“Many good and decent people oppose same-sex marriage as a tenet of faith, and their freedom to exercise religion is—unlike the right imagined by the majority—actually spelled out in the Constitution,” he writes. “Respect for sincere religious conviction has led voters and legislators in every State that has adopted same-sex marriage democratically to include accommodations for dissenting religious practice.” But the Supreme Court’s ruling is unable to do likewise. The majority graciously suggests that religious believers may continue to ‘advocate’ and ‘teach’ their views of marriage,” he writes. “The First Amendment guarantees, however, the freedom to ‘exercise’ religion. Ominously, that is not a word the majority uses.”
Evangelicals have increasingly embraced state versions of the federal government’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and some have lobbied for same-sex marriage laws to include sufficient religious exemptions. Catholic and Evangelical leaders have started discussing the stoppage of signing civil marriage certificates. Denominational lawyers are hard at work right this very minute figuring out what their respective churches should say and write.
Earlier this month, Alliance Defending Freedom and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention released a legal guide to help evangelical Christian institutions avoid lawsuits involving sexual orientation and gender identity.
What has been discussed so far, is that now, that same-sex marriage is legal, amending a church’s bylaws to define marriage as between a man and a woman as stated in Church Law & Tax Report. Including a statement in a church’s bylaws defining marriage may be of some help should the church’s tax exemptions be challenged, or if the church is sued for violating a public accommodations law due to its refusal to host same-sex marriages, but it is no guaranty of protection.”
A ban of lawyers committed to religious freedom have created Liberty Institute, which is currently working through the ruling at this moment. Liberty Institute fights to restore religious liberty pursuant to the principles of America’s founders—that religious freedom does not mean confining religious expression to church or home, but that true religious liberty consists of recognizing individuals’ God-given right to follow their conscience and to live and act according to their faith in every area of life.
We will keep you posted on what the team says later today.
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Faith Leaders And Legal Faith Squad Respond To Supreme Court Same Sex Marriage Ruling was originally published on elev8.hellobeautiful.com
