The preachers stood before the crowd and roared that God meant marriage to be between a man and a woman. The crowd responded with a chorus of "Amens" and "Yes, brothers."
For the hundreds gathered outside the State House at the Defend Maryland Marriage rally Thursday, the sentiment was clear: Religious people, particularly Christians, oppose gay marriage.
But days before the rally, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) sent a letter to President Bush explaining its support for civil unions. At about the same time, leaders in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America proposed that pastors not be disciplined for blessing same-sex unions.
And the Episcopal Church's General Convention has been debating religious ceremonies blessing same-sex unions in many of its churches.
Clearly, religious people are not of one mind on the issue.
"The variation is not so much among denominations as it is among the traditional, centrists and modernists within the denominations," said John C. Green, who conducted a Pew Forum study that last year found an array of religious opinions on gay marriage.
The religious take on gay marriage is especially important now, given its effect on public policy. Evangelical Christians demonstrated their influence in November, most election analysts agree, when 11 states passed constitutional bans on gay marriage.
There's no question, said Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, that the movement to codify traditional marriage has come from inside churches rather than legislatures - and was sparked by the Massachusetts Supreme Court's decision in 2003 to recognize gay marriages.
"It surprised me how fast it happened. It was very definitely a reaction to Massachusetts," he said.
High-profile issue
Although the Maryland General Assembly is not likely to approve a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage this year, the issue remains high profile among religious groups because opponents of a state law recognizing marriage as a heterosexual union have mounted a court challenge.
Momentum in Maryland for legislation regarding gay marriage is likely to follow the path that Green said it did in other states, through the pews.
So far, evangelical preachers have taken the lead in the state on mobilizing against gay marriage.
