The wisdom of a religious practice lies not in the number of people that support it. Rabbi Novak raises the issue of the size of a religious community to impugn the views of Reform Judaism. It seems unimaginable to me that a Jew, a member of a religion that has endured such relentless persecution coincident with its minority status, should invoke this notion. As a minority religion in North America, the religious marriages of Jews are given civil recognition despite the fact that they are not in keeping with the beliefs of the majority. The comfort Rabbi Novak draws from allegedly being in the majority regarding religious views on same-sex marriage is frightening.
Civic institutions are crucial for religious freedom.
While religious organizations might have a hard time admitting it, the institution of civil marriage is one of the public frameworks that allow religious communities to thrive. It allows synagogues and churches to do what they do, to restrict or extend membership and offer or deny access to their services and rites according to their principles. Civil alternatives for contracting a legally recognized marriage insure the freedom of religious communities to shape their own rules. Without civil and diverse religious alternatives for contracting a legally recognized marriage, those who do not conform to religious rules would put great pressure on religious organizations to change. Civil marriage provides an umbrella under which we all can live, despite our very passionate differences.