Republican Sen. Mike Lee, strongly suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to approve same-sex marriage this month, warned Thursday that liberals will use the victory to impose other restrictions on those opposed to gay weddings including churches, colleges and military chaplains.
“They seem tempted by the intolerant impulse to punish Americans,” Lee said in a thoughtful speech at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center in Washington.
Sen. Mike Lee. (AP Photo)
Lee, of Utah, used the speech to preview legislation he is drafting to protect religious-affiliated schools and institutions that don’t support same-sex marriage from federal attack if the court approves the ceremonies.
President Obama’s top lawyer told the court that the institutions might be targeted if the court makes gay marriage constitutional and that could threaten the tax status of over 25,000 colleges and schools.
Lee seemed to suggest the Left will win. “At the very moment this campaign appears to be on the brink of success,” he said, adding, “sometimes in a democracy, the other side wins.”
And, he warned what could happen next if supports of religious freedom don’t respond:
Regardless of how the Court rules in this particular case, it is becoming increasingly clear that the next controversies will not be over whether gay couples should receive marriage licenses, but:
— Whether people who don’t think so may keep their business licenses.
— Whether colleges that don’t think so will be able to keep their accreditation.
— Whether military chaplains who don’t think so will be court-martialed.
— Whether churches who don’t think so will be targeted for reprisal by the state.
— Whether heterodox religious belief itself will be swept from the public square.
Lee, called the GOP’s ideas factory in the Senate, however said he sees opportunity and said conservatives should focus on equality just like those promoting same sex marriage.
“Political conservatives and religious traditionalists may not like how the gay marriage debate is going. But it is no small thing that the gay marriage movement has succeeded in recent years only by adopting our principles – of tolerance, diversity, and equal opportunity,” he said.
He called on conservative to demand a debate on religious freedom, and even quoted former President Bill Clinton who signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and said it protects the “space of freedom between government and people of faith that otherwise government might usurp.”
That’s where his still unnamed religious liberty bill comes into play. He explained:
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
