Florida Clergy for Fairness Issues Statement

St. Petersburg Minister Urges Voters to Vote NO on 2

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 26 /USNewswire/ — Reverend Phillip Miller- Evans of the American Baptist Church of the Beatitudes, St. Petersburg joined Tampa Bay interfaith clergy and elected officials today at a rally in Lowry Park to voice opposition to Amendment 2.

Rev. Miller-Evans represents Florida Clergy for Fairness, an ad-hoc coalition of clergy members from a wide spectrum of religious traditions who have mounted a state-wide campaign calling on all like-minded faith leaders to speak out against the amendment. More than two hundred clergy members and other religious leaders, representing a broad coalition of religious voices, have already signed onto Florida Clergy for Fairness’ public statement urging voters to oppose Amendment 2 since its inception less than 3 weeks ago.

Florida Clergy for Fairness members believe that people of faith and goodwill can and do disagree about what constitutes marriage, but that this amendment would endorse one religious view over all others and impose it on all Floridians by constitutional fiat.

Rev. Miller Evans offered the following statement:

“Amendment 2 clearly is a response to the fear by some that America, as they see it, looks different to them and may change from where they are comfortable. It is an attempt to homogenize us into a single world view. The suggestion of supporters of Amendment 2 that this amendment will strengthen traditional family values does not recognize the reality that our religious communities have no unified agreement about what defines traditional family values.

“America is at its best when we embrace the diversity of our cultural backgrounds, racial complexity, and multiplicity of values. Central to our historic standing has been to remain strong in the separation of church and state. I oppose Amendment 2 which would take away the conversation of strong marriage and healthy relationships from the religious communities and would narrowly restrict our view through legislative action.”

The site at Florida Clergy for Fairness offers this well written and nicely argued statement in support of their position.

A Statement of Opposition to Amendment 2

As clergy members from a broad spectrum of religious traditions we hold diverse views regarding marriage. However, we are united in our opposition to amending the Florida Constitution to define marriage.

We share a serious concern that proposed Amendment 2, which will appear on the November 4 ballot would infringe on religious liberty. We believe that marriage decisions should be left to couples, their clergy, and their religious beliefs — not the State of Florida.

Thoughtful people of faith can and do disagree on the issue of marriage. Florida’s many religious traditions reflect this diversity of opinion, as do we who sign this letter. But we respect the right of each religious group to decide, based on its own religious teachings, whether or not to sanction marriage of same-sex couples. It is surely not the government’s role to prefer one religious definition of marriage over another, much less to codify such a preference in the Florida Constitution. To the contrary: the great contribution of our Constitution is to ensure religious liberty for all.

Some argue that a constitutional amendment is necessary to ensure that clergy and faith groups will never be forced to recognize marriages of same-sex couples against their will. This argument is unfounded. Such coercion is already expressly forbidden by Article I, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution, which requires church-state separation and enshrines the right to the free exercise of religion. This is all the protection of religious autonomy — and of religious marriage — our state needs.

Our nation’s founders adopted the First Amendment and our state’s founders adopted the same protections in our Constitution precisely because they understood the dangers of allowing government to have control over religious doctrine and decisions. It is this commitment to religious freedom that has allowed religious practice and pluralism to flourish. If this freedom is to be maintained, we must respect the rights of faith communities to apply their own religious teachings and values to the issue of marriage. It is surely not the business of the Florida Constitution to assert control over the doctrine and practice of our faith communities.

Amendment 2 would undermine religious liberty. Florida’s religious communities do not support this amendment. As leaders of these communities, we pledge to vote no on Amendment 2 and urge you to join us.