When the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 found a constitutional right to same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, it settled a legal dispute but also deepened the cultural divide over the role of religion in family life. The division was widened by the court’s recent decision to allow a Colorado baker to refuse to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple on religious grounds.

But according to a new paper by a University of Illinois philosopher and legal scholar, same-sex marriage doesn’t have to remain a lightning rod or flashpoint in the culture wars between secular and religious values.

“There are many things that religious observers consider to be attacks on the religious institution of marriage, but same-sex marriage need not be one of them,” said Robin B. Kar, an internationally recognized scholar of contract law, philosophy of law, and moral and legal philosophy. “The historical processes that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage cannot be understood as mere wins for secularism.”

Full interview at Illinois News Bureau