Faith in the crosshairs

In a matter of days the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to release its decision on same-sex marriage. While it has ruled on issues related to gay unions in the past, this time it will address the big question: is marriage a fundamental right afforded to every citizen under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? 

Oral arguments in the spring indicated a divide among the nine justices, yet the court is widely expected to affirm a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. That would mean an end to the current patchwork of laws that permit same-sex marriage in some states and deny it in others. The decision, regardless of how it goes, will be final with no right of appeal.

The two sides in the debate are no doubt practising their refrains: religious freedom advocates expressing worries of a slippery slope and a hierarchy of rights, versus progressives and atheists who view this as a step forward in civil rights and secularism.