Georgia Gov. Deal blasts religious freedom bill, says opposing same-sex ‘marriage’ is unChristian
Georgia's
Republican governor has come out strongly against proposed legislation
protecting clergy and others from being forced to participate in or condone
so-called homosexual "marriages."
Citing
the Bible and the fact he was a Southern Baptist who's taken religion courses,
Nathan Deal said opposition to homosexual "marriage" doesn't square
with Christ's teaching and that Republicans advocating for the Georgia
religious liberty bill should step back and "recognize that the world is
changing around us." (Has he read his Bible?)
"What the New Testament teaches us is that Jesus reached out to those who were considered the outcasts, the ones that did not conform to the religious societies' view of the world," Deal said. "We do not have a belief in my way of looking at religion that says we have to discriminate against anybody. If you were to apply those standards to the teaching of Jesus, I don't think they fit."
Pastors are shocked at the level of scripture twisting by their leader. Jesus spoke of marriage as between a man and a woman. All sexual outside of marriage is condemned as sin said many pastors.
Deal went on to cite the Bible passage where Jesus reaches out to the woman at the
well and then declared there is no threat posed by governments treating
same-sex couples as though they were married.
"What
that says is, we have a belief in forgiveness and that we do not have to
discriminate unduly against anyone on the basis of our own religious
beliefs," stated Deal. "We are not jeopardized, in my opinion, by
those who believe differently from us."
Pastors responded to Deal by stating Jesus also said "Go and sin no more."
"We
are not, in my opinion, put in jeopardy by virtue of those who might hold
different beliefs or who may not even agree with what our Supreme Court said
the law of the land is on the issue of same-sex marriage," he went on.
"I do not feel threatened by the fact that people who might choose
same-sex marriages pursue that route."
Pastors responded to his nonsense by stating again the homosexuality is a dreadful sin, and those who approve of such sin are included in the same condemnation as stated by the Apostle Paul from Romans 2.
The
Georgia House unanimously passed HB 757, the Pastor Protection Act, February 11, affording conscience protection for
clergy declining to perform "wedding" ceremonies for homosexual
couples.
The
Georgia Senate approved the bill February 19, after the Senate Rules Committee combined it
with S.B. 284,
the First Amendment Defense Act of Georgia, which broadened the legislation to
"prohibit discriminatory action against a person who believes, speaks, or
acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction
that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman
or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such marriage."
Some
400 corporations have joined forces to oppose H.B. 757, a report from
On Top Magazine said. Gathering under the "Georgia Prospers" moniker,
companies include Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, and UPS, with some threatening to take their business elsewhere.
Immediately
after its passage in the Senate, Deal urged lawmakers to amend the proposed
law, saying he and his top aides are working with House Speaker David Ralston,
who had criticized the bill,
and other legislative leaders to do so.
"We're
working with the leadership of the General Assembly now as that bill is
continuing to move through the process," Deal said. "So we'll
see."
Deal's
lieutenant governor views the religious freedom legislation differently from
how the governor does.
"It
in no way interferes with our world-class tourism or business communities
whatsoever," Casey Cagle told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We
are simply ensuring that no Georgian suffers at the hand of our government for
their view on marriage."
Deal
insisted he is still a supporter of "traditional marriage," but he
said, "That does not mean that those who hold to that view should feel
like they are threatened by those who have a different point of view."
He
continued by calling on Republicans supporting the religious liberty
legislation to accept that times are changing in terms of acceptance of
homosexual attempts at marriage.
"I
hope that we can all just take a deep breath, recognize that the world is
changing around us, and recognize that it is important that we protect
fundamental religious beliefs," Deal stated. "But we don't have to
discriminate against other people in order to do that. And that's the
compromise that I'm looking for."
The
Georgia Republican is not the first GOP governor to step out of the way for
denial of conscience protection by pro-homosexual groups and activists.
After
signing the Indiana Religious Freedom Act into law last
March, Governor Mike Pence bowed to pressure from
pro-homosexual corporations, lawmakers, celebrities, and media and withdrew his support for the law.
Florida
Governor Rick Scott signed a bill last June removing the state's decades-old
ban on adoption placement of children in homosexual homes, citing religious freedom in stating that religious liberty was not mutually
exclusive from discrimination. The removal of the ban left Christian adoption
agencies without protection should they uphold their sincerely held moral
belief that placing a child into a same-sex couple's custody is not in the best
interest of the child.
