26-02-2025
Covenant marriages exclude LGBT people and that's what Tennessee lawmakers want
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Re: "Covenant marriages will make Tennessee families stronger especially for children," by Noah Jenkins, Feb. 22.
Noah Jenkins has written a thoughtful and coherent guest opinion column in support of the Covenant Marriage Act.
However, his description omits a key element of the bill which is clearly one of its main points.
The first condition of House Bill 315/Senate Bill 737 states "a covenant marriage is a marriage entered into by one male and one female."
In creating a different category that excludes the LGBT community, our legislators are designating a class of citizenry unavailable to all. The Senate sponsor of the bill, Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, has been very clear about his disdain for gay marriage.
After the U.S. Supreme Court's Obergefell vs. Hodges decision in 2015, then state Representative Pody declared that same sex marriage is "wicked" and stated that,"I believe God told me this" before reading a passage from the book of Ezekiel in which he warns that "they shall surely die."
I am very cautious about people who declare that a supernatural deity speaks to them, and their actions are sanctioned by a god.
To declare this as an elected American state representative is misguided at best and dangerous.
Opinion: Contradictions between faith, politics and racism still haunt the South
It is with sincere hope that I say please, please do not allow this or other biblical passages to influence our laws. Surely, our state will not command a virgin who has been raped to marry her rapist (Deuteronomy 22:28-29).
This is a prime example of why our founders established a wall of separation between church and state. This wall should keep all religions from pushing any bigoted laws through a secular legislature.
Wesley H. Roberts, Pegram 37143
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: LGBT couples would be excluded from Tennessee's Covenant Marriage Act
