Gay Marriage in Theology, Law and Politics

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William Stacy Johnson, Princeton Theological Seminary
David Blankenhorn, Institute for American Values
Kerry Healey, Former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
Cheryl Jacques, Brody, Hardoon, Perkins听& Kesten, LLP
Erik Owens, Boston College (moderator)

Date:听April 22, 2008

Listen to Panel Discussion

Abstract

Gay marriage is much debated as a local and national issue today, but rarely is it given the conscientious and rigorous attention that such a hotly contested issue deserves.听 This panel discussion aims at a more complete engagement with the theological, political and legal complexities surrounding gay marriage in the wake of (but not exclusively attentive to) Massachusetts' legalization of gay marriage in 2004.

Speaker Bios

William Stacy Johnson

William Stacy Johnson听is Princeton Theological Seminary鈥檚 Arthur M. Adams Associate Professor of Systematic Theology. An ordained Presbyterian minister and a lawyer, he earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University, his J.D. from Wake Forest University, and his M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary and the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia.

He served for four years as theologian-in-residence of Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, and was the first theologian-in-residence at First Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas. For five years he worked as a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA)鈥檚 Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church.

In his recent book听A Time to Embrace, Prof. Johnson presents an analysis of the religious, legal and political stakes in the debates over gay marriage, civil unions, and the place of committed gay couples in a democratic society.

The book begins by laying out the church鈥檚 seven different responses to gay marriage.听 It then moves on to gay rights in recent court battles, different types of gay marriage and civil union arrangements and, finally, suggests how deliberative democracy can create a society in which all citizens can rely on principles of equality and liberty.

David Blankenhorn

David Blankenhorn听is founder and president of the Institute for American Values, a private, nonpartisan organization devoted to contributing intellectually to the renewal of marriage and family life and the sources of competence, character and citizenship in the United States.

Mr. Blankenhorn has co-edited five books:听Rebuilding the Nest: A New Commitment to the American Family听(1990);听Seedbeds of Virtue: Sources of Competence, Character, and Citizenship in American Society听(1995);听Promises to Keep: Decline and Renewal of Marriage in America听(1996);听The Fatherhood Movement听(1999); 补苍诲听The Book of Marriage: The Wisest Answers to the Toughest Questions听(2001) and is the author of听The Future of Marriage听(2007)

Mr. Blankenhorn helped to found the National Fatherhood Initiative and he serves on the board of directors of the National Parenting Association.听 His articles have appeared in the听New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Public Interest, First Things听补苍诲听Christianity Today, and he has been featured on programs such as听Oprah, 20/20, Eye to Eye, CBS This Morning, The Today Show, Charlie Rose, A情色空间 Evening News, Equal Time,听补苍诲听C-SPAN's Washington Perspectives.

Kerry Healey

Kerry Healey听graduated from Harvard College in 1982 and earned her Ph.D. in political science and law from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. In 1985, Dr. Healey was a visiting researcher in the International and Comparative Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School.听 In 2001, Dr. Healey was elected Chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party.听 From 2003-2007, Dr. Healey served as Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.听 In the spring of 2007, Dr. Healey was a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government Institute of Politics.

As Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Healey assumed a broad range of responsibilities.听 These included leading the administrations' successful efforts to strengthen drunken driving penalties, establish a witness protection and gang violence prevention program, increase penalties and supervision for sex offenders, and increase protections for victims of child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence.

As a private citizen, Dr. Healey worked as a law and public safety consultant at Abt Associates, Inc., in Cambridge, MA, conducting research for the U.S. Department of Justice related to child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, gang violence, victim and witness intimidation and the prosecution of drug crimes.

Cheryl Jacques

Cheryl Jacques听is a national leader in the gay civil rights movement who writes and speaks on issues of diversity, civil rights and politics.听 She is Of Counsel to the Boston-based law firm of Brody, Hardoon, Perkins and Kesten, and is a consultant on diversity issues to corporations and non-profit organizations.听 Jacques is an Adjunct Professor at Suffolk University Law School and the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management.听 She is also a Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard鈥檚 Kennedy School of Government.

Jacques formerly served as president and executive director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and led HRC through the successful defeat of the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment.听 Jacques took the helm of HRC after serving nearly a dozen years in the Massachusetts State Senate, where she was a leader on civil rights and equality in the Massachusetts Legislature. Jacques successfully pushed for the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Commonwealth鈥檚 Hate Crimes Statute and was an outspoken advocate for the needs of gay and lesbian youth in Massachusetts.听 In 2002, Jacques lead a bi-partisan coalition of legislators to defeat the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in Massachusetts.

Erik Owens

Erik Owens听is Assistant Director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life,听and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theology at Boston College. He earned his Ph.D. in religious ethics at the University of Chicago, an M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. from Duke University. His research explores a variety of intersections between religion and public life, with particular attention to the challenge of fostering the common good of a religiously diverse society.听 His scholarship is fundamentally interdisciplinary, bridging the fields of theological ethics, political philosophy, law, education, and public policy. Currently at work on a book about civic education and religious freedom in American public schools,听he is also the co-editor of three books:听Gambling and the American Moral Landscape听(forthcoming 2009, with Alan Wolfe),听(2004) 补苍诲听(2003). Before joining the Boisi Center, Owens received research fellowships from the Spencer Foundation and the University of Virginia鈥檚 Center on Religion and Democracy; taught at the University of Chicago and DePaul University; and worked for the Pew Forum on Religion听and Public Life, as well as the City of Chicago鈥檚 Board of Ethics.

Event Photos

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From left to right: Erik Owens, William Stacy Johnson, David Blakenhorn, Cheryl Jacques, Kerry Healey

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Erik Owens

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William Stacy Johnson

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David Blankenhorn

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Cheryl Jacques

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Kerry Healey

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From left to right: William Stacy Johnson, David Blakenhorn, Cheryl Jacques, Kerry Healey (Photos by Kerry Burke, 情色空间 Media Technology Services)

Event Recap

The Boisi Center鈥檚 final event of the academic year brought a robust crowd on April 22 to a panel discussion on 鈥淕ay Marriage in Theology, Law and Politics.鈥 The panel took stock of the issue four years after Massachusetts became the first鈥攁nd still the only鈥攕tate in the U.S. to legalize gay marriage. Erik Owens moderated the vigorous discussion that followed the speakers鈥 opening remarks.

William Stacy Johnson, a professor of systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, began the panel by describing seven distinct theological approaches to gay marriage clustered into categories of 鈥渘on-affirming,鈥 鈥渨elcoming and affirming,鈥 and 鈥渨elcoming, affirming and ordering鈥 viewpoints, the last being his favored position. Drawing upon his recent book A Time to Embrace, Johnson sought to dispel the simplistic rhetoric that allows one to be only 鈥渇or鈥 or 鈥渁gainst鈥 gay marriage, arguing instead that churches can move toward reconciliation on this issue only when they recognize the rich diversity of such perspectives within their faith communities.

David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values, argued that although heterosexual and homosexual relationships have equal value, marriage is an institution rightly reserved for one man and one woman. Marriage, he said, serves not simply the private romantic function of bonding two adults but also the more important public function of protecting and nurturing children, who have a natural right to be raised by their biological parents. Drawing upon recent social scientific data, he cited an inverse correlation between support for traditional marriage and support for gay marriage, and argued that legalizing the latter would further diminish the prochild core value of traditional marriage.

Cheryl Jacques, former Massachusetts state senator and former president of the Human Rights Campaign, contextualized the movement for gay marriage as part of the ongoing civil rights struggle in this country. Gays and lesbians, she argued, face discrimination today akin to past efforts to marginalize women, African-Americans, and other ethnic and religious minorities. Members of these groups simply want and deserve equality; they should have equal rights, not special rights.

The final speaker was Kerry Healey, who served as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts when the state supreme court legalized gay marriage in 2004. Had the legislature acted on the increasing public pressure to grant modest legal rights to gay relationships (e.g. regarding medical visits and inheritance), she noted, the state supreme court would not have intervened with a decree to sanction full marriage rights. This act of judicial activism went well beyond the incremental steps most citizens favored, and led to years of divisiveness and acrimony. Perhaps the most appropriate solution for church and state alike, she suggested, would be for the state to grant only civil unions (to heterosexual and homosexual couples). Marriage would then be the exclusive province of religious communities, which could define it in their own terms.

Read More

Article:
听by David Blankenhorn and John Rauch,听New York Times, February 22, 2009

Books:听听by William Stacy Johnson
听听听听Excerpt (chart):听"Same-Gender Relationships in the Church: Seven Theological Viewpoints"
听by David Blankenhorn
听by Andrew Sullivan

Websites:


听 This issue page from The Pew Forum, a non-partisan, non-advocacy organization
听 that听takes no position on policy debates, offers an excellent collection of legal, political
听 and theological resources about the听gay marriage debate.

听Advocates and Advocacy Groups:
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Official Statements of Religious Organizations:Many of these links were assembled by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (see above).

Roman Catholic Church:
听 听听Congregation for听the Doctrine of the Faith:
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听听听 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
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Other Documents:

听(Proposed) -听Library of Congress
听- signed by President Bill Clinton in听1996
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decision (2004)