How Christianity gave us gay marriage

The American fight for equality began with distinctly Christian precepts

Alexis de Tocqueville
(Image credit: (adoc-photos/Corbis))

The suggestion sounds ludicrous: How could Christianity be responsible for the all-but-assured triumph of the movement for gay marriage? Aren't the most committed Christians the most passionate defenders of traditional marriage and hence the most ardent opponents of permitting gay couples to marry?

From the overwhelming support for traditional marriage among white evangelical Protestants in the United States to the Catholic Church's definition of homosexuality as "intrinsically disordered" to the black (Catholic and Anglican) Christians of Uganda who have recently worked to pass one of the most draconian anti-gay laws in the world, the answer would seem to be yes.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.