Under a first-in-the-nation policy quietly enacted by the State of Oregon in January, 15-year-olds are now allowed to get a "sex-change" operation. Many residents are stunned to learn they can do it without parental notification — and the state will even pay for it through its Medicaid program, the Oregon Health Plan.
More Americans believe individual states should have a right to refuse federal court rulings, a new poll says. Thirty-three percent of likely U.S. voters think states should be able to ignore federal court rulings if their elected officials agree with them. That number is up nine points from 24 percent during a similar survey last February. Just over half (52 percent) disagree, down from 58 percent in the previous sampling.
After being fired for writing what’s been described as an “anti-gay” book, former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran says he “absolutely” wants his job back. “In the United States of America, Americans should not have to choose between keeping your job and living out your faith,” he said. “And that’s the position the city of Atlanta actually has taken—that I have to have a choice to live out my faith or to keep my job.” Cochran has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Atlanta, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated and being discriminated against for his Christian beliefs.
About 2 percent of North Carolina’s magistrates have officially recused themselves from performing marriages (true marriages as wells as homosexual "marriages") since the legislature passed a law last month that allows magistrates to opt-out due to religious objections.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback recently issued an executive order meant to protect religious liberty in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex "marriage." However, he also indicated that the state of Kansas would adhere to the Supreme court's redefinition. He said, "We have a duty to govern and to govern in accordance with the Constitution as it has been determined by the Supreme Court decision. We also recognize that religious liberty is at the heart of who we are as Kansans and Americans, and should be protected."
Former president Jimmy Carter has said that he believes Jesus would support "gay marriage." "I think everybody should have a right to get married, regardless of their sex" Carter explained during an interview with HuffPost Live. "I don't have any verse in scripture...I believe that Jesus would approve gay marriage, but that's just my own personal belief," he added.
The owner of a family business that makes custom cakes has asked a Colorado appeals court to strike down state rulings that he discriminated against two homosexuals by declining to provide a cake to celebrate their "wedding." The three-judge appeals court is expected to rule within several months in the case, which ultimately could head not only to Colorado’s highest court but to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Tennessee county on Monday named a temporary county clerk after the person in the position resigned rather than issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Former Decatur County clerk Gwen Pope said she resigned because issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples would violate her religious beliefs.
Irion County, TX - Citing the Constitution and natural law, Irion County clerk Molly Crimer has vowed to stand for natural marriage. Referring to the opinion of the Supreme Court regarding marriage, Crimer said: “To keep my oath to uphold the Constitution, I must reject this ruling that I believe is lawless….I have to stand for the Constitution and the rule of law.”
Just days after the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision mandating the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples, most of the 2016 presidential candidates have made their opinions on the issue known.
In this video, James White gives his take on the recent Supreme Court ruling and explains the proper Christian response.
Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton received a marriage license from Hood County in Texas shortly after filing a lawsuit on Monday. The lawsuit was filed because Katie Lang, the county clerk, said that she could not personally issue the license due to her Christian beliefs. Although Cato and Stapleton now have a marriage license, their attorney said that the lawsuit against Lang will not be dropped until she agrees to issue marriage licenses to all homosexual couples.
Rob Gagnon provides commentary on the Sweet Cakes ruling by the State of Oregon. He says, "The cumulative description of distress over a lettered cake that could be obtained at a dozen or more other bakeries, at a time when Oregon didn't even allow 'gay marriage,' is so patently ridiculous as to make a mockery of the judicial system."
Linda Barnette has issued marriage licenses in Grenada County, Mississippi for 24 years. On Tuesday, she resigned. “I am a follower of Christ and I believe strongly that the Bible is my final authority,” she wrote in her resignation letter. "The Bible teaches that a marriage is to be between a man and a woman. Therefore, because of the recent ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, I can no longer fulfill my duties as Circuit Clerk and issue marriage licenses to same sex couples."
NJ Gov. Chris Christie has a message for clerks who might have religious objections to issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He says, "You took the job, and you took the oath......When you go back and re-read the oath it doesn’t give you an out. You have to do it......I think for folks who are in the government world, they kind of have to do their job, whether you agree with the law or you don’t."
A polygamist in Montana is seeking to obtain a marriage license for his second wife following last Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring that all 50 states must legalize same-sex "marriage" because of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. An official decision by the county attorney is expected next week.
The New Hampshire state Senate voted Thursday to repeal its anti-adultery law, sending the bill to Gov. Maggie Hassan, who says she's likely to sign it into law. Under the law the Legislature voted to repeal, adultery is a Class B misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of up to $1,200.
The owners of a Portland-area bakery that denied to make a same-sex "wedding" cake must pay $135,000 in damages, the bureau of labor and industries has ruled. The damages are for "emotional suffering" caused by Sweet Cakes by Melissa, which two years ago refused to bake a wedding cake for Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, a "gay rights" advocacy group and six New Orleans residents are suing Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for issuing a religious freedom executive order aimed at protecting people who oppose "same-sex marriage."
In this article, John Eidsmoe presents his view of the recent ruling on "gay marriage" by the Supreme Court. He says, "[T]he Court used an illegitimate means to reach an unconstitutional result that allows invalid unions for the perpetration of immoral conduct."
Nearly one-third of Alabama counties on Monday were not issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, or had shut down marriage license operations altogether, despite Friday's landmark US Supreme Court ruling that redefined marriage.
When asked whether probate judges have no choice now but to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore said, "You're asking me should probate judges obey. I'm telling you it (the U.S. Supreme Court) has issued a ruling that has precedent over the courts of Alabama. But their interpretation of the Constitution is their interpretation. But nothing can conflict with a sworn officer's oath to the Constitution."
Al Mohler comments on the recent Supreme Court on "same-sex marriage." According to Mohler, many things have radically changed in America, yet many things haven't changed: The truth has not changed, the gospel has not changed, and Jesus Christ has not changed.
Roy Moore is arguing that judges in Alabama do not have to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples for the next 25 days, because parties officially have 25 days to contest the Supreme Court's ruling.
Rob Gagnon points out some of his concerns with the recent “Evangelical Declaration on Marriage” entitled “Here We Stand,” posted by Russell Moore's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.