A pastor at the Christian Proctor Church in Vermont has been
sentenced to one year imprisonment for refusing to wed a gay couple. The Honorable Myron Danus in his verdict said, "Religious
freedom goes both ways, Mr. Horner", “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,” Danus told a packed courtroom.
The 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 judgment according to his rights
and religious freedom in this country.” BC reports that 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 it 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 g#y,” 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!”
But one Gwen Hawkins who is president of the LGBT Pride Center
said she is happy with the court.
“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 of Corinthians 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,” NBC reports.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of Bright Clement. info call or whatsapp +2348166575765