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A Letter from America's Religious Leaders in Defense of Marriage
Throughout America, the institution of marriage is suffering. As leaders in our nation's religious communities, we cannot sit idly by. It is our duty to speak. And so across the lines of theological division, we have united to affirm, in one voice, the following:
For millennia our societies have recognized the union of a man and a woman in the bond of marriage. Cross-culturally virtually every known human society understands marriage as a union of male and female. As such marriage is a universal, natural, covenantal union of a man and a woman intended for personal love, support and fulfillment, and the bearing and rearing of children. Sanctioned by and ordained of God, marriage both precedes and sustains civil society.
Marriage is particularly important for the rearing of children as they flourish best under the long term care and nurture of their father and mother. For this and other reasons, when marriage is entered into and gotten out of lightly, when it is no longer the boundary of sexual activity, or when it is allowed to be radically redefined, a host of personal and civic ills can be expected to follow. Such a point has always been stressed by the world's great monotheistic religious traditions and is, today, increasingly confirmed by impeccable social science research.
Long concerned with rates of divorce, out-of-wedlock births, and absentee fathers, we have recently watched with extreme alarm the growing trend of some courts to make marriage something it is not: an elastic concept able to accommodate almost any individual preference. This does not so much modify or even weaken marriage as abolish it. The danger this betokens for family life and a general condition of social justice and ordered liberty is hard to overestimate.
Therefore, we take the unprecedented stand of uniting to call for a constitutional amendment to establish a uniform national definition of marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman. We are convinced that this is the only measure that will adequately protect marriage from those who would circumvent the legislative process and force a redefinition of it on the whole of our society. We encourage all citizens of good will across the country to step forward boldly and exercise their right to work through our constitutionally established democratic procedures to amend the Constitution to include a national definition of marriage. We hereby announce our support for S.J. Res.1, the Marriage Protection Amendment.
May God bless all marriages and all those who labor to protect the sanctity and promote the goodness of marriage throughout this nation.
Signed,
The Right Reverend Keith L. Ackerman, SSC Episcopal Bishop of Quincy, IL
Daniel Akin, Ph.D. President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Right Reverend Peter H. Beckwith Episcopal Bishop of Springfield, IL
Bishop Charles E. Blake First Assistant Presiding Bishop, Church of God in Christ (COGIC)
Bishop Wellington Boone Founder and Sr. Bishop, Fellowship of International Churches
The Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Denver, CO
Charles W. Colson Founder and Chairman, Prison Fellowship
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America
James C. Dobson, Ph.D. Founder and Chairman, Focus on the Family
David Dockery, Ph.D. President, Union University, Jackson, Tennessee Chairman, Board of Directors, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
The Right Reverend Robert Duncan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network
His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, NY
His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, OMI Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago, IL
Timothy George, Th.D. Dean, Beeson Divinity School of Samford University Executive Editor of Christianity Today
The Most Reverend Jose H. Gomez Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Antonio, TX
The Reverend Ted Haggard President, National Association of Evangelicals
The Reverend Dr. Jack W. Hayford President, The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel Founder/Chancellor, The King's College and Seminary Pastor Emeritus, The Church On The Way
The Most Blessed Herman Archbishop of Washington and New York Primate, The Orthodox Church in America
The Right Reverend John W. Howe Episcopal Bishop of Central Florida
Bishop Harry R. Jackson Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church, Lanham, MD President, High Impact Leadership Coalition
His Eminence William Cardinal Keeler Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore, MD
The Reverend Dr. D. James Kennedy Chancellor, Knox Theological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale, FL
The Reverend Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick President, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Dr. Richard Land President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention
Rabbi Daniel Lapin President, Toward Tradition
Steve W. Lemke, Ph.D. Provost, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
The Reverend Dr. Peter A. Lillback Senior Pastor, Proclamation Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, PA President, Westminster Theological Seminary
The Reverend Herbert H. Lusk, II Senior Pastor, Greater Exodus Baptist Church President & CEO, People For People, Inc
His Eminence Roger Cardinal Mahony Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles, CA
His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida Roman Catholic Archbishop of Detroit, MI
Most Reverend Richard J. Malone Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, ME
His Eminence Theodore Cardinal McCarrick Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, DC
The Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino Roman Catholic Bishop of Madison, WI
The Most Reverend John Myers Roman Catholic Archbishop of Newark, NJ
The Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kansas City, KS
Elder Russell M. Nelson Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Reverend Richard John Neuhaus Editor in chief of FIRST THINGS
The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt Roman Catholic Bishop of New Ulm, MN
Rabbi David Novak J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies, Professor of the Study of Religion and Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto Visiting Professor of Religion, Princeton University (2006)
The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted Roman Catholic Bishop of Phoenix, AZ
His Eminence Sean Patrick Cardinal O'Malley, O.F.M., Cap. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, MA
Rev. Dr. Luciano Padilla, Jr. Senior Pastor, Bay Ridge Christian Center, Brooklyn, NY
Dr. Paige Patterson President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
His Eminence Justin Cardinal Rigali Roman Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia, PA
The Reverend Eugene F. Rivers, III Founder and President, The Seymour Institute for Advanced Christian Studies
The Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, Jr. President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference National Hispanic Association of Evangelicals
The Most Reverend Michael J. Sheridan,br> Roman Catholic Bishop of Colorado Springs, CO
Rabbi Meir Soloveichik Associate Rabbi, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun of Manhattan, NY
The Most Reverend John G. Vlazny Roman Catholic Archbishop of Portland, OR
The Reverend Dr. Rick Warren Founding Pastor, The Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA Author, The Purpose-Driven Life
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb Executive Vice President, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
The Reverend David Welch Executive Director, U.S. Pastor Council
The Most Reverend John W. Yanta Roman Catholic Bishop of Amarillo, TX
Malcolm B. Yarnell, III, Ph.D. Director, Center for Theological Research Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Institutional affiliations are provided for purposes of identification only.
