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December 06, 2005
Letter to the Editor: Separation but not censorship
I am writing this article directly in response to David Lueth’s opinion piece published on Nov. 22 entitled
“Religion and Politics should not mix.” While I understand the point Mr. Lueth is trying to get across, what he advocates also violates the First Amendment and is therefore no better than what he is against. Before I begin I would like to state for the record that I am against a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages, and this is not intended to gay bash or support what the priests are saying, just that they ought to be able to say it.
While it is perfectly understandable to be against what the “sizable group of religious leaders” is advocating, Mr. Lueth goes beyond this and argues that these churches and their leaders should not even be allowed to say it. Perhaps a lesson in the American political system and the process of passing laws is in order. Every person obviously holds his or her own political beliefs and wishes to see what they believe become law. For example, Mr. Lueth stands in favor of gay marriages and probably wishes to see them legalized. He has every right to hold this belief, just like the priests have every right to hold the beliefs they do. Often times people sharing similar beliefs will organize together and lobby to change the law, and this is perfectly legal and protected by the First Amendment. That is all that these priests have done, devised a strategy to lobby to change the constitution of the state of Minnesota.
The bottom line is that these priests are not “attempting to impose a Taliban- style theocracy in this state and in this country,” nor are they “forcing their beliefs on others who do not share them.” They are merely lobbying for what they believe, just like private citizens and interest groups do on a daily basis in the American political arena. It shouldn’t matter where these ideas come from, so the fact that they are from a group of religious leaders is irrelevant. Under Mr. Lueth’s logic, any form of lobbying is an attempt to force ideals and beliefs upon others who do not share them because the ideas may come from a minority.
Being as this is a democracy, these priests are not magically passing laws as their hearts’ desire. A process exists that determines the will of the people. It’s called an election, and to change the constitution, one is required.
These are their beliefs and they deserve to be heard, regardless of what Mr. Lueth thinks is right and wrong. To deny them the right to give their opinion and lobby for what they believe is what would truly create a Taliban style state government. Every person is entitled to his or her own opinion. If the Church was in charge of the government, that’s one thing. If the government banned gay marriages, citing, “we’re doing this because the Christian churches told us to,” it’s a problem. That sort of thing must be avoided, but that is not what is happening. I am in favor of separation of church and state, but to censor a group simply because it’s a church is absurd and unconstitutional. All these religious leaders are doing is participating in the American political process and letting their voices be heard.
-Jay Fenton, ‘08
Posted by msveum at December 6, 2005 11:49 AM
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