Rabbi sees church-state mixing

Evangelical Christianity is becoming America's state-sponsored faith, as President Bush and the GOP seek to formalize policies that are grounded in conservative moral stands, and too few liberal clergy are willing to speak against it, says a Utah rabbi.

Rabbi Tracee Rosen was formally confirmed as the new leader of Utah's largest synagogue — Congregation Kol Ami — in ceremonies earlier this month. She told a group at the University of Utah recently that she doesn't address political issues during worship services but was happy to have a secular forum in which to do so.

Speaking on "The Role of Religious Leaders: Protecting Church and State," she focused on the First Amendment, saying she believes there has been a "desecration" of the phrase "Congress shall make no law respecting establishment of religion." Rosen said she sees a "systematic progression of laws and initiatives designed to give preference to one religious world view over others."

Examples include the current debate regarding gay marriage. The subject is of particular personal interest to Rabbi Rosen, the first woman and the first lesbian to lead a synagogue in Utah. She said she has been asked many times about her experiences in the state's conservative milieu.

The proposed constitutional amendment on marriage advocated by Bush would define marriage as being between one man and one woman. "It is the biggest red herring there is," she said, adding it's "an attempt to enforce a particular religious sensitivity on all of us."

She maintains the government's only real interest is to establish families for two reasons: responsibility for the financial security and the physical and emotional safety of those within the family structure. "When government is making noise about it being between one man and one woman because it's defined by God, it's clear to me the whole government interest in marriage is a religious one and has crossed the line between church and state."

Civil ceremonies should be allowed between couples who want to establish their relationship for legal, rather than religious, reasons, she said, adding that "in faithfulness to my own faith tradition" she won't perform or sanctify a marriage between someone who is Jewish and a partner who is not. "That doesn't mean I wouldn't accept them as members of my congregation," but the union itself wouldn't receive Jewish sanction through her.