SALT LAKE CITY
(AP) -- The Mormon church and four religious organizations are asking
the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and settle once and for all the
question of whether states can outlaw gay marriage.
The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in a statement Friday,
said it joined a friend-of-the-court brief asking the high court to hear
Utah's marriage case.
Also taking part in the
filing were The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the
National Association of Evangelicals, the Ethics & Religious
Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod.
Each teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman.
"The
time has come to end the divisive national debate as to whether the
Constitution mandates same-sex marriage," the brief states.
Multiple
organizations and governmental entities on both sides of the debate
have filed similar briefs asking the court to take up the issue.
The
religious groups urged the Supreme Court on the basis of tradition and
religious freedom to uphold a state's right to disallow gay and lesbian
couples to wed.
"Legal uncertainty is
especially burdensome for religious organizations and religious
believers increasingly confronted with thorny questions," the brief
says. "Is their right to refrain from participating in, recognizing or
facilitating marriages between persons of the same sex, contrary to
their religious convictions, adequately shielded by the First Amendment
and other legal protections? Or is further legislation needed to guard
religious liberties in these and other sensitive areas?"
Last
month, attorneys for three Utah gay and lesbian couples formally asked
the U.S. Supreme Court to take Utah's appeal of a favorable gay marriage
ruling.
The plaintiffs said they asked for
the review even though they won at the federal appellate court level
because they want the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether state
same-sex marriage bans violate the Constitution.
The high court is under no obligation to take Utah's case or the others.
