83 faith-based groups urge Senators to reject same-sex marriage bill

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A coalition of 83 conservative Christian and faith-based groups have written to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, imploring Senators to oppose a bill just approved by the House that would ensure same-sex marriage remains legal if the Supreme Court reverses its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, Christian Headlines (CH) reports.

The Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404) was passed not only with full Democratic support but also with the support of 47 GOP House members.

H.R. 8404 provides statutory authority for same-sex and interracial marriages, a congressional website statement explains.

“Specifically, the bill repeals and replaces provisions that define, for purposes of federal law, marriage as between a man and a woman and spouse as a person of the opposite sex with provisions that recognize any marriage that is valid under state law,” the Congress statement says.

“The bill also repeals and replaces provisions that do not require states to recognize same-sex marriages from other states with provisions that prohibit the denial of full faith and credit or any right or claim relating to out-of-state marriages on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. (The Supreme Court held that state laws barring same-sex marriages were unconstitutional in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015; the Court held that state laws barring interracial marriages were unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia in 1967.) The bill allows the Department of Justice to bring a civil action and establishes a private right of action for violations.”

Asserting that the Respect for Marriage Act is “an attack on millions of Americans,” the signatories to the letter include representatives of Alliance Defending Freedom, Focus on the Family, the Heritage Foundation, the Ethics & Public Policy Center, Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and R. Albert Mohler Jr. of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

According to the signatories, the bill contains “sweeping language” and “new and broad enforcement mechanisms” which will lead to increased federal action and litigation against those who proclaim marriage is between one man and one woman.

“Justice Alito was right when he predicted the Obergefell decision would ‘be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy.’ We are seeing this play out more and more against those who decline to openly embrace extreme views regarding marriage and human sexuality,” the letter says.

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