Civil marriage, same-sex couples, and religious freedom: reflections from a U.S. scholar-activist

ABSTRACT

In responding to three scholars’ analyses of the public role of religion in the cultural debate about same-sex marriage, a U.S. ethicist and social activist examines a case study of a public debate in the State of Maine (U.S.A.) and considers two questions: (1) how to frame a religious argument in favor of marriage equality rather than one based on a liberal rights framework, and (2) given the religiously based opposition to marriage equality, how to critique their discriminatory claims without deprecating religion itself?

KEYWORDS:

• Marriage
• same-sex marriage
• the public role of religion
• discrimination
• religious liberty
• and conscience claims

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Marvin M. Ellison is Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics at Bangor Theological Seminary, Bangor, ME, and Director of Alumni/ae Relations at Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY, USA. He is the author of Making Love Just: Sexual Ethics for Perplexing Times (Fortress Press 2012), Same-Sex Marriage? A Christian Ethical Analysis (2004) and Erotic Justice: A Liberating Ethic of Sexuality (Westminster John Knox Press 1996).

Notes

1. Ellison, “What God Hath Joined.”

2. Cott, Public Vows, 1, 8.

3. Siegel and NeJaime, “Conscience and the Culture Wars,” 2; see also NeJaime and Siegel, “Conscience Wars.”