Several religious organizations in Utah have filed an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief supporting Utah’s definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.
The 52 page document, dated February 10, includes support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the National Association of Evangelists, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Lutheran Church, and allows them a chance to offer an opinion to the court even though they are not a party to the case.
The amicus explains that as part of its ministries, these organization, for centuries, have taken part in marriage ceremonies and have worked to strengthen and ensure the success of these marriages. Additionally, in their ministering roles, these organizations have seen and dealt “daily with the devastating effect of out-of-wedlock births, failed marriages, and the general decline of the venerable husband-wife marriage institution.”
Looking at the morality of same-sex marriage, the brief contends that even scientific research clearly supports marriage between a man and a woman as the more healthy union for rearing children, strengthening society and protecting the republic process the United States was founded upon.
The brief states that “in truth, we support the husband-wife definition of marriage because we believe it is right and good for children, families, and society. Our respective faith traditions teach us that truth. But so do reason, long experience, and social fact.”
These organizations also emphasize the moral teachings of their doctrines with regards to same-sex marriage. “Our respective religious doctrines hold that marriage between a man and a woman is sanctioned by God as the right and best setting for bearing and raising children.”
Further the amicus states that while doctrines focus on strengthening opposite-sex marriages, seldom do these doctrines focus on homosexuality. “Faith communities and religious organizations have a long history of upholding traditional marriage for reasons that have nothing to do with homosexuality. Their support for husband-wife marriage precedes by centuries the very idea of same-sex marriage. Many of this Nation’s prominent faith traditions have rich religious narratives that extol the personal, familial, and social virtues of traditional marriage while
barely mentioning homosexuality.”
The brief cites 36 court case where the issue of morality was used as a basis for the ultimate court decision, including a 2006 case in New York City in which same-sex couples challenged the city’s Domestic Relations Law (DRL) and the state Department of Health, suing for the right to have their unions recognized. The case ultimately made its way to the state’s Supreme Court where DRL and the definition of marriage between a man and a woman, was upheld.
In the case Hernandez vs Robles, the court found that, “the idea that same-sex marriage is ever possible is a relatively new one. Until a few decades ago, it was an accepted truth for almost everyone who ever lived, in any society in which marriage existed, that there could be marriages only between participants of different sex. A court should not lightly conclude that everyone who held this belief was irrational, ignorant or bigoted.”
As part of its findings, the court also acknowledged that “it was more important to promote stability, and to avoid instability, in opposite-sex than in same-sex relationship, and that it was better, other things being equal, for children to grow up with both a mother and a father.”
The religious brief filed in the Amendment 3 case also cites four Constitutional provisions and rules, and 25 authorities on the moral validity of marriage between a man and a woman that range from scientific research to the Holy Bible, and include a letter from Susan B Anthony, and speeches from Martin Luther King, Jr., and President Barack Obama.
One speech in particular the brief highlights is one given by President Obama during the 2006 Call to Renewal conference. In his speech, Obama spoke of politicians who “try to avoid the conversation about religious values altogether, fearful of offending anyone and claiming that – regardless of our personal beliefs – constitutional principles tie our hands.”
However, Obama statesdthat “secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryant, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King – indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history – were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. So to say that men and women should not inject their personal morality into public policy debates is a practical absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality.”
While politician and scholars try to disprove the morality argument against same-sex marriage, many religious leaders continue to minister to their congregations and use their deeply rooted religious beliefs to keep followers focused on believing and fighting for those moral and right doctrines.
In a recent speech at the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Evangelist, Dr. Ravi Zacharias, founder and president of the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, said, “we talk so much about one’s rights that we talk so little about what is actually right.”
“We have lost our moorings. We live beyond our moral means and our fiscal means and spiritual means.” Zacharias stressed the importance having “moral soil” is to families, especially our children, so that they may flourish and have more opportunities open to them, opportunities to learn and focus on art and academics rather than worrying over moral injustices.
Leaders of the Southern Baptist church, also have urged its members to oppose homosexual relationships. During a convention, Southern Baptist Church President, Bryant Wright, stated that there wasn’t a “need to apologize for teaching sexual purity. Our only authority for expressing our faith is the word of God, and all through the word is sexual purity for God’s people... from our understanding of Scripture, that is taught in the Old and the New Testaments.”
The LDS Church continually confirms its stance on same-sex marriage. On its official website, the church states that “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affirms the centrality of doctrines relating to human sexuality and gender as well as the sanctity and significance of marriage as the union of a man and a woman.”
In a statement released in January 2014, the LDS again reaffirmed its stance stating “"As we face this and other issues of our time, we encourage all to bear in mind our Heavenly Father's purposes in creating the earth and providing for our mortal birth and experience here as His children," the statement says. "Marriage between a man and a woman was instituted by God and is central to His plan for His children and for the well-being of society.”
While these religious organizations do not sanction same-sex marriage, each continue to urge congregations to show and love towards members of the LGBT community.
“Our faith communities bear no ill will toward same-sex couples,” the amicus states.
In December of last year, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby declared Utah’s Amendment 3, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman, unconstitutional, opening the door for hundreds of same-sex couples to marry before the Utah Supreme Court issued a stay, while the State of Utah appeals the decision.
