President Barack Obama made clear where he stands on religious conscience rights: he believes the “right” to gay “marriage” is more important. He told a Democratic National Committee LGBT fundraiser in New York City on Sunday that when there is a contest between these two competing “rights,” he believed an individual’s had to give way.
“We affirm that we cherish our religious freedom and are profoundly respectful of religious traditions,” Obama said. “But we also have to say clearly that our religious freedom doesn’t grant us the freedom to deny our fellow Americans their constitutional rights. And that even as we are respectful and accommodating genuine concerns and interests of religious institutions, we need to reject politicians who are supporting new forms of discrimination as a way to scare up votes.”
“That’s not how we move America forward,” he said.
His opponents, like Gov. Mike Huckabee, don’t rightly respect the Constitution, he said.
Proponents of religious liberty say the Constitution contains no right to gay “marriage,” but the First Amendment clearly protects the “freedom of religion.”
