http://psammyesquire.blogspot.com/2015/07/us-pastor-jailed-for-refusing-to-marry.html
US PASTOR JAILED FOR REFUSING TO MARRY GAY COUPLE-THIS COMES SHORTLY AFTER THE SUPREME COURT'S 5-4 DECISION RULING THAT STATES MUST ALLOW GAY-MARRIAGE.
This comes shortly after the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision ruling that states must allow gay-marriage.
The Christian Pastor, 56-year-old Paul Horner, had his lawyer speak to reporters on his behalf.
“We are currently disputing the guilty verdict and I am confident my client will be a free man here shortly,” said attorney Tom Downey. “Horner was just using his best judgement according to his rights and religious freedom in this country.”
The Honorable Myron Danus handed down the harsh sentence.
“Religious freedom goes both ways, Mr. Horner,” Danus told a packed courtroom. “It is not your place to deny individuals the same rights that everyone else has, rights that were passed down and agreed upon in a court of law, the ultimate court, the Supreme Court. It is not your decision whether or not you agree with the law but more importantly that you follow it and enforce it.”
According to the criminal investigation, the Christian Proctor Church is registered with the state as a “religious corporation” limited to performing “one-man-one-woman marriages as defined by the Holy Bible.”
But the church is also registered as a for-profit business and city officials said that means the owners must comply with state and federal regulations.
Steve Shand president of the Vermont Family Research Committee, said it is “open season on Americans who refuse to bow to the government’s redefinition of marriage.”
“Homosexuals are gay,” Shand told reporters. “Why should Christian ministers be forced to perform and celebrate any marriage that conflicts with their beliefs? It’s a slippery slope my friend. Pretty soon these same pastors will be forced to wed animals or kitchen appliances. This is not my America!”
Gwen Hawkins who is president of the LGBT Pride Center in Vermont said she is happy with the guilty verdict.
“We just want the same rights as everyone else and this guilty verdict sets a great precedent,” Hawkins said. “These fanatical Christians base their life on one verse in the Bible but they seem to forget the other 99% of the verses in the book. For example, why can’t we stone to death Bristol Palinfor having a baby out of wedlock? And what about her mother, Sarah Palin, breaking the rules ofCorinthians 14:34 which clearly state that as a woman, she is not allowed to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. But no, they like to pick the one verse in the Bible about gay people and build their camp around it.”
Proctor is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,741 at the 2010 census. Proctor is home to the Vermont Marble Museum and Wilson Castle.
The following are some things pastors and leaders of biblically based churches should immediately do to protect themselves
1-Refuse the tax exemption offered by the U.S government.This will give them a level of independence.
2- Have something in the church by laws that state that your church will not perform same sex weddings for members and non-members but will conduct wedding ceremonies for one man and one woman as biologically designed by birth (to protect against having to perform “transgender weddings” between those identifying themselves as a man and a woman)
3-Have a stipulation in your church by laws that say something like “ if their congregation is ever legally forced to perform same sex weddings, all clergy in their congregation will opt out of performing civil ceremonies and will only perform biblically based “covenant ceremonies” that bless the union between one man and one woman as biologically defined by their natural birth
4- Every church needs to have clear criteria regarding who qualifies to be a church member –based on the biblical standards of morality and ethics as well as a process for membership termination. Once written, this section of the by laws should be given and signed off by each person before they are accepted as official church members
5-The church should have a written policy that disallows non-members and non-attendees and or outsiders to rent and or use any of their facilities for same sex weddings and or any civil ceremonies related to marriage
6-If all else fails, and the courts eventually override church by laws – then the only alternative left will be for biblically based clergy to engage in civil disobedience and refuse to comply with the law- irrespective of the penalties, consequences and cultural stigma they will receive.
This law certainly has the potential of separating the “chaff from the wheat” related to revealing which churches and clergy will stand up for biblical ethics and which ones will capitulate to culture more then to Christ.
CREDIT:NBC
CREDIT:MATTERA MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
