Friends:
As Christ Church prepares to celebrate and give thanks to God this Sunday for our religious liberties, I have been reflecting on how far the recent law passed in New York State permitting same sex couples to marry had to go to exempt clergy and religious organizations from being compelled to perform such marriages.
The law passed only because strong language was included that insured that a clergy person, or a church, etc., refusing to marry a same-sex couple could not be charged and sanctioned for discrimination.
While this may appear to support the bedrock tenet of American religious liberty--that the State cannot compel the Church to do anything against its own beliefs--I fear that the law's specific language exempting religious organizations only codifies and legitimizes the many church's discrimination toward gays and lesbians.
I don't see that the language was necessary; under our Constitution, the government cannot compel me to perform a rite. However, I do not believe that the Church should be protected from complying with the basic standards and expectations of non-discrimination laws while still being financially supported through its tax-exempt status, which essentially constitutes a government subsidy. Similarly, I don't see how a doctor or religious hospital can withhold contraceptives, or how a religious charity can withhold services to a homeless gay man, or stop an adoption by a lesbian couple. I agree the State cannot compel the clergy or the Church to act in a certain way; I also believe that the State should not sanction religious forms of discrimination not worthy of a free society.
I am not trying to solve any of these complex problems with these brief thoughts. I hope that they remind us that the issues of religious liberty are just as real and dynamic today as they were on July 4, 1776, when the people of Christ Church bravely and dangerously removed King George's name from prayers and worship believing in the religious liberty to do so. Today, the issues are different, but the bedrock concept the same. This Sunday, we give thanks for that religious liberty which is the bedrock of a free society.
Let me know what you think.
Timothy Safford
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