Betrayal

Earlier today, November 29, 2022, the U.S. Senate adopted, by a one vote margin, legislation that will go down in history as one of the great betrayals of American First Amendment freedoms.

H.R. 8404, The Respect for Marriage Act, is, like so much else promoted by Democrats of the Left, deceptively named—intentionally deceptively named. As is so often the case with Democrat-sponsored legislation, the Respect for Marriage Act required that the Senators engage in an enormous and laughable game of “what if” in order to gin up sufficient fear and concern about what might happen if the law were not enacted. A red herring by any other name is still red! This one was bright red.

The Act requires all 50 states to recognize any marriage legally recognized by any other state and gives individuals the right to sue if they feel they have been harmed by people who believe in natural marriage. The language is intentionally vague, designed precisely to permit endless and groundless litigation against churches, religious schools and institutions, hospitals, and charities that include within their beliefs biblical standards concerning the sanctity of marriage, child-rearing, gender/sex identification, and other issues too numerous to list.

Our national experience has shown us graphic proof that individuals can find personal offense in nearly anything that happens in the normal day-to-day experience of mankind. Heretofore, religious organizations could rely on the First Amendment freedom of association to refuse to permit certain conduct within the bounds of the organization; they could refuse to sanctify or otherwise endorse the conduct of persons engaged in actions prohibited by the beliefs of the organization. All of that is now at risk. As written, the Respect for Marriage Act “just says if someone feels they’ve been harmed” by another individual’s views of marriage, “they would now have the opportunity to be able to sue someone else because of that. It does not require much imagination to realize that this language has been tailored exactly for the benefit of the trial lawyers looking for easy targets from which to extort settlement money.

The title of this post is “Betrayal.” While it is true that the entire Senate has betrayed the trust of the American people to honor the protections of the First Amendment, it is equally true – maybe especially true, that twelve Republican Senators specifically betrayed their constituents, ignoring the impassioned pleas of their voters to vote against the Act. Their betrayal undercut the very principles on which the Republican Party claims to govern – respect for and protection of religious freedom and the freedom of expression.

Ratcatcher believes that it is important that elected officials bear the consequences of their actions, in this case, their votes. To that end, here are the names of the betrayers: Roy Blunt (Mo.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.),Susan Collins (Maine), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Thom Tillis (N.C.), and Todd Young (Ind.). We sincerely hope that the constituents of these betrayers will remember their betrayal when next the Senator want their support. Every last one of them should be sent home.

Some of the betrayers are leaving the Senate in January. They doubtless feel immune to the wrath of their constituents. Perhaps they are right. But even those people must look themselves in the mirror every morning and explain to themselves exactly why it was appropriate to betray the principles of their party. In at least two cases, Blunt (R-Mo.) and Ernst (R-Iowa), had served as co-chairs of the congressional Values Action Team, “dedicated to advancing pro-life and pro-family policies. Their betrayal is particularly indefensible!

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