian view of marriage equality make the claim that the word "homosexual" as found in many modern versions of the Bible is a transliteration and is not found in the original biblical texts. This argument from scripture holds that since the original authors of the Bible never mention 'homosexuals' or committed Christian homosexual couples, there cannot exist a biblical prohibition of marriage rights for them. It is also believed that biblical texts interpreted by some to discuss homosexuality refer only to specific sex acts and idolatrous worship which lack relevance to contemporary same-sex relationships. Christians who support religious and legal recognition of same-sex marriage may base on their belief in marriage equality in the view that marriage, as an institution, and the structure of the family is a biblical moral imperative that should be honored by all couples, heterosexual and homosexual alike. Supporting marriage rights for gays and lesbians reflects their Christ-like commitment to the equality and dignity of all persons. It is believed by some that, "human sexual orientations, whether heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual, are a gift from God."
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
denominations support the legality of same-sex marriage and perform same-sex weddings and blessings religiously. The three largest of these denominations in North America are the Episcopal Church of the United States
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
, the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
and the United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
. In August 2009 the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
, the United States' largest Lutheran church, adopted a supporting the full inclusion of "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same gender relationships" of both laypersons and clergy. The resolution, which will take effect in November, allows congregations to fully recognize same-sex relationships as marriages. The Episcopal Church at their 2009 General Convention
General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in the Episcopal Church. General Convention...
declared that: “bishops, particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same- gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this Church."
Some same-sex married couples have challenged religious organizations that exclude them from access to public facilities maintained by those organizations, such as schools, health care centers, social service agencies, summer camps, homeless shelters, nursing homes, orphanages, retreat houses, community centers, and athletic programs. Opponents of same-sex marriages have expressed concerns that this limits their religious freedoms. For example, conservatives worry that a Christian college would risk its tax-exempt status by refusing to admit a legally married gay couple to married-student housing. Some legal analysts suggest that failure to reflect gay rights within their organizations may cost some religious groups their tax-exempt status.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a group that advocates separation of church and state, a legal doctrine interpreted by AU as being enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Mission:The guiding principle of Americans...
argue that by defining marriage as an opposite-sex institution, the state infringes upon the constitutional right to freedom of religion.
Religious arguments for and against marriage rights for same-sex couples are not always evenly divided among conservative faiths and progressive faiths. While self-identified progressive faith organizations such as the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers), support marriage equality, other more conservative and or orthodox organizations including some Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
churches, the Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination originating from the Schwarzenau Brethren organized in 1708 by eight persons led by Alexander Mack, in Schwarzenau, Bad Berleburg, Germany. The Brethren movement began as a melding of Radical Pietist and Anabaptist ideas during the...
, the Old Catholic Church
Old Catholic Church
The term Old Catholic Church is commonly used to describe a number of Ultrajectine Christian churches that originated with groups that split from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, most importantly that of Papal Infallibility...
, the Church of Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...
and the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
also support marriage rights for gay and lesbian persons.
Metropolitan Community Church
Some liberal ChristiansLiberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
such as the Metropolitan Community Church
Metropolitan Community Church
The Metropolitan Community Church or The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is an international Protestant Christian denomination...
, the United Church of Christ and liberal congregations within the mainline denominations interpret the passage in Romans as relating to specific instances of Graeco-Roman temple sex acts and idolatrous worship lacking relevance to contemporary same-sex relationships.
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ's General Synod passed a resolution affirming "equal marriage rights for all people regardless of gender" in 2005. The church allows but does not require pastors to perform same-sex weddings.United Church of Canada
The United Church of CanadaUnited Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
was active in the campaign that led to legal recognition of same-sex marriages in Canada. The United Church now allows individual congregations to decide whether or not to perform these marriages.
Likewise, in the Protestant Church of the Netherlands, where same-sex marriages have been legal since 2001, individual congregations decide if they will perform them.
Some Christians support religious and legal recognition of same-sex marriages based on a moral commitment to equality, or a belief that "human sexual orientations, whether heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual, are a gift from God", as affirmed by the United Church of Canada's 37th General Council.
Liberal Catholic theologians
Even within the Roman Catholic Church, there is a bit of internal dissent. For example, while the Vatican and most of the Roman Catholic hierarchy oppose same sex marriages, there are some Catholic theologians who support gay marriages.Critical biblical scholarship
According to Daniel A. HelminiakDaniel A. Helminiak
Daniel A. Helminiak is an author, lecturer, Catholic priest and theologian, and professor in the department of humanistic and transpersonal psychology at the University of West Georgia, near Atlanta.-Early life and ordination:...
, the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
may be interpreted literally or within historical-cultural context. Under a literalist reading, the Bible can be read as condemning homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
(and, by extension, gay marriage) Read in cultural context, the Bible "was not addressing our current questions about sexual ethics and does not condemn gay sex [or gay marriage]s as we understand it today." Helminiak argues that Biblical passages said to be against homosexuality [and same-sex marriage]s do not actually say anything against gay and lesbian sexual relationships or identity. "The sin of Sodom
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
was inhospitality, not homosexuality. Jude
Epistle of Jude
The Epistle of Jude, often shortened to Jude, is the penultimate book of the New Testament and is attributed to Jude, the brother of James the Just. - Composition :...
condemns sex with angels, not sex between two men. Not a single Bible text indisputably refers to lesbian sex. [...] there follows no valid conclusion whatsoever about homosexuality. Biblical figures [...] may well have been involved in homogenital relationships, seen as part of God's plan. And Jesus himself said nothing at all about homosexuality, not even when face to face with a man in a gay relationship." Lisa Miller
Lisa Miller
Lisa Miller is an Australian singer/songwriter known for her clear, bitter-sweet voice and poignant semi-biographical songs.-Biography:Miller grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Chadstone, the daughter of social realist painter Peter Miller...
also argues for a move beyond literalism
Biblical literalism
Biblical literalism is the interpretation or translation of the explicit and primary sense of words in the Bible. A literal Biblical interpretation is associated with the fundamentalist and evangelical hermeneutical approach to Scripture, and is used almost exclusively by conservative Christians...
. The Bible was written for a world unlike our own. Monogamy
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
, for example, only became the norm in the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
world in the last 150 years or so. However, Miller argues that the Bible supports the idea of monogamous relationships, including gay marriage.
Unitarian Universalists and Unitarians
At the 1996 United States Unitarian Universalist General AssemblyGeneral Assembly (Unitarian Universalist Association)
General Assembly, commonly abbreviated as simply GA, is an annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. It is held in June, in a different city in North America every year...
, delegates voted overwhelmingly that they would perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, and the church has been performing weddings with and without state sanction ever since.
The British Unitarian church is also at the forefront of the struggle for equal marriage rights.
Liberal Jews
Members of Reform JudaismReform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
support the inclusion of same-sex unions within the definition of marriage. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as a branch of Conservative Judaism, before it splintered...
leaves the choice to individual rabbis.
Some Conservative Jews
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
reject recognition of same-sex unions as marriages, but permit celebration of commitment ceremonies, in part as an expression of their belief that scripture requires monogamy of all sexually active couples.
Liberal Buddhists
Due to the ambivalent language about homosexuality in Buddhist teachings, there has been no official stance put forth regarding the issue of marriage between members of the same gender.There is no objection of the Buddha found in the Tipitaka. Buddha was neither supportive nor against marriages between members of the same gender. Also, from the Tipitaka, it is clear that the Buddha acknowledged the difference between hermaphrodites and homosexual practitioners. Hermaphrodites and eunuchs are not allowed to be ordained, but there is no sanction against homosexuality. As for the lay homosexual people, Buddha gave no rule or advice as to whether they should be allowed to marry or not. Buddha posted himself simply as the one who shows the way. He did not insist that he had any right to enforce on others what they should do. With this principle, the original teachings of the Buddha do not cover social ceremonies or rituals. Weddings and marriages of all kinds are regarded as mundane and have no place in Buddhism.
On October 11, 1995, some religious leaders gave testimony to the Commission on Sexual Orientation and the Law in support of same-gender marriages. Robert Aitken
Robert Baker Aitken
Robert Baker Dairyu Chotan Aitken Roshi was a Zen teacher in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in 1959...
, co-founder and teacher of the Honolulu Diamond Sangha, a Zen Buddhist society established in 1959, with centers in Manoa and Palolo, gave written testimony on the subject of same-sex marriage. Aitken explains that by applying the Four Noble Abodes (loving kindness, compassion, joy in the attainment of others, and equanimity) to the issue of same-sex marriage, he finds compassion for and with the gay or lesbian couple who wish to confirm their love in a legal marriage. Aitken cites a precept about sex which Zen Buddhists inherit from earlier classical Buddhists teachings.
It is one of the sixteen precepts accepted by all Zen Buddhist monks, nuns and seriously committed lay people. He understands this to mean that self-centered sexual conduct is inappropriate, and he vows to avoid it. He believes that self-centered sex is exploitive sex, non-consensual sex, sex that harms others. It is unwholesome and destructive in a heterosexual as well as in a homosexual context. He goes on to explain that The Legislative Reference Bureau compiled a formidable list of rights that are extended to married couples in Hawai'i, but which are denied to couples
who are gay and lesbian.
He argues that gay and lesbian unions would be "settled even more" if they were acknowledged with basic married rights. Aitken says, "A long-standing injustice would be corrected, and the entire gay and lesbian community would feel more accepted. This would stabilize a significant segment of our society, and we would all of us be better able to acknowledge our diversity. I urge you to advise the Legislature and the people of Hawai'i that legalizing gay and lesbian marriages will
be humane and in keeping with perenniel principles of decency and mutual encouragement."
Liberal Hindus
There are both conservative and liberal views about homosexuality and same-sex marriages in HinduismHinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, similar to many other religions. A liberal view is presented by Mathematician Shakuntala Devi, in her 1977 book, The World of Homosexuals, in which she interviewed Srinivasa Raghavachariar, head priest of the Srirangam temple. He said that same-sex lovers must have been cross-sex lovers in a former life. The sex may change but the soul retains its attachments, hence the love impels these souls towards one another.
In 2002, Ruth Vanita (writer/reporter for GALVA - The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association, Inc.) interviewed a Shaiva priest who performed the marriage of two women; he told me that, having studied Hindu scriptures, he had concluded, “Marriage is a union of spirits, and the spirit is not male or female” (p. 147).
As Amara Das Wilhelm, a Krishna devotee and founder of GALVA, notes in his book, Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex, "several Gaudiya Vaishnava authorities emphasize that since everyone passes through various forms, genders and species in a series of lives, we should not judge each other by the material body but view everyone equally on a spiritual plane, and be compassionate as God is."
According to Ruth Vanita, "Indian newspapers, over the last 25 years, have reported several same-sex weddings and same-sex joint suicides, mostly by Hindu female couples in small towns, unconnected to any gay movement. Several weddings took place by Hindu rites, with some family support, while the suicides resulted from families forcibly separating lovers." According to Vanita, the phenomena of increased visibility of same-sex weddings "...suggest the wide range of Hindu attitudes to homosexuality today. The millennia-long debate in Hindu society, somewhat suppressed in the colonial period, has revived. In 2004, Hinduism Today reporter Rajiv Malik asked several Hindu swamis (teachers) their opinion of same-sex marriage. The swamis expressed a range of opinions, positive and negative. They felt free to differ with each other; this is evidence of the liveliness of the debate, made possible by the fact that Hinduism has no one hierarchy or leader. As Mahant Ram Puri remarked, “We do not have a rule book in Hinduism. We have a hundred million authorities.”
Views regarding Church-State separation
Many supporters of same sex marriages argue that, by defining the institution of marriage as between one man and one woman, the state automatically tramples upon the constitutional rights to freedom of religion. They argue that just because a majority of religious organizations may believe that gay marriages should not be granted by the state does not make it the state's obligation to observe their opinions on this matter.The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, which is part of the United States Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
, expressly forbids laws being made "respecting an establishment of religion" and that prohibit the free exercise of religion. Thus, according to this argument, the state has no authority to define marriage as between one man and woman because there are various religions which hold that gay marriage is morally equivalent to heterosexual marriage.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a group that advocates separation of church and state, a legal doctrine interpreted by AU as being enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Mission:The guiding principle of Americans...
prominently expresses concern that heterosexual-only marriage laws impose a specific religious doctrine as state policy. According to them, "a marriage amendment in the Constitution [raises] important church-state and religious liberty concerns."
Religious opposition
Many Christian groups have been vocal and politically active in opposing same-sex marriage laws in the United States. Same-sex marriage opponents sometimes claim that extending marriage rights to same-sex couples could undercut the conventional purpose of marriage. Roman Catholic advocates of monogamous heterosexual marriages contend that same-sex relationships cannot be considered marriages because marriage, by definition, necessarily involves the uniting of two members of the opposite sex. Other religious arguments for an opposite-sex definition of marriage hold that same-sex relationships should not be recognized as marriages because same-gender sexual activity is contrary to God's will, is immoral, and subverts God's creative intent for human sexuality. Christian opposition to same-sex marriage also comes from the belief that same-sex marriage normalizes homosexual behavior and would encourage it, instead of encouraging resistance to same-sex attractionSame-sex attraction
Same-sex attraction is a term occasionally used instead of the more common term homosexuality to refer to a person's feelings of sexual attraction toward members of the same gender identity....
.
Christianity
Christian denominations and groups that have been vocal and or active in their opposition to same-sex marriages include the Assemblies of GodAssemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
, Church of God in Christ
Church of God in Christ
The Church of God in Christ is a Pentecostal Holiness Christian denomination with a predominantly African-American membership. With nearly five million members in the United States and 12,000 congregations, it is the largest Pentecostal church and the fifth largest Christian church in the U.S....
, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as Mormons), the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference
Conservative Congregational Christian Conference
The Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, colloquially known as the CCCC or 4C's, is a Protestant Christian denomination operating in the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul...
, the Conservative Mennonite Conference
Conservative Mennonite Conference
The Conservative Mennonite Conference is a Christian body of conservative evangelical Mennonite churches.-Background:The first American settlement of the Amish Mennonites — who separated from the main body of Swiss Brethren and followed Jacob Amman — was in Berks County, Pennsylvania, around...
, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America
Convocation of Anglicans in North America
The Convocation of Anglicans in North America is an Anglican body in the United States primarily comprising Anglican and Episcopal churches that have disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church in the United States of America . CANA was initially a missionary initiative of the Anglican Church of Nigeria...
, the Hutterite Brethren
Hutterite
Hutterites are a communal branch of Anabaptists who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the 16th century. Since the death of their founder Jakob Hutter in 1536, the beliefs of the Hutterites, especially living in a community of goods and absolute...
, the Orthodox Church in America
Orthodox Church in America
The Orthodox Church in America is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008...
, the Brethren in Christ, the Mennonite Church USA
Mennonite Church USA
The Mennonite Church USA, or MCUSA, is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Radical Reformation of the 16th century...
, the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
, the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
, and the United Pentecostal Church International
United Pentecostal Church International
The United Pentecostal Church International is a Pentecostal Christian denomination, headquartered in the St. Louis suburb of Hazelwood, Missouri. It is a part of the Oneness or "Apostolic" portion of the Pentecostal Movement, and was formed in 1945 by a merger of the former Pentecostal Church,...
. In 2009, a group of Christian leaders from various denominations issued the Manhattan Declaration
Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience
The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience is a manifesto issued by Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christian leaders to affirm support of "the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty". It was drafted on October 20, 2009 and released November 20, 2009,...
, an "influential statement that united evangelicals and Catholic leaders in fighting abortion and gay marriage"; as of November 2010, the Declaration had been signed by over 475,000 individuals.
Catholic Church opposition
The Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
argues from a theological perspective against recognizing same-sex unions. According to Catholic moral doctrine, acts of sexual intimacy are only proper between a man and a woman within wedlock. Secular government recognition of any other union within the definition of "marriage" would therefore reflect a belief in the moral equivalence of acts between a husband and wife and acts between two men or two women; this belief is contrary to Catholic doctrinal teaching.
Catholic opponents also argue that inclusion of same-sex unions within the definition of marriage would also evidence rejection of the idea that, in general, it is best that children be raised by their biological mother and father, and that it is the community's interest in ensuring the well-being of children is the sole basis for the government's licensee and involvement in marriage.
Views in Scripture
Within the ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
tradition, religious objections to same-sex marriages are often based upon the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
Some religious arguments against same-sex marriage are based upon Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
passages such as Genesis 19:4-11, Leviticus
Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
18:22, and Leviticus
Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
20:13, while others are based upon New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
passages such as Romans
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
1, I Corinthians 6:8-10, and Jude
Epistle of Jude
The Epistle of Jude, often shortened to Jude, is the penultimate book of the New Testament and is attributed to Jude, the brother of James the Just. - Composition :...
1:7. Conservative Christians
Conservative Christianity
Conservative Christianity is a term applied to a number of groups or movements seen as giving priority to traditional Christian beliefs and practices...
note that the book of Leviticus
Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
contains a prohibition against male-male sexuality. Some Biblical scholars interpret Genesis 19:5 as indicating that homosexual behavior led to the destruction of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
. While the Biblical passages mentioned above do not define the institution of marriage, Genesis 2:22-24 reads as follows: "Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man.' For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." This passage is quoted by Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
. Some Christians hold the belief that Romans 1 proscribes all homosexual behavior, regardless of its relational context.
Evangelical opposition
According to Reverend Rick WarrenRick Warren
Richard Duane "Rick" Warren is an American evangelical Christian minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States...
, a pastor of the conservative Evangelical Christian Saddleback
Saddleback Church
Saddleback Church is an evangelical Christian megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, situated in southern Orange County, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The church was founded in 1980 by pastor Rick Warren...
megachurch
Megachurch
A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...
, homosexuals are people who "think they are smarter than God" and who choose "to disobey God's sexual instructions." According to Warren, marriage is an ordinance from God that unites a man and a woman. James Dobson
James Dobson
James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder in 1977 of Focus on the Family , which he led until 2003. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesman for conservative social positions in American public life...
, in Marriage Under Fire and elsewhere, argues that legalization for or passive tolerance of same-sex marriages would widen the definition of families.
Exodus International
Exodus International
Exodus International is a non-profit, interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization founded by Michael Bussee, Gary Cooper, Frank Worthen, Ron Dennis, and Greg Reid...
and others take the view that I Corinthians 6:9-11 offers Christian believers freedom from the sin of homosexual behavior
Sexual orientation change efforts
Sexual orientation change efforts are methods that aim to eliminate a same-sex sexual orientation. They may include behavioral techniques, cognitive behavioral techniques , psychoanalytic techniques, medical approaches, religious and spiritual approaches.The longstanding consensus of the...
. Evangelical author and counselor Joe Dallas
Joe Dallas
Joe Dallas is a prominent figure in the ministry for sexual addiction recovery and reparative therapy.-Biography:Joe Dallas is founder of Genesis Counseling which specializes in "sexual addiction recovery and homosexuality.." Dallas is the keynote speaker at one of the monthly weekend retreats on...
notes that the Biblical passages relating to homosexual behavior uniformly prohibit that behavior.
Other Churches
The Orthodox Church in AmericaOrthodox Church in America
The Orthodox Church in America is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008...
is also opposed to same-sex marriage, as is the Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that children are entitled to be raised by a mother and a father who honor their marital vows with complete fidelity. They believe marriage is not primarily a contract between individuals to ratify their affections and provide for mutual obligations, but are an important part of rearing children. They teach that same-sex marriage undermines the purpose of marriage.
Orthodox Judaism
Judaism, like Christianity, reflects differing views between conservative and liberal adherents. Orthodox JudaismOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
maintains the traditional Jewish bans on both sexual acts and marriage amongst members of the same sex. The Orthodox Union in the United States supported a federal Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.
South-East Asian Theravada Buddhists
Thai Theravada BuddhistsTheravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
, being the more conservative wing of Buddhism are less supportive of gay rights and marriages. Human rights issues have received poor attention in Theravada countries, as the culture is rooted in the belief in the Law of Karma, which is more popular among Thai Buddhists than philosophical and advanced scriptural studies in Buddhism. Many monasteries and monks advocate their lay followers to see the world through the lens of karma, i.e., every person is born to pay back their sins. According to their explanations, all homosexuals and sexual deviants were once offenders of the Third Precept (prohibiting sexual misconduct) - at least in their past lives, and they must pay off their past sins in their present life. Therefore, they deserve all that society gives to them. This belief system creates strong conservative values in Theravada Buddhist culture. For these reasons, it is unlikely that Buddhists will easily approve a law to allow gay marriage. Gay and lesbian activists in Thailand will probably not be as successful as their fellows in European countries or Canada. It is important to note, however, that Theravada Buddhists outside of the South-East Asian Area, are generally more supportive, or neutral, to same-sex marriage, and LGBT rights as a whole.
Islam
The majority of Muslim legal scholars cite the rulings of Muhammad and the story of Lot in Sodom as condemnation of homosexuality. Given that Islam views marriage as an exchange between two parties of protection and security for exclusive sexual and reproductive rights, same-sex marriages cannot be considered legal within the constrains of a Muslim marriage. However, this ruling does not prevent them from occurring.Freedom of religion
One source of controversy is how same-sex marriage affects freedom of religionFreedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
. There is concern that religious communities might not be able to decide what type of marriages to solemnize. Some same-sex married couples have challenged religious organizations that exclude them from access to public facilities maintained by those organizations, such as schools, health care centers, social service agencies, summer camps, homeless shelters, nursing homes, orphanages, retreat houses, community centers, and athletic programs. Opponents of same-sex marriage have expressed concerns that this limits their religious freedoms. For example, conservatives worry that a Christian college would risk its tax-exempt status by refusing to admit a legally married gay couple to married-student housing. Some legal analysts suggest that failure to reflect gay rights within their organizations may cost some religious groups their tax-exempt status. In addition, religious opponents of same-sex marriage express concern about several specific instances in which they contend that religious freedoms have been abridged due to legal recognition of same-sex unions, including (a) an incident in which the Knights of Columbus were sued for declining to allow a same-sex wedding reception on their property; (b) removal of real property tax exemption from a New Jersey Christian organization that did not allow a civil union ceremony to be performed on their property; (c) requirements that judges and justices of the peace perform same-sex wedding ceremonies; and (d) the forced closing of Catholic adoption agencies which refused to place children in the homes of married same-sex partners.
There is also a concern that religious people might be marginalized for their beliefs about marriage. Opponents point to the way Carrie Prejean
Carrie Prejean
Caroline Michelle "Carrie" Prejean Boller is an American model, author, former Miss California USA 2009 and Miss USA 2009 first runner-up. Prejean received national attention in 2009 when she told a pageant judge that marriage should be between a man and a woman; pageant judge and gossip blogger...
was treated during the Miss USA 2009 controversy
Miss USA 2009 controversy
The Miss USA 2009 controversy centered around Miss California USA 2009 Carrie Prejean's answer to a question regarding same-sex marriage. During the ceremony, the five finalists were all asked about political issues such as how to fight domestic violence, whether or not to use taxpayer money to...
. There are also concerns about violence and intimidation against religious people. After a vote to make same-sex marriage illegal in California, same-sex marriage supporters published names of donors to the bill and classified them based on religion and many religious symbols were targeted. Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Dallin H. Oaks
Dallin Harris Oaks is an American attorney, jurist, author, professor, public speaker, and religious leader. Since 1984, he has been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
of the LDS Church likened the attacks against religious people to voter intimidation against black people during the American civil rights movement. Some governments have made special provisions for religious protections within the texts of same-sex marriage laws.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a group that advocates separation of church and state, a legal doctrine interpreted by AU as being enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Mission:The guiding principle of Americans...
argue that by defining marriage as an opposite-sex institution, the state infringes upon the constitutional right to freedom of religion. In this view, religious groups that do wish to celebrate same-sex marriages are discriminated against when government policies do not permit their religious groups to celebrate marriages as they see fit.
External links
- A compilation of religious opinions on same-sex marriage. Views from the Muslim, Mormon, Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant faiths.