Liberty has published a very insightful piece by University of California – Davis law professor Alan Brownstein regarding the controversial Proposition 8 debate. Well worth reading in its entirety.
Here is an excerpt:
“The use of exaggerated and disproportionate arguments to support Proposition 8 is no small matter. Because there is no objective way to define or measure religious belief and commitment, religious liberty, more than any other right, depends on the credibility of its advocates. As anyone who has lobbied and argued for religious liberty legislation and policies knows, we are often challenged by arguments about sham claims and manufactured beliefs. Thus, religious liberty advocates must be credible and their arguments must be accurate. The campaign for, and passage of, Proposition 8 will be a Pyrrhic victory for religious liberty at best if, as I fear, it convinced many Californians that claims about religious liberty cannot be trusted. “
…
“Religious liberty and equality is predicated on the right to be different. Its underlying principle is that we do not have to accept the truth or value of someone else’s religious beliefs in order to agree that those beliefs and practices deserve protection against discriminatory treatment. Followers of faiths we consider to be false may be sinners in our eyes, but we still protect their right to be free from government coercion and discrimination. For example, the Ten Commandments state that “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Yet the Constitution and religious liberty statutes clearly protect religions that violate this commandment. Doing so neither undermines the meaning of the Ten Commandments nor expresses government approval of nonmonotheistic faiths. It simply recognizes the importance of religious autonomy to human dignity and personal liberty.”
Read the full article at http://www.libertymagazine.org/article/articleview/793/1/114/