I previously wrote about
Oklahoma legislators protecting pastors in that state, even as homosexuals are
asking them to perform same-sex ‘marriage’ ceremonies. [read my blog dated May 15 – “Oklahoma is OK
by Me”] Now Gov. Mary Fallin has signed
into law the bill that protects pastors and churches if they refuse to perform
or host same-sex ‘marriage’ ceremonies.
Timothy Tardibono of the
Family Policy Institute of Oklahoma says the legislation is responding to the
current moral and legal fight across the country. He cites religious freedoms that were once
taken for granted – but not anymore. “Because
of the various cultural forces,” he says, “we’re having to put those religious
freedoms into explicit language in statute.”
A landmark decision is
coming from the U.S. Supreme Court in June that conservatives fear will erode
natural marriage laws across the country.
Homosexual activists,
meanwhile, are demanding “marriage equality” while they go after bakeries,
florists, photographers, and other wedding vendors.
OneNewsNow recently
reported that Texas, like Oklahoma, has passed a state law that protects
pastors.
Without the state law,
says the Family Policy Institute spokesman, there’s the potential that
same-gender couples could take action to force pastors to violate their
religious beliefs. Citing a
non-discrimination policy, a city council in Kansas proposed an ordinance in
2012 that would have forced churches to rent their facilities to same-sex
couples. A retreat property in New
Jersey, owned by the United Methodist Church, was forced by a judge to rent its
facility to same-sex couples.
There’s already a
movement among the progressive-left to remove the tax-exempt status from
churches, which some homosexuals tie to churches’ stance against homosexual ‘marriage.’ “Churches that lobby to have freedoms and
rights taken away from ANYONE should absolutely have their 501(c)3 status
revoked!” said a Wyoming homosexual activist declared in a Facebook post, as
reported by a conservative website.
In 2004, 76% of Oklahoma
voters declared natural marriage should be preserved as state law. Mirroring the pattern in other states, the
state’s marriage amendment was challenged in court and a federal appeals court
overturned it last year.
Pastors took notice,
says Tardibono, especially after their phones began ringing. “They had three calls from couples asking if
they could have a same-sex ceremony at their church, and done by their pastor,”
Tardibono tells OneNewsNow.
Listen
homosexuals who want marriage equality: There is NO natural ‘right’ to compel
others (pastors, bakers, florists, etc.) to celebrate your ‘marriage.’ You don’t have a ‘right’ NOT to be offended;
but we do have the constitutional right to express and live our religious
convictions!
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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