Religion & Law

Thanks to Michael P. for bringing to our attention Shannon Gilreath?s article ?Not a Moral Issue: Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty.? Unlike Mr. Gilreath who cannot make the distinction between ?religious objections to interracial marriage, as well as religious justification for other forms of inequality, and religious objections to same-sex marriage?, I believe that many can. I would be one. First of all, I think he has offered an interesting but deficient interpretation of the claims made by people, who happen to be religious, against same-sex unions/marriages. Thus, he fails to comprehend their arguments. Second, he leaves a great deal out of the picture. I have attempted to do this when I address the issues that he addresses. Third, as his Wake Forest bio states, he has a horse in the race, so to speak:

Shannon Gilreath

Wake Forest Fellow for the Interdisciplinary Study of Law

Shannon Gilreath is nationally recognized as a leading young scholar on issues of equality, sexual minorities, and constitutional interpretation. His book, Sexual Politics: The Gay Person in America Today (2006), was nominated for two prestigious awards: the ALA Stonewall Prize for Non-Fiction and the Lambda Literary Foundation Award. His innovative casebook, Sexual Identity Law in Context: Cases and Materials, published by Thomson-West (2007), is designed to put the law concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people into a social context. An advocate of interdisciplinary study, he teaches courses in Sexuality and Law, Religion and Law, and Gender Studies in the law school, serves as an associated professor at the Wake Forest Divinity School and has taught various courses as part of the Women?s and Gender Studies faculty of the undergraduate college. He is an active speaker for gay rights causes, frequently consults on cases, and has been widely cited in journals and the popular press.

Fourth, the matter that he claims not to be a moral issue is in fact a profound moral issue, as it is a pressing legal issue, as it is a crucial social issue, and as it is an important political issue. I look forward to our further MOJ discussion of this topic.

RJA sj