Constitutional Amendment Banning Same Sex Marriage Denies Religious Freedom
President Bush has claimed, in calling for a constitutional amendment that would limit the definition of marriage, he will preserve "the cultural, religious and natural roots" of marriage. Mr. Bush, in the name of good will and decency, claims to understand what all religion has to say about marriage, and what is right for all religious and moral people.
But President Bush does not speak for all Americans. He does not speak for all people of faith. He does not speak for all religious traditions. I am an American citizen. I am a religious person. I am a lesbian and I am a rabbi. My religion teaches that every person, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and straight, is created in the image of God. It teaches that love between people is holy.
Demanding that marriage be defined as only between one man and one woman does more than limit the civil rights of gay and lesbian people. It denies us religious freedom as well.
Mr. Bush is entitled to his personal religious beliefs. But in our country, which respects religious freedom as a core American value, Mr. Bush is not entitled to codify his religious beliefs into the constitution. Mr. Bush seeks to deny me as a rabbi the right to perform the marriage of couple who comes before me to sanctify their love. By choosing only to hear the voices of the radical religious right in this country, Mr. Bush denies the rights of other religious leaders and religious communities to be heard and to express our religious beliefs and practices.
When Mr. Bush speaks of traditional family values based on Biblical values, does he also mean to say that he supports polygamy—which is the fundamental traditional family of the Bible? When Mr. Bush speaks of traditional family values based on Biblical values, does he also mean to say that he supports rape as means of acquiring a woman—which is what the Bible supports?
Mr. Bush says that "our government should respect every person and protect the institution of marriage."
To protect religion in this country is not to protect the ability of the religious right to speak in the name of all that is sacred.
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum
March 1, 2004