our most basic social institutions. Our government should respect every person and protect the institution of marriage."
President Bush's support for inscribing a heterosexual definition of marriage into the Constitution also means that he supports inscribing a religious Judeo-Christian definition of marriage into the Constitution. The fifty states regulate the legal standing of marriages usually by requiring that parties who were married in a church ceremony file a document or documents with the state government proving that an authorized person performed the marriage ceremony. This authorized person is usually a priest, minister, or a rabbi, depending on the religion in which the ceremony was performed. Thus, in most cases, church authorities preside over marriages, but they are still required to file solemnizing documents with state authorities before the ceremony can be legally sanctioned. Marriage, therefore, may be partially a religious institution, but it is also a secular institution. By supporting the idea of a constitutional amendment, President Bush seeks to privilege the religious aspects of marriage over its secular aspects.
Nonetheless, opponents of same sex marriage point out that much of American morality is based on Judeo-Christian principles. American law, which creates the secular bond between married individuals, is based on English common law, which is deeply influenced by Judeo-Christian tradition. For example, one religious scholar and opponent of same sex marriage notes that the common law surrounding marriage, and therefore current American law on the subject, reflects Judeo-Christian principles on
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