An Open Letter to Religious Leaders on Marriage Equality

The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing passed around AN OPEN LETTER TO RELIGIOUS LEADERS ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY. It spoke eloquently, with the support of a diverse group of interfaith religious leaders (including myself), about relational justice, about the significance of marriage and family, and about the importance of marriage equality. Two paragraphs particularly speak loudly in the current climate: AFFIRMING MARRIAGE AND FAMILY From a religious perspective, marriage is about entering into a holy covenant and making a commitment with another person to share life’s joys and sorrows. Marriage is valued because it creates stable, committed relationships; provides a means to share economic resources; and nurtures the individual, the couple, and children. Good marriages benefit the community and express the religious values of long‐term commitment, generativity, and faithfulness. In terms of these religious values, there is no difference in marriages between a man and a woman, two men, or two women. Moreover, as our traditions affirm, where there is love, the sacred is in our midst. ALWAYS REFORMING Marriage is an evolving civil and religious institution. In the past, marriage was primarily about property and procreation whereas today the emphasis is on egalitarian partnership, companionship, and love. In the past, neither the state nor most religions recognized divorce and remarriage, interracial marriage, or the equality of the marriage partners. These understandings changed, and rightly so, in greater recognition of the humanity of persons and their moral and civil rights. Today, we are called to embrace another change, this time the freedom of same‐sex couples to marry. Read more also at Jews for Marriage Equality