Religious right groups are running away from a Congressional bill they once pushed to supposedly protect those whose religious beliefs are against marriage equality.
Groups such as The American Family Association and the Family Research Council were at first trumpeting the
First Amendment Defense Act as something Congress needed to pass. The bill at first read:
The Federal Government shall not take
any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the
basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious
belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as
the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are
properly reserved to such a marriage.
But then the language of the bill got edited to cover the religious beliefs of those who are for marriage equality:
The Federal Government shall not take
any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the
basis that such person believes, speaks, or acts in accordance with a
sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or
should be recognized as the union of two individuals of the opposite
sex; or two individuals of the same sex; or extramarital relations are
improper.
That's when religious right groups began withdrawing their support from the bill. According to blogger Joe Jervis, three religious right groups - the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, and the Liberty Counsel - no longer support FADA because of the new language.
Poor babies. They found out that they aren't special.
