Posted on 05/19/2015 9:30:33 AM PDT by xzins
Great news about one of my favorite Republican governors, Mary Fallin.
Excerpt:
If the U.S. Supreme Court decides to overturn the millennia-long definition of marriage, Oklahoma clergy will not have to be concerned that they will be forced to perform such ceremonies.
On May 1, Governor Mary Fallin signed a law that would allow ministers to exercise their religious beliefs on marriage and decline to “wed” same-sex couples.
Governor Fallin’s office said in a press release that H.B. 1007 is “a bill protecting religious leaders from being compelled to perform marriages that are in direct contradiction to their religious beliefs.”
The law says that “no regularly licensed, ordained, or authorized official of any religious organization shall be required to solemnize or recognize any marriage that violates the official’s conscience or religious beliefs.”
Unlike other governors, the Oklahoma Republican did not back down from the potential controversy that could surround her signature of H.B. 1007.
“This bill makes it clear that the government can never compel our religious leaders or houses of worship to act in violation of their faith where marriage is concerned,” Fallin said. “I am proud to join our legislature in taking a strong stand in defense of religious liberty and the freedoms awarded to all American citizens by the U.S. Constitution.”
Somehow, I missed this story about a similar bill passed last week – although this one has not been signed:
The bill is similar to one passed by the Texas Senate last week, the “Pastor Protection Act.” The bill, which is being considered by the House, has enraged some LGBT activists.
The Texas Freedom Network, which says its mission is “to counter the Religious Right,” said the bill would give religiously affiliated entities the “authority to discriminate against almost any Texas family.”
The bill’s supporters say they are simply trying to guarantee conscience rights, which even the Obama administration’s Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli, has admitted could be imperiled by a Supreme Court ruling redefining marriage.
I wonder if either of these states will draw protests from the big corporations and the gay activists? I am more optimistic about Oklahoma, because they don’t have the same exposure to the big corporations that Texas does. Remember that in Indiana it was the big corporations like Apple, Salesforce, Wal-Mart, Angie’s List, etc. that caused Governor Mike Pence to back down, and then the legislature passed a law that made it even tougher on people who want to refuse to celebrate gay marriage.
[…]…President Obama told the Catholic-Evangelical Leadership Summit that churches should spend less time focusing on abortion and same-sex “marriage.”
During a panel discussion on poverty at Georgetown University last Tuesday, Obama criticized churches for how they engage politically, focusing on “divisive issues” such as protecting life and preserving marriage.
[…]While the Christian religion has rejected abortion since its founding, and always considered homosexuality a grave sin, traditionally no welfare state economic theory has been endorsed by the Christian Church.
[…]”I reject his premise,” blogger Stan Guthrie, an editor at large at Christianity Today, commented. “People of faith already do far more for the poor than secular leftists.”
President Obama’s comments, he said, exemplified “unbelievable ignorance on display.”
The unusual scene of a sitting president criticizing churches for emphasizing traditional doctrines opened the question of whether the president and others on the Left intend to influence, cajole, or bully Christians into altering their fundamental moral beliefs. Obama’s remarks came shortly after presidential candidate Hillary Clinton declared that religious beliefs against abortion “have to be changed.”
She had previously likened beliefs that homosexuality is immoral to “honor killings, widow burning, or female genital mutilation.”
[…]Those churches which have emphasized issues like economic redistribution or climate change have had the most precipitous loss of members, according to a new Pew Research Center report on the decline of Christianity in America.
In his remarks at Georgetown, Obama also criticized Fox News for its reporting on welfare and government aid recipients, declaring, “We’re going to have to change how the media reports on these issues.”
I blogged about Hillary Clinton’s comments about forcing Christians to endorse abortion in a previous post. I have no doubt that she has the same views on forcing Christians to celebrate gay marriage, too.Well, the good news is that we get another shot at this in 2016. I expect a lot of people who claim to be Christians to vote for Hillary Clinton, the candidate of abortion and gay marriage. The candidate of anti-Christian fascism. Will it be different this time? Are we going to put the lives of children, born and unborn ahead of global warming and free birth control pills, this time?
Oklahoma is by far the finest state in what remains of our Union..and that’s why I live here.
You could live in a lesser state......most of them.
I emailed Gov Fallin a month ago and asked her to consider running for president. She’s amazing. Her email address is posted on her website.
And/or religious liberty against homosexual activism.
USSC will get around to that, too, probably sooner rather than later. JD will declare it against the Federal Standards and send in its agents to enforce compliance with Federal Standards.
....except the federal government is already declaring war on liberty everywhere....
No Ok county went for Obama. Gotta admire that.
No Ok county went for Obama. Gotta admire that.
Not to boast, but we are very proud of that fact..
Any simple idiot in possession of even a glancing familiarity with the English languages knows that ‘homosexual marriage’ is a contradiction in terms; a fatuous and meaningless neologism.
If someone feels so offended by the so-called religious ministers, then don’t join the church of said minister. How many MCCs or Episcopal churches are there out there anyways?
Your statement is full of common sense and logic. Both of those things are considered “hate crimes” by today’s leftists.
Even have a musical named for it, whaddaya know?
Filmed in Arizona, in the Todd-AO 70 mm widescreen process.
We need more Republican politicians who will fight like a girl! :)
Oklahoma also had a ban against Sharia Law to get ready for whatever might happen. I don’t know if liberals overturned it though.
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