RENWL

Saying that Prop 8’s defeat could impact religious freedoms, religious groups backed by the American Defense Fund (ADF) are now claiming that religion’s role in the Prop 8 trial more of a centerpiece scapegoat used by Prop 8 foe litigation as “the chief obstacle for gay and lesbian political progress,” as was stated during the trial by a witness for the plaintiffs.

According to an article in the Baptist Press, conservative leaders are warning that what took place in the trial is only a preview of how supporters of “gay marriage” will cast conservative Christians if Prop 8 is overturned and “gay marriage” is legalized nationwide. Those leaders say backers of “gay marriage” will try to marginalize Christians by comparing them to the 1950s and ’60s opponents of civil rights.

“They were trying to show that religions during the Prop 8 campaign were pandering to prejudicial stereotypes to motivate the voters,” Jordan Lorence, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, told Baptist Press. ADF attorneys have worked to uphold Prop 8, and Lorence attended the trial. “That feeds the fires that those who take an orthodox Christian view on the definition of marriage are the equivalent of Ku Klux Klan bigots that need to be driven to the margins of our society.”

The Baptist Press article uses these examples to support Lorence’s claims:

– On the third day of the trial, San Francisco city attorney Therese Stewart asked Yale University history professor George Chauncey to read portions of Southern Baptist resolutions on “gay marriage” from 2003 and 2008, as well as a Vatican document on the subject from 2003. After asking Chauncey to assume that such religious beliefs are sincerely held, Stewart asked, “During the battles over segregation and interracial marriage, did people hold sincere religious beliefs that were rooted in prejudice?” Chauncey answered “yes” and then continued, “Many people in the South deeply believed that interracial marriage was against God’s will. I don’t question their sincerity. I believe, though, that that reflects the larger system of prejudices that had shaped their understanding of the world.”

– On the trial’s seventh day, Stanford University political science professor Gary Segura, a witness for the plaintiffs, said he thought that “religion is the chief obstacle for gay and lesbian political progress, and it’s the chief obstacle for a couple of reasons.” Among those reasons, he said, “Biblical condemnation of homosexuality … on a regular basis to a huge percentage of the public makes the political ground, the political opportunity structure very hostile to gay interests.”

In summarizing what to expect for Christians and their views on gay marriage in the courtrooms across the country, Lorence stated:

“We are not going to have a wonderful pluralistic nirvana of diversity,” he said. “We are going to have something harsh that’s similar to a regime … that imposes punishments on those who criticize or blaspheme their doctrines.”

For the full article go to the following link:

The Baptist Press: Prop 8 ruling could impact religious freedoms

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