Do you think President Bush supports the
constitutional separation of church and state? Think again. Do
not blindly accept that President Bush promotes a purely
secular government.
As part of his current crusade against same-sex marriage, Bush
claimed, in a written statement on Feb. 4, “We must do what
is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage.”
According to the Christian Right, marriage is a holy union. But in
legal terms, marriage is defined as a civic institution.
President Bush’s religious aversion to same-sex
marriage violates the First Amendment’s separation of church
and state. The president should leave his religious browbeating and
sermonizing in his personal living quarters.
Advocates for the president, such as the Vatican and Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), seem to think religion offers
acceptable parameters for government policy. This includes the
ethics and question of same-sex marriage.
Similarly, faith-based groups at UCLA struggle with the extent
to which religion should reach into politics. And, for some, it is
true their religious lifestyles are paramount to their identities
““ political and personal.
Rabbi Benzion Klatzko, the director and rabbi of UCLA’s
Jewish Awareness Movement, connects his religion to his thoughts on
same-sex marriage. “I believe that the Torah is divine and
that, regardless of how the world changes, the Torah’s value
remains consistent and constant,” he said. “If you
believe in the morals of the Torah, you also believe that the
government can’t sanctify gay marriage. But the government
shouldn’t even be involved with the issue in the first
place.”
Individuals are guaranteed the right to hold any religious
opinion ““ or lack thereof.
However, presidents cannot simply incorporate their religious
whims or leanings into federal law. Rather, President Bush holds a
greater responsibility to the American public as the highest
official in our secular government. Therefore, his political
influence demands he embrace the ideals of our nation, namely the
separation between church and state.
The First Amendment clearly states, “Congress shall make
no law respecting the establishment of religion.” Meanwhile,
Article VI, Section 3 explains that “no religious test should
ever be required to any office or public trust under the United
States.”
Unfortunately, not all politicians wish to distance themselves
from religion. In fact, churches are now actively attempting to
persuade politicians to vote against same-sex laws. In July 2003,
the Vatican launched a global campaign against same-sex marriage.
It warned Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was
“gravely immoral,” adding it was the moral duty of the
Catholic politician to oppose such laws. The Vatican’s
orthodoxy watchdog group, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, even issued a 12-page set of guidelines which stated,
“Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the
natural moral law.”
And now ardent politicians are fighting on the front lines,
working to prevent same-sex marriages. For example, Frist
described marriage as a “sacrament,” while White House
Press Secretary Scott McCellan called it a “sacred
institution.”
Bush is not alone in his religious struggle. “President
Bush,” says Father Alan Oakes, CSP, director of University
Catholic Center at UCLA, “has a theological
presidency.”
Ironically and simultaneously, Bush has made great efforts to
ensure secular leadership in the Middle East. In April 2003, NBC
News anchor Tom Brokaw asked President Bush about the chance for an
Islamic government in post-war Iraq. The president said in
response, “What I would like to see is a government where
church and state are separated.” This separation of church
and state is what many U.S. citizens consider the most fundamental
principle of our constitutional government ““ and it should
naturally be honored by the president at all times.
How can President Bush push for secularism in Iraq and, months
later, disregard the same values in his own country? I guess it
depends on which religion he’s talking about.
The president uses Christianity in different ways for different
purposes. The Rev. J.R. Lander, an openly gay Episcopal Chaplain
for UCLA, said, “Bush is trying to create a civil religion.
He’s claiming a monopoly on Christian identity, and
he’s using it in a way that I find abhorrent. There are many
views about everything in Christianity, and there always have been.
But he’s creating a monolithic view and he’s co-opting
Christianity.”
Bush must stop this self-serving double-talk
with his untidy, fundamentally unconstitutional stance. It is
his duty to the students and citizens of the United States to stand
as a living testament of the laws he executes. He must not justify
his arguments against same-sex marriage on religious grounds.
Marriage is a civil matter, and religion is an individual value
““ not a governmental one.
Fried is a first-year history student. E-mail her at
ifried@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.