Posted: 04/28/2014 11:15 am EDT Updated: 04/28/2014 11:59 am EDT |
This morning in Charlotte, North Carolina, the United Church of Christ filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court. This suit argues that the current law in North Carolina, as it pertains to marriage, violates religious freedom by prohibiting UCC ministers, and other clergy, from officiating at same-sex marriages.
After the passage of Amendment One in 2012, it became illegal for a member of the clergy to officiate at a wedding where a marriage license is not present. And, of course, in North Carolina, it is impossible for a same-sex couple to obtain a marriage license. That means that any member of the clergy who officiates at a same-sex marriage in the state may be sentenced to "120 days in jail and/or probation and community service."
In other words, the state of North Carolina is telling clergy that it is illegal to pray in the manner in which they see fit. Read full article...