The Relationship Between Support of Same-Sex Marriage and Religion
Theresa Lonetti
Professor Arshad Ali
August 14, 2015
Quite recently on June 26th, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court decided that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right that must be legalized and upheld in all 50 states. Previous to this decision thirteen states had same-sex marriage bans in place, and eight more were awaiting appeals to overturn legislation banning same-sex marriage bans. That makes 21 states out of 50 that do not support same-sex marriage. In preparation for the likely decision by the Supreme Court states like Michigan passed laws banning public figures like judges from officiating marriages forcing anyone seeking that
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If these statements are proven to be true, then there is a direct relationship between support for gay marriage and the level of a person’s religiosity.
A Literature Review of the Correlation between Support for Same Sex Marriage and Religiosity There is still division and debate by academics, government officials, and American citizens on whether or not same sex marriage is a constitutional right, even with the recent decision by the Supreme Court. America is divided and often times religion is used to explain away this division as the root cause of opposition to same-sex marriage. In this still developing field, there is disagreement on the factors that define support or lack thereof for gay marriage. The objective of this paper is to present the foundational literature on the subject of same-sex marriage and explain some of the alternative explanations to lack of support of gay marriage. The research seeks to add to the current body of knowledge by helping to enforce the relationship between support for gay marriage and the religiosity of an individual, with the ultimate goal of proving that there is a relationship and it is a negative one.
According to the research of many academics in this field, the issue of same-sex marriage is still at the forefront of politics in this country today, and many state legislatures and citizens have voted or are voting on laws
As noted, the technical legal question to be addressed is whether the federal government or individual states have the right to legalize or prohibit same-sex marriage. To claim that this exact question is increasingly a public concern is to understate the issue. It may be ironic but, as the controversy has grown in recent years, there seems to be more of a demand from the society that the issue be settled once and for all, and for that eyes turn to federal authority. This came to a head in the presidential campaigns of 2013, as same-sex marriage became a “hot button” issue actually defining voter sympathies as either liberal or conservative (Levendusky 42). In plain terms, the Mitt Romney campaign directly appealed to conservative populations opposed to, or perceived as opposed to, gay marriage; the Obama reelection efforts not unexpectedly countered this with an appeal to more liberal factions, which typically favor same-sex unions. The differences in approach aside, the clear fact remains that the nation was emphatically looking to its highest leadership to make a decision, which in turn would lead to federal recognition or denial of same-sex marriage.
Several factors play an important role in the hypothesis that Christians would disagree with same-sex marriage. Regarding the poll, respondents were asked to pick the choice that best represented their stance on the legality of same-sex marriage. Respondents could choose from the following answers: “strongly disagree”, “somewhat disagree”, “indifferent”, “somewhat agree”, “strongly agree”, and “undecided”. The group the hypothesis pertains to are the people who said “strongly disagree” or “disagree”. The first piece of evidence that would lead one to believe that Christians would show, to a certain degree, disagreement with legalizing same-sex marriage involves important passages in their holy book, the Bible. The Bible contains passages that both deem homosexuality as sinful, as well as affirm only marriage between man and woman. One passage that does an adequate job of displaying a view that homosexuality is sinful is located in Leviticus, which reads, “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is
Among young influential minds, The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington DC. evoked foster care placement to prevent the ability of children being placed in homosexual homes. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 16 states, “Men and women of full age, without any limitation...have the right to marry...found a family... entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution…” (UDHR, 1948). Not defending the ability to same-sex marriage. In New Jersey a Methodist Ocean Grove Camp declined a Civil Union Ceremony. Religious beliefs argue that in the bible God does not promote or support gay marriage. Supporting their reasons in the bible, as stated by God, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither...nor homosexuals...will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1st Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV)). Debates continue in several schools. At a school in Florida a social studies teacher posted a comment on facebook criticizing same-sex marriage. In other schools teachers dismissed students involved in homosexual relationships claiming to be uncomfortable. Therefore, many will argue the several consequences to allowing same-sex marriage, but the inability to see past the discrimination among Americans prevent a growth in our society. Positivity can be created through Americans creating a
Gay marriage is not the only issue that is being discussed throughout America involving the gay community. In a particular study done by USA Today, results showed that when Americans were asked if they think homosexual relationships between consenting adults should be legal, 46% answered yes (“USA Today” 6). However, when asked if they would then favor a law that would allow homosexuals to get married, only 24% were in favor (6). This survey also showed the differences of peoples’ ideas based on if they attended church or not (6). The results showed that 73% of Americans who attend church weekly oppose the legalization of gay marriage and only 38% of those who don’t attend church oppose legalization (6). These results show that for many Americans, marriage is a religious agreement, but for many others, marriage is a right that should be given to all who want to partake in it.
Same-sex couples are becoming increasingly popular in our society and advocates have been pushing for social justice to abolish sexual discrimination. America has been misled by opponents of the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts who claim a business' right to religious freedom to turn away gay customers is discrimination and bigotry, and we need to return to the biblical view of homosexuality as what it really is: sin. This paper will cover religious freedom and the advancement of gay rights in society today as it pertains to the opposing arguments of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed recently in Indiana.
For the past 3 decades the views surrounding marriage has undergone a great deal of change (Lennox, 2015, p. 1101). This shift is due to the continual discussion of gay marriage. The interplay of religion and politics has led for much controversy. In the United States, the use of Christian and Jewish biblical texts are the main sources drawn upon for opposition, but have also been used as a supportive means of equality. Beyond the religious there are also psychological and physical health arguments, as well as civil rights arguments. Same sex marriage is examined through different paradigms, thus giving rise to religious, political/legal, and religious arguments surrounding the legalization of this institution for gay and lesbian couples.
In recent years, the debate over same-sex marriage has grown into a nationwide controversy, reverberating into the halls of congress, at the white house, in dozens of state and legislature and courtrooms, and in the rhetoric of election campaigns at both the national and state levels. As the debate rages on, the American religious community remains deeply divided over the issue, and over the morality of homosexuality. The debate has grown from an issue that occasionally arose in a few states to a national and even worldwide controversy.
There are roughly 313,900,000 people living in the United States and within those people roughly 9,000,000 people categorize as either lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (gates). This statistic was calculated throughout many surveys issued in 2010 throughout all states in the United States. These statistics were presented in an article written by Gary J. Gates in April of 2011. Now that it is currently almost the year 2014 the number of homosexuals have only risen in the past few years due to the legalization of same sex marriage throughout some states. Same sex marriage is becoming a well-known controversy in the United States due to complete opposite opinions. Society often examines the changes throughout the years in terms of consequences rather than in benefits. The legalization of same sex marriage is often portrayed as consequential to society however when examined more closely there would be more benefits to society if this controversy was viewed in terms of positive change. Benefits society could achieve from legalization of same sex marriage are providing new economic and business opportunities, and encouraging equal opportunity and a non-discriminatory society.
There are many controversies surrounding today's world, such as abortion, animal testing, and social reform issues. It seems that no one can come to a common agreement on the legitimacy of these topics. Personal characteristics, such as upbringing, culture, religion and ethnicity, all play a role in determining one's feelings on a given controversial issue. However, one of the most protested and discussed issues in current political debate is same-sex marriage. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, only hard pressed arguments expressing speculation regarding supposed outcomes, benefits and possible tribulations that would come along with the endorsement of gay marriage. Such ideas are shown
The political aspects of whether same-sex couples should be allowed to federal and government recognized marriages are a very complex issue. There are basically two sides to the political argument of whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. On one side are the liberals who feel that marriage is a civil right that should be denied based on the basis of a person's sexual orientation. On the other side you have conservatives who feel that marriage is an institution in which should only constitute one man and one woman. In this report we are going to examine how the issue of same-sex marriages are affecting our current political environment, how politics is affecting the movement for
Same sex- marriage is still the topic of many peoples conversation across the country. Citizens, divided by politic party, are very passionate about how they feel about it. The president didn’t approve of it at first, but now he finally accepts same- sex marriage, the Judicial System uses its power to dictate to the States, forcing them to accept same- sex marriage. Both houses of Congress continue to debate what marriage means.
We compared several elements of our survey such as level of religion to age, and age range and how many supported gay marriage, etc. We were able to make some strong correlations between different questions that supported our hypothesis. We found that 8/15 who said being gay and gay marriage was not okay under any circumstances regarded themselves as highly religious. From this, we came to the conclusion that religion was an important role in how one felt about gay marriage because in most religions, marriage is typically between a man and a woman. We suspected that the level of religious beliefs were also influenced by age. Graph 1 illustrates the level of religion and the age groups of our participants. Older generations, 35+ rarely answered they were neutral or not religious. On the other hand, those in the 1-18 age group mostly considered them neutral or not religious. As a group, we found this evidence in support of our hypothesis that younger generations are more accepting of gay marriage. Based on the fact that older generations seems to be more religious, and a majority of religious people are uncomfortable with gay marriage, it was safe to assume that younger generations who are not involved in religious practices are free to make their own choices not based on religious beliefs. We also compared age groups and what each participant identified as. This was an interesting comparison. We found that ages 1-34 seemed be more sexually diverse. Graph 2 in the appendix illustrates our findings. As the graph shows, there are many more gay, bisexual, and lesbian people in the younger generation than there was in older generations. We predict this is because ages 1-34 are more accepting of gay couples and gay marriage so people feel more comfortable coming out. Over 40 years ago, being homosexual was literally considered a mental disorder, so although people may have had homosexual urges, they usually suppressed them and
Sullivan (2002) and Bennett (2002) both use religious assertions to explain their views on same-sex marriages. Sullivan (2002) says that
On the other hand, in “Support for Homosexuals’ Civil Liberties”, the author states “traditional gender role attitudes and support for homosexuals’ civil liberties are found to negatively co-vary over time.” Religious attitudes differ in both their approaches to the roles of men and women in family settings and their approach towards homosexuality. The author explains that typical household is a male, who
As we know, same-sex marriage has been discussed and argued for a long time. Within the controversial topic of gay rights, there’s no area more controversial than same-sex marriage. And all of us ask ourselves if same-sex marriage should be legal or not. But the fact is that we have to start thinking about it as a moral and religious topic. The government shouldn’t legalize the same-sex marriage because the