Washington June 1 – On this Sunday’s “State of Belief,” The Interfaith Alliance Foundation’s show on Air America Radio, Rev. Welton Gaddy talks with the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association and hears from grassroots religious leaders about the Federal Marriage Amendment. Welton also talks to Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune about religious leaders recent declaration on violence against women in religious congregations.

The Federal Marriage Amendment is scheduled to go to the Senate floor next week for debate and a vote.  The amendment has been called a “partisan tool” in election year politics as the Administration panders to its radical religious right base.  Many people say the amendment writes discrimination into the Constitution without cause. One of those people is the Rev. Bill Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

“This is not an arbitrary or theoretical discussion,” Sinkford says. “This is about real human beings.”

Sinkford has performed many same-sex marriages in his church and remembers the first one with pride.

“My overriding feeling was one of joy as it is with the celebration of any couple,” Sinkford says. “[Same sex marriages] pose no threat to other marriages and they pose no threat to the institution of marriage.”

Three grassroots clergy speak about coming to Washington, D.C. last week to talk to their senators about the amendment. Rev. Steve Copley, Rabbi Eugene Levy and Rev. Betty McCollum talk about the reasons many clergy do not support this amendment.

The Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, founder and senior analyst for the FaithTrust Institute, joins Welton to discuss the National Declaration by Religious Leaders to Address Violence Against Women, saying religious leaders must acknowledge and confront such violence. 

“There is a too common belief among our religious leaders that these things don’t happen in their faith community,” Fortune says.

Interfaith Alliance is a network of people of diverse faiths and beliefs from across the country working together to build a resilient democracy and fulfill America’s promise of religious freedom and civil rights not just for some, but for all. We mobilize powerful coalitions to challenge Christian nationalism and religious extremism, while fostering a better understanding of the healthy boundaries between religion and government. We advocate at all levels of government for an equitable and just America where the freedoms of belief and religious practice are protected, and where all persons are treated with dignity and have the opportunity to thrive. For more information visit interfaithalliance.org.