Freedom of conscience

The state has a certain stake in
individuals' consciences: this is part
of the point of legislation, which
should be both a reflection and a
guide for public conscience. So then,
for example, to the extent that the
state approves gay “marriage,” it is
telling its people that men and
women of good conscience will
approve it as well.
To this, however, there must be a
limit. It's one thing for the state to
encourage good conscience with
respect to murder, theft,
kidnapping, and so on. It's another
thing for the state to enforce (read:
to “force”) actions in conflict with
long-established matters of
conscience like marriage and
morality.
It's important to bear in mind that
we're not talking about mere whims
here. We're not talking about the
First Church of Smack, where heroin
is embedded in the liturgy. This is
not about inventing new “religions”
to circumvent laws. This is about
individuals' freedom to live
according to beliefs and principles
with a heritage going back
thousands of years.