By Justin H. Schair
The most dividing question of 2004 has led to the possibility of an active discrimination clause in the U.S. Constitution. The debate over whether or not same-sex couples should be allowed to wed has attracted a balance of rage from both religious conservatives and gays fighting for the right to marry. The issue, no doubt incited by the recent Massachusetts ruling to grant equal marital rights to same-sex couples, has gripped the nation. And the debate has recently drawn in a new contender who says the institution of marriage must be “defended.”
President Bush’s call for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman is absent of American value and tradition. This may merely be a Karl Rove political strategy, attempting to rally the religious-conservative demographic for election time. Whether or not Bush believes such an amendment would actually pass in Congress is irrelevant because of the message it sends. It’s a big deal when the leader of the free world suggests that it is necessary to include a form of discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. We’re talking about transforming America’s most valued document, which defines us as an egalitarian, tolerant and secular country.
This is a highly consequential matter that deserves the skepticism of all those who support a pluralistic and Constitutional America. This is an issue with an impact that deeply resonates not only domestically, but also on an international level. Bush’s contention of discrimination undermines the American argument that all humanity is equal no matter their race, religion, gender or sexuality. Bush’s stand runs perpendicular to the core moral belief of the United States and effectively suggests that the American ideal of equality is contaminated. I disagree.
“The Framers went out of their way to speak in terms that did not discriminate except against enslaved Africans, and these provisions were subsequently amended and removed,” Noah Feldman, senior adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and NYU Law professor, said. “No prior amendment does anything of the kind – this is new stuff.”
This issue is two-part: first there is the discrimination factor and second, religious ideology. Both have no place in the Constitution.
Bush is essentially suggesting that America insert religious value into the Constitution. The debate over gay marriage is a religious value issue, which is why the intelligent conservatives are having trouble finding their battling ground. Without actually saying it, the Constitution supports the liberal argument in its moral intent. As it stands, each state is free to determine their own laws, there’s no stopping it and this is why the far right is reaching for drastic measures. But it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican to see that this change is about religion and modifying the integrity of the entire Constitution over one issue. An issue that has such a minimal impact that it will only affect those who it benefits.
Religious institutions have and always will have, the right to define marriage in their own terms – it’s called freedom and governmental separation from religion. While I believe it to be plain prejudice to exclude homosexuals from the institution of marriage, religious groups are free to make their own decisions. The benefit of a separated church and state serves both sides in this ideological argument.
Conservatives and liberals alike ought not to focus on the marital debate, but rather on defending American principle – regardless of your opinion on gay marriage. The significance of changing the U.S. Constitution to outline the terms of marriage is also a threatening force to our social legitimacy in the world. Who are we to encourage Iraq to build the most tolerant and secular constitution possible when we ourselves our altering ours to discriminate?
If we want a world that is secular, allows women to vote, excludes discrimination and makes freedom of thought and speech the popular trend, then we better start getting used to freedom of marriage at home. It says a lot about us.
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