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Showing posts with the label Americans United for Separation of Church and State

A mayor’s backlash against a basic statement of Evangelical Christian belief signals an ominous turn in the culture wars.

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Don’t ever forget that, for some folks, “ separation of church and state ” is a half-measure. It’s just a pit stop on the road to de-Christianizing America. It’s a temporary means to a much bigger end.  I was honored to sign a document called the Nashville Statement. It’s a basic declaration of Christian orthodoxy on sexuality, sexual orientation, and sexual identity. Its 14 articles can be boiled down to a simple statement: We believe the Bible is the word of God, and the word of God declares that sexual intimacy is reserved for the lifelong union of a man and a woman in marriage.  It acknowledges the reality of same-sex attraction as well as the reality of transgender self-conceptions, but denies that God sanctions same-sex sexual activity or a transgendered self-conception that is at odds with biological reality. In other words, it’s basic Christianity .  Sometimes, however, one needs to state the obvious. There are powerful peer and cultural pressures ...

Lesbian Couple sue council $10K Over Calling Them An 'Abomination'

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A West Virginia county clerk 's office has agreed to pay $10,000 in damages to a lesbian couple who said they faced disparaging remarks while applying for a marriage license last year. The incident prompted Amanda Abramovich and Samantha Brookover to sue Gilmer County Deputy Clerk Debbie Allen and Clerk Jean Butcher. According to the complaint, Allen called the couple an “abomination” and told them that God would “deal” with them while processing their application. According to The Washington Post , Allen's comments against the women lasted several minutes and another clerk shouted that it was Allen's “ religious right ” to harass the couple. When Brookover's mother, who witnessed the abuse, called the county clerk's office to complain, she said that Butcher stood by her deputy and allegedly said that the next same-sex couple that sought a marriage license “would get the same or worse” treatment. Allen has denied she called the couple an “abomination or any ...

Another priest removed for explaining church teaching on homosexuality, now in Texas

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Just after news broke that a priest in Canada had been suspended from active ministry  for speaking out against abortion and homosexual behavior, news has also broken that a Texas priest who stirred controversy last month by  Image via Wikipedia publishing essays that condemned the homosexual lifestyle is being removed from his parish,  ABC-7 reports . However, unlike the situation in Canada, where the priest was removed from active ministry altogether, the Texas priest is being transferred to another parish. Rev. Michael Rodriguez Rev. Michael Rodriguez published four opinion pieces in the El Paso Times last month explaining the Church’s teaching on homosexuality, and exhorting Catholics to oppose efforts to legalize same-sex unions. The Times has revealed that the essays, which were run as paid advertisements, were funded by a couple from Plano, Texas . The advertisements were run in the midst of controversy over a local recall petition aimed at removing three El Pas...