FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT (FMA) TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

Why there is no consensus for or against the FMA

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In this essay, and others, "SSM" means "same-sex marriage."

Lack of support for the FMA among religious conservatives:

A massive outcry against SSM and in favor of the FMA did not materialize: Conservative Christian leaders expected a major groundswell from the public demanding that the FMA be passed. However, as debate begins in the Senate, during the week of 2004-JUL-11, it had not appeared.

In 2004-JUN, the Washington Post wrote that: "Evangelical leaders had predicted that a chorus of righteous anger would rise up out of churches from coast to coast and overwhelm Congress with letters, e-mails and phone calls in support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. But that has not happened." ₁ Religious and social conservatives appear to be accepting SSM in their stride and expressing little interest in a federal constitutional amendment. Some indications are:

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Pew Research finds little support for FMA:

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press completed a poll of 1,703 American adults concerning the FMA and other topics. Margin of error is about 2.4%.

In question 37, they found that:

They then asked only the 59% who opposed same-sex marriage for their opinion on the FMA:

It seems likely that all of the 32% who favor SSM would oppose the FMA which would prohibit SSM. Thus, if all the subjects had been asked for their opinion of the FMA, one could estimate that:

Support for the FMA was highly dependent on party affiliation:

The pollsters then zeroed in on the 363 subjects who both:

They asked why they did not support amending the constitution. Among those who responded, their reasons were:

Responses total 105% because some subjects gave multiple answers. Because so few subjects were sampled, the margin of error is about 5%.

The subjects were asked a total of 45 questions. Many dealt with controversial topics, like Iraq, a bombing in Spain, The Passion of The Christ movie, 2004 elections. Those questions asked prior to those on the FMA might have influenced the subjects' responses on this topic.

Barna Group survey finds public divided over FMA:

The Barna Group conducted a random poll in late 2004-MAY among 1,618 American adults concerning two topics: whether they supported FMA, and whether they approved of the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians. The margin of error is within 2.9 percentage points.

Some of their findings were:

The FMA was described to the subjects. Their response was unusually evenly split:

The subjects were also asked whether they favored the consideration of non-celibate gays and lesbians as clergy. A large percentage were opposed; only about 24% supported ordination. Unfortunately, when polling subjects are asked their views on two or more topics, their response to subsequent questions can be influenced by the nature of the first question. It is not clear which question was asked first in this poll. If the FMA question was asked later, then negative feelings left over from the first question might have negatively influenced the subjects' responses to the FMA.

Researcher George Barna, founder and head of the Barna Group, noted that: "Evangelicals are strongly supportive of the marriage amendment, but only about half of the larger group of born again Christians – those who are not evangelical – strongly favor such an amendment. Atheists and agnostics, who reject the Bible as truth, contend that there is no moral legitimacy to defining marriage as the amendment would do. The remaining half of the population – comprised of notional Christians and people associated with non-Christian faiths – lean toward letting people make their own choices, without any legal limitations or parameters."

Barna compares the situation over the FMA to the debate over abortion access. He notes that many Americans reject an abortion for themselves and family because it they consider it immoral. But, many are willing to accept that their "truth" is not necessarily absolute. They recognize that others have different criteria for right and wrong that they hold with equal tenacity. To those others, an abortion might be the least worse alternative in some situations. So the former believe that abortion should not be criminalized; it should be available for those who want it and feel that it is an acceptable option for them. Similarly, many American adults may reject the concept of SSM, and yet believe that same-sex couples should be able to choose marriage if they feel that it is important to them. He concludes that many people oppose certain behaviors, "...but feel compelled to allow that behavior to take place legally because they also contend that there are no moral absolutes." ₅

References used:

1. James Dobson, "Why we must back the Federal Marriage Amendment," Florida Baptist Witness, 2004-JUN-2, at: http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/
2. Alan Cooperman, "Outcry from pews less than anticipated," Washington Post, published by the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader on 2004-JUN-20 at: http://www.kentucky.com/
3. "Gov. Romney testifies for F.M.A. in D.C.," Massachusetts Family Institute, E-alert, 2004-JUN-25.
4. David Kirpatrik, "Foes of gay marriage want more outrage," New York Times, 2004-MAY-17 at: http://www.iht.com/articles/520154.html
5. "Public Divided On Marriage Amendment," The Barna Group, 2004-JUN-21, at: http://www.barna.org/
6. Daniel Burke, "Both Sides Prepare for Gay Marriage Showdown in Senate," Beliefnet, 2004-JUL-8, at: http://www.beliefnet.com/
7. "Far more voters believe election outcome matters," Pew Research, 2004-MAR-25, at: http://people-press.org/
8. "Additional Findings and Analyses," Pew Research, approx. 2004-MAR-25, at: http://people-press.org/

Copyright © 2004 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2004-JUN-16
Latest update: 2004-JUL-11
Author: B.A. Robinson