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700 Club Supports Hype About Marriage Equality

On May 24, 2006, the 700 Club joined the American Family Association in spreading blatant lies about the movement to promote marriage by extending marriage rights to all loving adult couples, heterosexual and homosexual alike.

700 Club political commentator told the show's right wing Christian audience:

"Experts say Christians could be in a heap of trouble if gays get the right to marry. A panel at the Heritage Foundation yesterday said churches and religious organizations could be forced to hire gays and prosecuted if they fire them. Churches would also be forced to conduct marriage ceremonies for gays if this amendment fails."

One part of what Lee Webb should be right. Just as churches and religious organizations should not have the right to discriminate in employment according to gender or race, so they should not have the right to discriminate according to sexual orientation.

The rest, however, is blatantly wrong. There is no concerted push to force churches to conduct marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples, or for anyone else that they don't want to marry, for that matter. I haven't heard any advocates of marriage equality who have said that freedom to marry for all committed couples will strip religious liberty away from anyone. On the contrary, I've heard many point out that, because many religious groups believe in the sanctity of same-sex marriage, it is an attack on religious liberty to deny those religious groups to officiate marriages as they see fit.

It's groups like the 700 Club that are trying to strip away religious liberty. Like the Massachusetts Puritans who hung Quakers for heresy, they're determined to snuff out any dissent from their narrow interpretation of religion. There are many churches that believe in the sanctity of same-sex marriage, but the 700 Club and other groups from the Religious Right don't seem to care about that sort of religious liberty. The 700 Club's version of religious liberty appears to be the kind of liberty under which right wing churches have the right to tell everyone else how to live.

What do advocates for marriage equality actually say on expanding marriage freedom and religious liberty? Here's just a sample:

"Granting marriage rights to same-sex couples would not require Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any other religions to perform these marriages. It would not require churches, synagogues or other religious institutions to permit these ceremonies to be held on their grounds. It would not even require that religious communities discuss the issue. People of faith would remain free to make their own judgments about what makes a marriage made in the eyes of God Ð just as they are today."

"Even after civil marriage becomes available to same-sex couples, churches will retain the right to decide for themselves whether to perform or recognize any marriage, just as they already do for every couple. No court decision or legislative enactment can change the basic tenets of religious faith. For example, some religions will not marry someone who has already been divorced, although the person is free to marry civilly. We respect the right of a faith to decide for itself what marriages it will embrace."

"We respect the fact that debate and discussion continue in many of our religious communities as to the theological and liturgical issues involved. However, we draw on our many faith traditions to arrive at a common conviction: we are resolved that the State should not interfere with same-gender couples who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities, and commitments of civil marriage. We affirm the right to freedom of conscience in this matter: we recognize that the state may not require religious groups to officiate at, or bless, same-gender marriages. By the same token, a denial of civil recognition dishonors the religious convictions of those communities and clergy who do officiate at, and bless, same-gender marriages; the state may not favor the convictions of one religious group over another to deny individuals their fundamental right to marry and have those marriages recognized by civil law."

"Religious definitions of marriage are untouched by opening civil marriage to all couples, regardless of gender. Churches and other religious organizations can still marry people using the tenets of their faith. Inclusiveness in civil marriage will allow all Americans to be able to benefit from stable relationships, and committed partners, something Bush has already stated is an important to the health of our society."

This is just a small sample of affirmations of religious liberty by marriage equality advocates. Thousands of such statements are readily available in online and offline resources.

Pat Robertson and the other people behind the 700 Club don't want the audience of the Christian Broadcasting Network to hear about these statements in support of religious liberty by marriage equality advocates, so they merely pretend that these statements don't exist. Then, to compound that omission, they lie to their audience, claiming that marriage rights activists are trying to strip away religious freedom when, in fact, nothing of the sort is taking place.

I'll now make the same challenge to the 700 Club that I made to Don Wildmon and the right wing American Family Association: Name just one major marriage equality organization that is calling for the religious liberty of churches to be taken away.

Come on. Name one.

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