Just four months after an alliance of conservative Christians was threatening a churchgoer revolt unless President Bush championed an amendment banning same-sex marriage, members say they have been surprised and disappointed by what they call a tepid response from the pews.
Most of the groups supporting the proposed federal constitutional amendment concede that it appears all but dead in Congress for this election year.
As Massachusetts prepares to become the first state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage on Monday, several high-profile conservatives say they are now pinning their hopes mainly on reaction to events there, betting that scenes of gay weddings in Provincetown may set off a public outcry.
Much more likely: it’ll set off more expressions of joy and random acts of congratulations. I hope the P-town florists have stocked up on roses, because the random orders “for any wedded couple” will be rolling in soon.
Still, the opponents of gay marriage say they are puzzling over why such a volatile cultural issue is not spurring more rank-and-file conservative Christians to rise up in support of the amendment. They are especially frustrated, they say, because opinion polls show that a large majority of voters oppose gay marriage.
“Our side is basically asleep right now,” Matt Daniels, founder of the Alliance for Marriage, which helped draft the proposed amendment, said in an interview last week.
The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, said: “I don’t see any traction. The calls aren’t coming in and I am not sure why.”
Some conservatives warn that the Christian leaders rallying behind the amendment may now face a loss of credibility. Their influence with evangelical believers is a subject of keen interest in Washington, in part because the Bush campaign has made ensuring their turnout at the polls a top priority.
Maybe it’s wrong of me to gloat. Or maybe not. Excuse me while I cackle with glee, because my (admittedly non-traditional family values) are not threatened one little bit by gay marriage, as previously reported here.
And Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still quite, quite dead. 😉
