Once the State Constitution is used to limit freedom, what minority group will be next?

Amanda Tempel, Vic Rosenthal and Elaine Aron have written a wonderful op-ed which was published recently in the Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune:

In a few weeks, Jews will celebrate the holiday of Passover, which commemorates the liberation of the Children of Israel from servitude and oppression in Egypt. This Passover, we are especially concerned about the proposed amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that would permanently bar the state from recognizing same-sex marriages or civil unions. We view this amendment not only as a threat to the freedom of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Minnesotans, but also a threat to the freedom of all Minnesotans.

As a religious minority, the Jewish community is intensely aware of the importance of the protections contained in federal and state constitutions. Historically, constitutions in America have served two complementary functions: the creation of government power and the protection of the people -- especially minorities -- from government power. Amending Minnesota's Constitution to injure a minority group is precisely the opposite of what constitutions are for and represents a dangerous break with American tradition and Minnesota values.

The amendment sets a frightening precedent. Once we use the Constitution to limit freedom, what minority group will be next to have rights stripped away by the very document that is supposed to protect us? If we have learned anything from Jewish history -- from Egyptian enslavement to the Holocaust -- it is that we must preserve the societal institutions that protect minorities even when we disagree with those minorities. Thus, even though not all Jews support same-sex marriage, we are united in our passionate commitment to maintaining the Minnesota Constitution as a source of freedom, and we oppose any effort to transform it into a document that abridges liberty.

As Jews, we also view this proposed amendment as a form of religious discrimination. The institution of marriage is recognized by government, not created by it, and this amendment would permanently prohibit our state from recognizing Jewish marriages.

Rabbis in two of the four major American Jewish denominations have been performing same-sex marriages for over a decade. A third denomination will consider blessing same-sex unions later this year. We understand that the citizens of our state may not yet be ready to embrace these marriages. But amending the Minnesota Constitution to forever prohibit recognition of these Jewish marriages flies in the face of Minnesota's long-standing tradition of religious pluralism.

Minnesota law today recognizes only opposite-sex unions. Our democracy is built on ongoing dialogue and discussion, and we hope that one day our fellow citizens will come to recognize, as our faith has, that members of the same sex should be permitted to marry. This amendment is undemocratic because its purpose is to cut off this dialogue in our state, to prevent future generations of Minnesotans from reaching different conclusions. We may have the power to amend the Constitution as proposed, but amending the Constitution to cut off debate is an abuse of that power.

As we prepare for Passover, we pray that our elected representatives in the Minnesota Legislature fulfill the oath they took to support the state's Constitution by standing against the effort to turn its shield of protection into a sword of oppression. We pray that the legislators of our state will demonstrate true Minnesota values by embracing diversity and refusing to lead us down the slippery slope that ends with the oppression of religious minorities and other minority groups.

Amanda Tempel is an organizer with Jews for Equality Workgroup-Minnesota. Vic Rosenthal is executive director of Jewish Community Action. Elaine Aron is director of Justice Squared, Jewish Community Relations Council.