The Christian Right Picks California for Culture War Election Showdown

By Sandhya Bathija, Church and State. Posted September 17, 2008.

Religious Right groups see California's marriage referendum this
November as Ground Zero.

Robin Tyler and Diane Olson spent every Valentine's Day since 2001 at
a courthouse in Beverly Hills seeking a marriage license in
recognition of their years of commitment to each other.

Every year, they were turned down by the same clerk, until finally, on
June 16, the state official handed them a California marriage license,
which now reads "spouse and spouse" instead of "husband and wife."

Their wedding ceremony, which was performed by a rabbi outside that
same courthouse, included 65 invitees, as well as more than 100
reporters and photographers from all over the world who wanted to
document the historic moment.

Tyler and Olson became the first lesbian or gay couple to marry, after
spending more than 15 years pioneering the fight for marriage
equality. The two were plaintiffs in the California Supreme Court
case, Tyler v. County of L.A., which was just decided in mid-May. For
the first time, a court extended the institution of marriage to
lesbian and gay couples.

"It is marriage equality," Tyler said. "They didn't invent a new
certificate of marriage. They extended the current definition of
marriage to include us."

Tyler and Olson finally had their wedding day. Their union drew
worldwide media coverage, but the day wasn't free from the hostility
of Religious Right demonstrators.

"They were yelling that we were going to hell," Tyler said "At a
Jewish wedding! They think they have a cornerstone on what is moral.
They are not our definition of morality."

Those demonstrators were an early skirmish in a new war Tyler and
Olson now have to fight in California. The couple has won their
fundamental right to marry from the highest court in the state, yet
they will have to battle to keep it, thanks to Religious Right groups
pushing Proposition 8, an initiative that will appear on California's
November ballot.

Proposition 8 would amend California's constitution to prohibit
same-sex marriage by defining marriage as only between a man and a
woman. If passed, the amendment would alter the state's constitution
so the recent California Supreme Court decision would no longer be
applicable.

Tyler and Olson have been hopeful that their marriage would show
Californians that "we haven't fallen into the Pacific Ocean or the
world hasn't ended because we have married each other," and stop
reasonable people from voting for Proposition 8.

"Surely, once the public saw the joy on the faces of all of the
same-sex couples getting married in California, and saw that nothing
was going to be taken away from their own marriages, they would not
vote for a mean-spirited constitutional amendment that protected
nothing except the right to discriminate," Tyler wishfully wrote in a
blog for the Huffington Post soon after the Supreme Court's decision
came down.

To some degree, Tyler has been right -- seeing her and Olson's
happiness has changed the viewpoint of many Californians. Prior to the
Supreme Court decision, polls showed that 51 percent of people in
California were against same-sex marriages, but a CBS poll, taken the
day following the court's decision, showed that 57 percent of
Californians are pro-marriage equality.

Yet Religious Right groups do see losing Proposition 8 as the end of
the world -- the "Armageddon of the culture war," as Religious Right
leader Charles Colson said, quoting a Princeton professor during a
conference call with pastors who were strategizing to pass Proposition
8. Conservative Christian forces think the Bible mandates marriage as
between a man and a woman, and they want governmental policy to
reflect that doctrinal position.

"This is where if we lose, it would be very hard to turn the ship
right again," said Colson, according to a report in Charisma, a
leading Pentecostal magazine. "If we win, we might start rolling back
the other side. This is a major, major struggle, and we should spare
nothing in defining marriage the way every civilization has as the
union of one man and one woman joined together as one flesh, as we
believe in the Scripture in order to procreate."

Religious Right forces will have plenty of help.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) has also
spoken out strongly in favor of Proposition 8. According to the San
Francisco Chronicle, in June, "the church's top leaders called on
California Mormons to 'do all you can to support the proposed
constitutional amendment by donating your means and time.'"

In early August, the California Catholic Conference issued a statement
urging followers to volunteer and provide financial support to pass
Proposition 8. Though the bishops said they believe in treating
everyone with dignity, they insisted that it is "ideal for the well
being of children" to be raised by a mother and father.

In addition to California, Arizona and Florida also have similar
amendments on their November ballots. Near the end of July, roughly
3,000 pastors from all three states joined in a Religious
Right-convened conference call to develop a strategy to get these
amendments passed.

Beginning Sept. 24, some will fast and pray for 40 days, ending
Election Day. Other major prayer events are being planned in these
states for Nov. 1, according to Charisma magazine.

The conference call was hosted by Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline
Wesleyan Church in San Diego, who started the petition drive to get
Proposition 8 on the ballot. Others on the call included Family
Research Council President Tony Perkins, Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr.
of the High Impact Leadership Coalition and Colson.

"This is a spiritual battle; it must be won in prayer," said Lou
Engle.

Engle is co-founder of TheCall, a theocracy-minded movement gathering
young adults to pray and fast for breakthrough and revival. "We need
to take away the rights of the powers of darkness to bring this kind
of resolution forward."

Speakers on the conference call encouraged pastors to host voter
registration drives, commit to prayer and fasting and raise money for
the marriage campaigns. California pastors are urging their
congregations to pray twice a day, at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., so
Proposition 8 passes.

Long before the California high court's decision even came down,
Garlow spearheaded the petition drive to get Proposition 8 on the
ballot. In November 2007, 200 pastors and other conservative Christian
leaders met at his church, where "speaker after speaker reiterated
what churches stood to lose, the centrality of Scripture to the issue,
and the need for an amendment petition drive that would move quickly,"
reported World, an evangelical newsweekly.

Soon after Garlow's meeting, conservative Christian groups, including
the California Family Council and Protect Marriage, began mobilizing
pastors to participate in a petition drive to get an anti-gay marriage
amendment on the ballot that would state, "Only marriage between a man
and a woman is valid or recognized in the state of California."

In addition to Garlow, Chris Clark, a pastor of East Clairemont
Southern Baptist Church and the Rev. Miles MacPherson, a former
defensive back for the NFL's San Diego Chargers, also took leading
roles.

"When I heard what was happening and what was at stake, I wanted to
fight," MacPherson told World. "I did not want to look back on this
and have to look God in the eye and have Him say, 'Why didn't you do
something? I gave you a big mouth -- why didn't you use it?'"

Fortunately, MacPherson is not the only one who is speaking out.
Though their petition drive ended in a collection of 1.12 million
signatures, more than enough to place it on the ballot, Religious
Right activists will not have the last word on the definition of
marriage in the state of California.

Stephanie Campbell, Americans United's Orange County chapter leader,
is working with the Equality California's No on 8 Campaign. So are
other AU chapters in the Golden State. Together the coalition is
educating on the ballot initiative and correcting Religious Right
propaganda.

Conservative religious groups are wrongly preaching to voters that
under the new California Supreme Court decision, pastors would be
required to go against their own doctrines to perform lesbian and gay
wedding ceremonies, or risk losing state tax-exempt status. Pastors
might even face criminal penalties, they say.

Neither claim is true.

"Religious groups and clergy members have a constitutionally protected
right to recognize or refuse to recognize religious marriages based on
the tenets of their particular faith," Equality California writes on
its Web site. "That has not changed and will not change. But the
government can't discriminate against same-sex couples when issuing
civil marriage licenses or solemnizing civil marriages."

The Religious Right's claims are blatantly false, AU's Campbell said.
Though it seems unlikely that their tactics could fool most California
voters, Campbell thinks Religious Right influence is widespread even
in a state considered liberal on social issues.

"It's not overt like states with Christian license plates or those
that are trying to teach creationism in schools," Campbell said, "but
in our county, almost every city is putting 'In God We Trust;' in city
council chambers. For councils that couldn't decide, it is on the
November ballot. It's become a really big deal, and these kinds of
issues will bring out the Religious Right to vote.

"Over the past eight years, there is a lot more conservative voting in
California," Campbell continued. "It would be a mistake to assume that
we will win; we have to be out there fighting this."

Both Tyler and Olson are on board with Americans United and plan to
speak at chapter events in Orange County and Bakersfield. The couple
sees Proposition 8 not only as an equal protection issue, but also as
a clear violation of separation of church and state.

Olson's grandfather, Culbert Levy Olson, was the first elected
Democratic governor of California and ran on a
separation-of-church-and-state platform, making this battle hit even
closer to home.

"This is the church trying to control the state," Tyler said. "If they
say it's because of their religious beliefs, somehow they are entitled
to discriminate against you. AU clearly understands that the religious
point of view of one person should not take away the civil rights of
anyone else."

Tyler thinks the proposition is likely to lose, taking the optimistic
view that the "fight against marriage equality is now on our side."

"When we walk across the street or go into a Starbucks, people say
'Oh, it's you, congratulations," Olson said. "We haven't had one
negative response."

Even Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to believe the
Religious Right's attempts are just wasting everyone's time. When he
appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" June 29, Schwarzenegger said he did
not support Proposition 8, and that the state should accept the
decision of the California Supreme Court.

"There are so many other more important issues that we have to address
in California," he said. "So I think to spend any time on this
initiative is a waste of time."

Since the Supreme Court decision, California Attorney General Jerry
Brown altered the title and summary language of Proposition 8, making
it clear that if voters voted "yes" for Proposition 8, California
could "lose several tens of millions of dollars in sales taxes."

Brown also changed the ballot title of Proposition 8 from "limit on
marriage" to "eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry," in
order to explain that Proposition 8 would be the first amendment
written into the state constitution that takes rights away from
citizens.

"The Supreme Court ruled that we are protected by the Constitution,"
Tyler said. "This is finally telling the truth of what this is about.
This is not to 'save marriage,' it is to take away a civil right from
a minority group of people."

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a lawsuit after Brown changed
the title and summary language, arguing that the new version is
biased. The ADF, a powerful Religious Right legal group founded by TV
preachers, also spread more misleading propaganda by arguing that
without the amendment, schools would have to teach children about gay
marriage.

After hearing arguments from both sides, a California Superior Court
ruled that the title was an accurate statement of the amendment's
primary purpose. The court also rejected the assertion that marriage
by same-sex couples would be required in California school curriculum.
Under California statutes, children "cannot be required to attend any
health-related instruction, including instruction on the subject of
marriage, against their parents' will."

Still, the Religious Right trudges on, claiming redefining marriage
could severely limit "religious freedom."

"This is ground zero in a culture war that the California Supreme
Court just declared on Christianity and every single faith," Maggie
Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage and
co-author of The Case for Marriage, said during the July conference
call, as reported by Charisma. "I'm here to tell you the consequences
to the liberty of the church and other faith traditions are very real
and serious."

But not all religious groups feel their faith traditions are
threatened by marriage equality. California Faith for Equality, along
with the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, filed an amicus
brief prior to the California Supreme Court's decision supporting
freedom to marry. More than 400 clergy and congregations from a
variety of faiths also signed the brief.

"Every movement for liberation and progressive social change has been
fueled by people of faith and religious communities