Faith Key for Judge Who Invalidated Virginia Same Sex Marriage Ban

One of the problems facing America today is the growing insistence on the part of Christofacists that (i) they are above the laws that govern everyone else and (ii) that those who do not conform to their hate and fear based religious beliefs should be deprived of civil rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.  These beliefs and action are against founding principles of this nation that go back to Founders such as Jefferson who stated in his draft of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom that civil rights are not dependent on religious belief:

. . . . that our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore  he proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which in common with his fellow-citizens he has a natural right . . . .

. . . no man shall . . . suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities. 

Today's Christofascists and self-anointed protectors of traditional marriage hold the foregoing principles in nothing less than contempt.  Fortunately,  U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen DOES honor and respect these founding principles and was able to put her personal religious beliefs aside when rendering her ruling in Bostic v. Rainey which declared Virginia's same sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional.  Here are highlights from the Richmond Times Dispatch on Wright Allen's recognition of the concept of separation of church and state:

U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen wears her Christian faith proudly, at least to the extent that federal judges can.

At her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee three years ago, Wright Allen began by thanking God for her very existence. She spoke confidently about how her late father and an attorney friend were “in heaven” watching the proceeding. And she recognized her pastor, from a religiously conservative church in Norfolk, who had driven to Washington for the hearing, pointing him out to the senators.

Wright Allen struck down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage, saying the prohibition violates federal constitutional provisions on equal protection and due process of law. She said the definition of marriage that’s been in place in Virginia since colonial times — one man and one woman — must change.

There’s little dispute that laws on marriage were “rooted in the principles embodied by men of Christian faith,” Wright Allen wrote. Still, she added, marriage has “evolved into a civil and secular institution,” and marriage laws are “an exercise in governmental power” that warrant federal protections.

Walter D. Kelley Jr., a former Norfolk-based federal district judge and now a partner at the Jones Day law firm in Washington, said Wright Allen is a friend. They met more than 10 years ago at First Presbyterian Church in the Ghent section of Norfolk, where they both attended, and have kept in touch.

“She’s a very devoted Christian,” Kelley said. “She and her family are very active participants at the church. It’s more than just a Sunday morning thing. The church is an integral part of their life all week long.”But though “church doctrine would not smile on gay marriage,” Kelley said, “church doctrine doesn’t have anything to do with her job.”

[W]hatever her personal preference might be or might not be is sort of irrelevant,” Kelley said. “The oath that you swear to uphold as a judge is to uphold the law, not to uphold your personal beliefs. She would never flinch for a moment in applying that standard.”

“Unanimously, prosecutors and defenders who have worked with her on either side have attested to her talent, dedication and above all her exceptional character,” then-Sen. Jim Webb told the Judiciary Committee at the time. After he met her, Webb told his colleagues, “It was clear to me that she possesses the judicial temperament and dedication to make an excellent judge.”

There is more to the article that deserves a read.  The bottom line is that Wright Allen's critics have contempt for the separation of church and state and want their personal religious views imposed on all citizens.  They are precisely the kind of hypocrites and tyrants that Thomas Jefferson warned about and condemned.