Christian leaders sign manifesto

“We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” states the manifesto, titled the Manhattan Declaration. “We will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other antilife act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent.”

The signers of the manifesto include nine Roman Catholic archbishops and the primate of the Orthodox Church in America.

“The aim of the Manhattan Declaration is to bring together Christians across the historic lines of ecclesial difference to bear common witness to the principles of the sanctity of human life and the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife,” George said in an e-mail to The Daily Princetonian. “It is time that [Catholics, evangelical Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Christians] spoke in a united voice and invited those citizens of other traditions who share their convictions on basic moral matters … to join them in a united effort.”

George added that he hopes people will read the declaration and join as signatories. He said he also hopes it will inspire people of other religions to make similar statements, drawing on their own traditions. George is also the chairman of the board of the National Organization for Marriage, a nonprofit organization that advocates against same-sex marriage.

“In my view, rules compelling pharmacists and physicians ... to facilitate or participate in abortion are unjust impositions on them,” George said. “This is a fundamental dispute, and there are, to be sure, serious arguments advanced on both sides. The same is true when it comes to issues of marriage and sexual morality.”

Martha Ferguson ’11, a member of Princeton Pro-Choice Vox, said she disagreed with the views expressed in the declaration, though she supported the signers’ right to release it.

“Although I think that it is still a historically significant document, my political and religious beliefs couldn’t be more different from those expressed by the writers of the Manhattan Declaration,” Ferguson said in an e-mail. “I take serious issue with their arguments against homosexuality and same-sex marriage in the document, simply because marriage is now beyond the category of simple religious freedom.”

Still, she added, “even from an outsider’s point of view, this document needed to be written.”

“America is not becoming more secular but actually more religious, so it is essential to our future that religious freedom be maintained, and documents like the Manhattan Declaration help us hash out those lines,” she explained.