The Peculiar Stake U.S. Protestants Have in the Question of State Recognition of Same-Sex Marriages
The Peculiar Stake U.S. Protestants Have in the Question of State Recognition of Same-Sex Marriages
This chapter argues that opposition to legal recognition of same-sex marriage on the part of evangelical Protestant religious conservatives who claim such recognition would undercut their own marriages can best be understood as the result of Protestant dependence on the state to enforce its legal traditions. It contrasts this concern with the practices of observant Jews and Roman Catholics, who clearly understand that civil marriage and marriage within their faith are not the same. Further, it argues that most American Protestants sacralize the state in a most unexpected way, incorporating it religiously by assigning it governance tasks essential to the maintenance of religious goals.
Keywords: same-sex marriage, evangelical Protestant, religious conservatives, American Protestants
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