Countering
conservative Christians' stronghold on the issue of same-sex
marriage, an interfaith coalition of Protestant, Jewish,
Sikh, and Unitarian Universalist clergy and lay
leaders is orchestrating a petition drive in
opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment. Clergy
for Fairness, which represents some 1,600 faith leaders,
announced the effort at a press conference in
Washington, D.C., Monday, The New York Times reports.
''When one group is singled out for
discrimination, it's not long before other groups will
be singled out too,'' Rabbi Craig Axler of Congregation
Beth Or in Maple Glen, Pa., said at the press conference,
according to the Times. ''It's the first time
we see the Constitution in danger of enshrining
discrimination against one party, one class, and to remain
silent as a Jew is unconscionable.''
That sentiment was echoed by the 34 other
representatives for Clergy for Fairness present at the
event. Although they represented different faiths and
said they have differing opinions on homosexuality and
same-sex marriage, they all decried Congress's attempt
to write discrimination against gays into the U.S. Constitution.
At the group's Web site, visitors can print out
postcards to send to their members of Congress to
register their opposition to the marriage amendment,
which is scheduled to come up for a Senate vote the week of
June 5. The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last
week in a party-line vote, after a closed-door hearing
that sent Democratic senator Russ Feingold of
Wisconsin fleeing in disgust. (The Advocate)
