Washington, DC:
We must act now to protect religious liberty in America.
On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court stripped more than 50 million Americans of their votes upholding marriage as it has been defined for millennia by diverse cultures, and faiths across the globe.
Marriage has long been a positive way for a man and a woman to share long-lasting commitment to each other and their children. Making marriage no different than any other adult relationship makes the marriage commitment less meaningful and easier to disregard.
But the impact of redefining marriage for the entire nation will reach far beyond the institutions of marriage and family. The court’s ruling fundamentally transforms the relationship between the American people and those in power. Justice Alito noted this reality in his dissent: “Most Americans—understandably—will cheer or lament today’s decision because of their views on the issue of same-sex marriage. But all Americans, whatever their thinking on that issue, should worry about what the majority’s claim of power portends.”
The Court’s abuse of power is of such historic proportions that the conservative movement, and indeed every American who cherishes liberty must now address the serious damage done to the cause of freedom and the very foundation of our civil society.
The loss of freedom due to the redefinition of marriage has already been seen in states across the country. State governments have unfairly punished and discriminated against Americans from all walks of life simply for living according to their beliefs in support of man-woman marriage.
Small business owners have been fined for following this belief. Last week, an Oregon Labor Commissioner ordered Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay a fine of $ 135,000 for declining to bake a same-sex wedding cake. The commissioner also imposed a gag order on the Kleins, ordering them to “cease and desist” discussing their case publicly. The order demonstrates that this assault on our most essential freedoms will not stop with the free exercise of our religion; it endangers the freedom of speech as well. States have even shut down longstanding adoption and foster care providers for not sharing the government’s view of marriage. These are only a few examples. By inventing a constitutional “right” to same-sex “marriage,” the Court has opened the door wide to more severe forms of discrimination against those who believe in natural marriage. The dissenting justices explain very clearly what we must now prepare for: a majority opinion that “will be exploited by those who are determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent.”
We commit ourselves to the work of ensuring that the government never penalizes or discriminates against anyone simply for believing what President Obama believed about marriage just three years ago.
The Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech, association, and religion for every American, but those freedoms will now collide with a Supreme Court ruling that places demands on Americans who continue to abide by the truth of marriage as the union of man and woman.
We call on Congress to pass the First Amendment Defense Act and for state legislatures to approve similar measures that stop the government from discriminating against those who believe in natural marriage. No individual should lose their tax exempt status, face disqualification, be fined, or lose grants or contracts for following their beliefs. A failure to enact these commonsense protections will only deepen the divide in our country which according to the latest polls is nearly evenly split on the marriage ruling. Penalizing those charities and organizations that believe in natural marriage could threaten and harm their ability to help millions of people. The time for action is now because when government forces Americans to violate their deeply-held beliefs, government itself threatens every fundamental freedom.
We stand united for the freedom to live according to one’s beliefs about marriage. And we will continue to speak courageously, and compassionately about the unchanging truth of marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
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The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Former Attorney General
President Ronald Reagan
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
Chairman, CAP
Former White House Advisor, President Ronald Reagan
The Honorable Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman
Constitutional Congress, Inc.
Mr. William L. Walton
Vice President
Council for National Policy
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (Ret.)
Executive Vice President
Family Research Council
Mr. Alfred S. Regnery
Chairman
Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund
Mr. Bill Dallas
CEO
United in Purpose
Rabbi Daniel Lapin
President
American Alliance of Jews and Christians
Everett Piper, PhD
President
Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Somers H. White CPAE, FIMC
Former Arizona State Senator
Grace-Marie Turner
President
Galen Institute
Floyd Brown
Western Center for Journalism
Dr. Rick Scarborough
President
Vision America Action
Mr. Herman Cain
President and CEO
Hermancain.com
Ralph J. Benko
Chairman
Center for Civic Virtue
Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Frank Schubert
President
Mission Public Affairs, LLC
Gary Marx
Senior Partner
Madison Strategies
Edward Whelan
President
Ethics and Public Policy Center
David W. Preston
Executive Director
Oklahoma Wesleyan University Foundation
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.
Former Domestic Advisor
President Ronald Reagan
Rebecca Hagelin
Member, Board of Directors
Family Talk
Mrs. Leslee J. Unruh
Founder
National Abstinence Clearinghouse and Alpha Center
Dr. Allen D. Unruh
Co-Founder
National Abstinence Clearinghouse
Mrs. Penny Y. Nance
President and CEO
Concerned Women for America
Morton Blackwell
Chairman
The Weyrich Lunch
Joel Anand Samy
Co-Founder and President
International Leaders Summit
Larry L. Eastland, Ph.D.
Former Staff Assistant
President Ford
Kirby A. Wilbur
Executive Director
National Journalism Center
The Honorable Donald J. Devine
Senior Scholar
The Fund for American Studies
John Taylor
President
Virginia Institute for Public Policy
Tom DeLay
Former Majority Leader
Richard A. Viguerie
Chairman
ConservativeHQ.com
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
Thomas Mead
Executive Vice President
Cardinal Newman Society
Patrick Reilly
President and CEO
Cardinal Newman Society
Dan Weber
CEO
Association of Mature Americans (AMAC)
Dr. Keith Wiebe
President
American Association of Christian Schools
Phyllis Schlafly
Founder
Eagle Forum
Forest Thigpen
President
Mississippi Center for Public Policy
(All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only)
UPDATED: 5/10/16
[/column]
[column type=”one-half” last=”true”]
The Honorable Bob McEwen
Executive Director
Council for National Policy
The Honorable Colin A. Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring, Inc.
Mr. Erick Erickson
Editor-in-Chief
RedState.com
Mr. Michael A. Needham
Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action for America
Mr. L. Brent Bozell, III
Chairman
ForAmerica
Mrs. Susan A. Carleson
Chairman and CEO
American Civil Rights Union
Austin Ruse
President
Center for Family & Human Rights
Bradley Mattes
President
Life Issues Institute
Kevin Kookogey
Linchpins of Liberty
Nadine Maenza
Executive Director
Patriot Voices
Terrence Scanlon
President
Capital Research Center
Ron Robinson
President
Young America’s Foundation
Mario H. Lopez
President
Hispanic Leadership Fund
Charles J. Cooper
Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
Curt Levey
President
The Committee for Justice
Donna Hearne
CEO
Constitutional Coalition
Jerry A. Johnson, Ph.D.
President and CEO
National Religious Broadcasters
Ronald Cameron
Chairman
Mountaire Corporation
Ted Baehr
Publisher, Movieguide(r)
Chairman, Christian Film & Television Commission(r)
Kelly Shackelford, Esq.
President, CEO and Chief Counsel
Liberty Institute
The Honorable James C. Miller III
Former Director of OMB
President Ronald Reagan
Joseph A. Morris
Morris & De La Rosa
Marc Rotterman
Former Treasurer, ACU
Founding President, John Locke Foundation,
Senior Fellow, John Locke Foundation
Andrea S. Lafferty
President
Traditional Values Coalition
Peter Thomas
Chairman
Americans for Constitutional Liberty
R. Jerry Grossman
Co-founder
Great Falls Philosophical Forum
Craig Shirley
Reagan Biographer
Elaine Donnelly
President Center for Military Readiness
The Honorable Belden Bell
U.S. Ambassador (Ret)
Thomas S. Winter
Jim Backlin
Christian Coalition of America
Bill Simon, Jr.
Co-Chairman
William E. Simon & Sons LLC
Richard Gaby
Founder/CEO
A K Rikk’s
Barbara Van Andel-Gaby
Owner/Board of Trustees
Alticor Inc.
Robert K. Fischer
Meeting Coordinator for Conservatives of Faith Rapid
City, SD
Willes K. Lee
Vice President
National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Howard Ahmanson
Molly Smith
President
Cleveland Right to Life
Phil Burress
President
Citizens for Community Values
Micah Clark
President
American Family Association of Indiana
Curt Smith
President
Indiana Family Institute
John T. Tomicki
Executive Director
League of American Families
Paula Westwood
Executive Director
Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati
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