Meanwhile a federal district judge in Massachusetts has declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional as applied in Mass. His opinion (based on the 10th Amndt., ironically) is a stretch, IMO, but this is where the trajectory — including the repeal of don’t ask don’t tell — logically leads.

SBC seems to understand this. Some other Baptist organizations see this as well but from the other side; they might fully support repealing DOMA. Still others use the Baptist idea of autonomy to say, in effect, whatever the government does is not the church’s domain: we as a body are apolitical or, alternatively, issue no group statements because we respect everyone’s individual autonomy and freedom of conscience.

This is an age-old church-y argument. It’s pretty important.