Guest Post by Morbo
The Carpetbagger’s post on the California Supreme Court’s gay-marriage ruling is pretty comprehensive. There is one aspect of the decision, however, that is important and should not be overlooked: Religious Right groups have argued that if same-sex marriage becomes legal, conservative churches will be forced to perform the ceremonies. This is a stupid claim, and the California high court made short work of it.
Here is what the majority said:
“[A]ffording same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the designation of marriage will not impinge upon the religious freedom of any religious organization, official, or any other person; no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs.”
It couldn’t be any clearer, could it?
This argument was always bogus and one of the more pathetic ones the Religious Right made in its quest to “save marriage.” Clergy have always had the right to perform marriage ceremonies only for couples who meet their theological standards. Let’s say you’re a Methodist and you want to marry a Presbyterian. If you go to a Catholic church, the priest will tell you both to convert first or hit the road.
Let’s say you and your intended are both Catholic. The priest can still send you packing if he doesn’t like the way you’ve been behaving. If you two have been living together, chances are he’ll tell you to split up for a certain period before he’ll agree to do the ceremony. If you haven’t been to confession or received communion in a while, be prepared to go. Do you plan to have children? You might be required to promise to raise them in the church. If you don’t like these conditions, too bad. The priest is not required to do anything for you. You are expected to meet his conditions, not the other way around.
A house of worship can even ignore laws that other institutions must scrupulously follow. A public accommodation can’t kick you out because the owner does not like the color of your skin. A church that espoused separation of the races could not only refuse to marry an interracial couple, it could deny them the right to even enter the building.
Priests, pastors, rabbis, etc. can impose these conditions on you because every house of worship has the right to determine its own policies and practices. The First Amendment gives all faiths that right. Religious Right claims to the contrary are scare-mongering and nothing more.
The California Supreme Court ruling is a useful reminder that marriage is, at the end of the day, a civil matter. Of course you are welcome to add a religious gloss to your special day if you like; most people do. But it isn’t required, and each religious faith gets to decide for itself the conditions for performing ceremonies. Those conditions will obviously be theological in nature. For the government, they never can be.