The Senate Armed Services Committee has confirmed the first openly homosexual leader of a U.S. military service, voting Thursday to approve the nomination of Eric Fanning to be Army secretary. However, it's unclear when the full Senate will take up Fanning's nomination. President Barack Obama nominated Fanning to the post in September. The committee's approval comes as the Obama administration works to eliminate barriers to military service based on sexuality and gender.
In this article, Steve Golden explains why Christians should not use Queer Theory as a lens when interpreting the Bible. Queer Theory argues that the elevation of opposite-sex unions over same-sex ones was merely a social construct, and that the Bible's emphasis is on love and commitment rather than gender. Golden answers with the plain reading of the Bible: "Male and female He created them."
Legislation that has passed both chambers of the Republican-controlled General Assembly says no minister or religious organization can be penalized for acting in accordance with a belief that marriage should be only between a man and a woman. Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe has promised to veto it. The House of Delegates passed the measure 59-38 on Wednesday. The Senate approved it 20-19 last month. Neither vote is sufficient to override a veto.
The governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, rejected a decision by a federal judge Wednesday to uphold the U.S. territory's ban on same-sex "marriage." Federal Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez said in a ruling Tuesday that the Obergefell opinion does not automatically apply because Puerto Rico is not a state. However, on Wednesday, the Governor said he would not observe Tuesday's ruling, but rather follow rulings that higher courts have previously issued on the matter.
During a press conference Saturday night, Trump dismissed a question from DailyMail.com about whether he supports "gay marriage rights" — insisting that his position is well known and ordering a reporter to "sit down." "Do me a favor — call me tomorrow," Trump later told the reporter. "I'll have a long conversation with you. We'll talk about it. Call me tomorrow," he said. But after six attempts the interview has still failed to materialize.
As an "unincorporated territory," the Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling doesn’t automatically apply to Puerto Rico, a federal judge ruled on Monday. "Notwithstanding the incorporation of fundamental rights to Puerto Rico through the Fourteenth Amendment, unlike the states, is not automatic," U.S. District Court Judge Juan Pérez-Giménez said in his ruling. The judge said the situation would change with an express decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, Congress, or the territory's legislature.
Last Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 marriage opinion, but much of the mainstream media has erroneously reported the exact opposite. In a public statement after the judgment was issued, Chief Justice Roy Moore clarified that the court's order "did not disturb the existing orders in this case or the holding in API that Alabama’s Sanctity of Marriage Amendment and the Alabama Marriage Protection Act were constitutional."
A man who was fired from a suburban Catholic church after announcing his "engagement" to his male partner filed a federal discrimination suit Monday against the parish and the Archdiocese of Chicago. Colin Collette claims the church violated the federal Civil Rights Act, the Illinois Human Rights Act and the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance when he was dismissed as music director in 2014. Collette is seeking to regain his job, along with an unspecified amount of back pay and benefits, damages, and attorneys fees.
In this article adapted from one of his sermons, Kevin DeYoung brings the Bible to bear on the issue of divorce and remarriage, acknowledging that it is often a complicated issue. DeYoung articulates seven biblical principles on divorce and remarriage, in order to provide a framework which the church can use to address the plethora of divorce scenarios that exist today.
Dr. Robert A. J. Gagnon lays out plain and simple what Bernie Sanders has promised to do to biblical marriage supporters if he is elected president. Gagnon asks, "Do you really want to vote for someone (Sanders or Clinton) who views you and your family as hateful, ignorant bigots and who intends to codify that view into law and attenuate the civil liberties of you and your children, at school, in the workplace, and in Christian associations?"
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Alabama’s Supreme Court was wrong to allow the birth mother of three children to deny visitation rights to her former lesbian partner, who had adopted the children while the couple lived together in Georgia. Alabama’s high court had ruled last year that the state did not have to legally recognize the adoption and compel the birth mother to allow the adoptive mother to visit the children.
David Fowler writes in support of TN House Bill 2414, a bill that would keep schools from allowing students to use the wrong bathroom. Fowler also criticizes the Tennessee Department of Education for their opposition to the bill. "When I got into state politics 22 years ago, I never thought I would see the legislature having to debate certain things like who can use a bathroom designated for males," Fowler says. "But perhaps the most shocking thing of all is that the Tennessee Department of Education is officially okay with our public schools allowing boys to use the restrooms and locker facilities designated for girls."
The Foundation for Moral Law, a Montgomery-based legal foundation dedicated to the defense of the United States Constitution, hailed last Friday’s ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court as a courageous first step toward restoring the original intent of the Constitution. On Friday, the court dismissed all pending motions and petitions before it, leaving undisturbed its March 2015 order. This means the court regards Alabama's marriage amendment as still valid, despite a U.S. Supreme Court opinion to the contrary.
On Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court broke their nine month silence on same-sex "marriage" and in a 9-0 Order simply dismissed all of the pending motions and petitions and refused to lift their Injunction from March 3 that upheld Alabama’s Sanctity of Marriage Amendment. "Such an action from a State Supreme Court has not been seen since the days of Dred Scott," Tom Ford, spokesperson for Sanctity of Marriage Alabama said.
Montgomery, AL – Today, in a 170-page ruling, the Alabama Supreme Court rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage opinion by issuing its own Judgement in favor of Liberty Counsel’s Petition for Mandamus. In the petition, Liberty Counsel demanded on behalf of its Alabama clients – Alabama Policy Institute (“API”) and Alabama Citizens Action Program (“ALCAP”) – that the state’s probate judges obey Alabama’s Constitution and laws. On March 4, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered the probate judges to immediately cease issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
Dr. Robert A. J. Gagnon explains transsexuality and how it relates to homosexuality. He says, "The issue of transsexuality is an extension of the issue of homosexuality. To understand rightly the problem with transsexuality one must first understand the problem with homosexual practice."
The Pastor Protection Act, a bill designed to shield clergy from legal backlash if they refuse to perform same-sex "weddings," passed the Florida Senate on Thursday on a 23-15 vote. After passing in the House of Representatives on Wednesday by a wide margin, the only hurdle left was Thursday’s vote on the Senate floor. The bill will become law if Gov. Rick Scott signs it.
This post is the third in a four part series on the relationship between secularization and the sexual revolution. Dr. Albert Mohler writes: "The story of the rise of secularism is a stunning intellectual and moral revolution. It defies exaggeration. We must recognize that it is far more pervasive than we might want to believe, for this intellectual revolution has changed the worldviews of even those who believe themselves to be opposed to it. Everything is now reduced to choice, and choice is, as Taylor reminds us, central to the moral project of late modernity, the project of individual authenticity."
The Tennessee House of Representatives sent a message to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, passing a resolution expressing disagreement with the court’s marriage ruling. With a 73-18 vote, the chamber passed the measure to emphasize "that this body expresses its disagreement with the constitutional analysis in Obergefell v. Hodges and the judicial imposition of a marriage license law that is contrary to the express will of this body and the vote of the people of Tennessee." The resolution now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Northern Ireland's Attorney General has been given the green light to become involved in the Ashers discrimination case. Ashers Baking Company, run by the McArthur family, is appealing the outcome of legal action over its refusal to make a cake with a pro-"gay marriage" slogan. The Attorney General is arguing that sexual orientations regulations like the one used against the bakery directly discriminate against those who hold religious beliefs or political opinions.
In this 2-hour video, Dr. James White debates Dee Bradshaw, the Pastor of Sacred Light of Christ Church of Salt Lake City, UT (Metropolitan Community Church) on the subject of "gay marriage" and the Bible. Dr. White takes the position that the Bible does in fact condemn homosexual relationships, while Mr. Bradshaw argues that the Bible's "clobber passages" are not directed at "loving," monogamous same-sex relationships.
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard on Tuesday vetoed a bill that would have required transgender students in the state's public schools to use the bathroom of their biological gender. In issuing his veto, the Republican governor said the bill, "does not address any pressing issue concerning the school districts of South Dakota," and that it also "removes the ability of local school districts to determine the most appropriate accommodations for their individual students and replaces that flexibility with a state mandate."
More than 15,000 people have signed a petition backing the Christian family at the center of the same-sex "marriage" cake case in Northern Ireland. The McArthur family—the owners of Ashers Baking Company—are appealing a court ruling that they discriminated against a homosexual customer, and have been heartened by the support, the Christian Institute said. The high-profile case is due back before the Court of Appeal tomorrow after it was halted last month following a last-minute intervention by Attorney General John Larkin.
In this article, Steve Golden challenges Matthew Vine's argument that Christians can commit homosexual acts and still be right with God. Christians who experience same-sex desire should not commit the sin of homosexuality, but should instead flee temptation and desire to become more like Christ.
Supporters of redefining marriage in Australia are now able to lobby for the cause on Facebook as part of the social networking site’s new partnership with an advocacy group. All Facebook users, regardless of location, were given the option of adding the Australian Marriage Equality group’s custom frame, reading "I [heart] Marriage Equality", to the bottom of their profile pictures on Tuesday.