Ministers Threatened with Jail/Fines For Refusing to Officiate at Gay Weddings

[FatAndFaithless]

No complaint has been filed against the Knapps. It is the Knapps who are suing under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. No one is prosecuting them. Any suggestion that a complaint has been filed against them is disingenuous. Theirs is a preemptive suit.

However, I agree that they should not be required to preform marriage ceremonies which violate that religious beliefs, even if they preform those ceremonies as a business. Whether they should be required to preform such ceremonies if they were in court clerks or other government employees who's job description includes preforming civil marriage ceremonies is another question.

The First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I don't see the part where it says, "unless you are running a business for profit."

That being said, the Knapps aren't suing under the First Amendment, they are suing under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which states:

Government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.

Recently, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., the USSC ruled that compelling closely held for profit corporations, whose shareholders object to certain contraceptives for religious reasons to provide those contraceptives violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Based on that ruling, the Knapps may very well prevail.

That would be fine if they were only offering the religious marriage ritual, even if they were selling it. But according to their website they do have a marriage license office, which means that they are selling a product that is similar to a clerk's.

Also, nobody really brought up the first amendment, it's more about anti-discrimination laws.