Monday, April 14, 2008

Repressive reality belies "freedom-to-marry" rhetoric

Colleen Carroll Campbell inthe St Louis Dispatch:
In the land of the free, where we revel in our ability to live, work and worship as we wish, few public policy arguments pack a greater punch than appeals to individual liberty. That fact is not lost on gay-rights activists, who increasingly frame their bid for greater legal rights for same-sex couples in terms of sexual liberty and the "freedom to marry." Lately, this public-relations ploy has hit a roadblock. High-profile clashes among religious groups and gay-rights activists have highlighted the uncomfortable fact that the expansion of sexual liberty for same-sex couples tends to result in a loss of religious liberty for their critics....

But if same-sex marriage becomes the law of the land, religious institutions that hold to the traditional definition of marriage could be regarded in federal law as the equivalent of racist organizations....

Such scenarios should frighten freedom-loving citizens of any creed. That they already are unfolding across America should persuade us to look past the libertarian rationale for same-sex marriage to the troubling hints of religious repression to come. (full article)

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