This report focuses on the role that religion is playing in the marriage movement, the ways in which public policy is promoting marriage, as well as church-state cooperation on behalf of marriage, and the likelihood that these public policies will meet with success.

This report also focuses on an important ancillary issue. Since the nation’s founding, public discourse regarding marriage has often touched on the central moral issues raised by marriage policy. Communities, Congress, and the states have argued about the nature of the obligations that spouses have to one another, to their children, and to the institution of marriage itself. They have also wrestled with basic teleological and definitional issues regarding marriage, such as the extent to which marriage need to be oriented towards childbearing and childrearing or the rights of slaves with regard to marriage. As legislators, jurists, journalists, advocates, and community leaders have addressed the moral issues raised by marriage, they have often referenced their religious commitments.

In addition, this report will also examine the ways in which religion does or does not play a part in contemporary public discussions about marriage. This focus on public discourse is particularly important because the moral assumptions embedded in public discourse often are reflected in the policies that emerge from these discussions. (Author abstract modified)