what eye thynk: Just a little reminder to all you right-wing, religious bigots--religious freedom is a door that swings both ways.
In 2005, the United Church of Christ passed a resolution supporting same-sex marriage.
In 2012, the people of North Carolina passed a ban on same-sex unions and prohibited state officials from issuing licenses to same-sex couples. Clergy who perform marriage ceremonies for couples who are lacking a license can be punished with up to 120 days in jail.
On Monday, UCC pastors in the Charlotte area, along with one rabbi, filed a lawsuit challenging the 2012 ban on the grounds of religious freedom.
The UCC has 5,100 congregations with more than one million members nationwide, including 150 churches in the state of North Carolina.
Geoffrey Black, president and general minister of the national United Church of Christ explained the decision to sue North Carolina this way, "This is the moment when we have an opportunity to seek justice and equality for gay and lesbian people, so we are taking that matter very seriously."
Nancy Allison, the pastor of UCC's Holy Covenant Church in Charlotte and a plaintiff in the case, will be officiating at the October wedding of Kathleen Smith and Lisa Cloninger, long-time members of her congregation. "If I were to be arrested for this, I would gladly face those arrest charges. I can do no other than move forward under my convictions."
I can see no way that a court could decide against the UCC. How could it possibly justify saying that one church's freedom should be "free-er" than another's?
This would be an interesting model for the UCC and other tolerant churches to use in the 13 intolerant states that still prohibit same-sex marriage, (on religious grounds, of course), just in case the Supreme Court does the unthinkable and rules against marriage equality later this month.
Hats off to the UCC. The US Supreme Court will eventually rule that the NC ban on gay marriage, AND the North Carolina law are both unconstitutional. I can't wait. NC makes laws that propel it right back into the dark ages by threatening jail time. Thats just nuts.
ReplyDeleteI became a member of the First Congregational Church in my home town because I'd found a Christian church that seemed to teach the values Jesus gave to us, For those of you who don't know; The Congregational Church is part of the United Church of Christ.
ReplyDeleteThe operative words there are "OF CHRIST. Not some idiot with a third grade reading level who is going lead a congregation. C'mon, gimme a break here.
As a newbie [but for real] Christian I was thirsty for knowledge "in the word" as it was called. Phrases like "in the word" creeped me out and gave me images of some dipstick with a nine inch comb over standing in front of a TV camera wearing pastel sky blue suit.
But what I found in if this church was love and a sincere connection to the teachings of the Master Himself.
The Lord Jesus Christ was tolerant to a fault. Open the book and follow His teachings and for your sake, ignore the idiots who claim Jesus hated anything. He was all about love.