This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As with every issue, the question pertaining to the state amendment to ban gay marriage needs to be properly framed. In The Tribune's July 3 story, Pros and cons of gay marriage ban, reporter Rebecca Walsh framed the question as choosing between compassion and religion.
Although those who favor passage of the amendment make heavy references to God, we can't forget that religion is inescapably in the compassion business. Pretending that God endorses anti-gay legislation smacks of the same banal efforts made historically by people who resist social change.
The powerful admonishment at the heart of all the world's great religions calls us to disturb our complacency about injustice, and to set about the task of transforming society where no one is marginalized. Creating two tiers of civil and legal rights flies in the face of religion by deliberately inhibiting movement toward a just society.
The amendment presents voters with the ultimate civil rights issue for our time. How can we call ourselves a moral and decent people while denying civil rights to those outside the heterosexual sphere of power? If religion must be brought into the discussion, let us not be misled by isolated quotes from Scripture that mask a bigoted agenda. Instead, recall the prophetic tradition of our Judeo-Christian culture that compels us to transform society to a just and moral place.
The Rev. Tom Goldsmith
Salt Lake City