RE: Ministers Threatened with Jail/Fines For Refusing to Officiate at Gay Weddings
October 23, 2014 at 3:07 pm
(This post was last modified: October 23, 2014 at 4:10 pm by Brian37.)
(October 23, 2014 at 2:34 pm)Heywood Wrote:(October 23, 2014 at 1:20 pm)Chas Wrote: Everyone seems to have lost sight of the fact that this wasn't a church, it was a business open to the public.
And it was a business that offered civil (non-religious) ceremonies.
The point of law that is being invoked is that a business cannot discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation.
No one is suggesting that churches must allow anyone to marry in their churches. They are not businesses and not subject to the same regulation.
There is more than one point of law being invoked. The other point being people are protected from being forced by the state to preform a religious ceremony they don't want to preform. This protection doesn't go away simply because you are in business.
There is no compelling need of the state to force these ministers to preform a religious ceremony they do not want to perform. If a gay couple wants to get married, they can walk to the courthouse right next door and get just as married as they can in the chapel.
Forcing these ministers to preform gay marriages doesn't help gays. Its merely the imposition of someone else's will upon another for no good reason other than a disgust in their beliefs.
NO, but a church can be protested publicly, no different than boycotting a business. But a church can lose it's tax exempt status for discrimination. Just like a business can be find and sued for discrimination.
I agree though that they should not be forced by law to perform them. There are other ways to get them into the modern world.
