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Showing posts with the label Marriage licence

Immorality rules Homosexual ACT Government

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ACT electorates, as depicted at http://www.katygallagher.net/electorate.cfm Brindabella Molonglo Ginninderra (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The ACT may become the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise same-sex marriage, or put another way promote grievous immorality as righteousness. To say to God your laws and moral do not apply to us. The ACT Government will introduce legislation during the spring sittings of the Legislative Assembly to establish the Territory Same-sex Marriage Act. Same-sex couples in the ACT have been able to register their civil partnership since 2008, and last year a bill was passed to reinstate legally binding ceremonies. But the ACT Government wants to go further and give full marriage equality to same-sex couples. The Federal Government argues it has the sole responsibility for marriage laws, but ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell says he is confident the Territory has the authority to go further. Even though South Australia lost the vote last wee...

NZ homosexual marriage bill 'no threat to religious groups'?

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New Zealand Parliament 's government administration committee is currently hearing submissions on the proposed law to allow same-sex couples to marry, the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill. During these hearings, some religious groups have expressed concern that the bill will force them to conduct marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples. This is despite the Human Rights Commission saying it will do no such thing and the bill's author saying that the bill is not meant to do so. However, the New Zealand Law Society , in its submission to the committee, has now thrown its weight behind these religious groups' fears. It then suggests that the bill be amended to make it clear that this outcome is not intended. If that change really is needed, then so be it, but I think the law society is wrong and the bill as it stands would not require anything new of any religious group. To explain why, I first need to say something about how the Marriage Act 1955 works....

Learning from New York Gay Marriage debacle

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Image by C. G. P. Grey via Flickr People often ask, "How does allowing same-sex couples to marry impact my marriage and family?" The real question is broader: "How does same-sex marriage impact our culture and society, in turn impacting me and my family?" When New York began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples last weekend, we saw some of those effects. One of the most serious consequences involves our right as Americans to religious liberty . When the New York legislators redefined marriage last month, they congratulated themselves for including religious exemptions.  Since the law passed, however, several town clerks have resigned from their positions rather than violate their consciences by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples—because the religious "exemptions" simply don't cover them. Already, same-sex marriage advocates are planning to export New York's religious "exemptions" to other states that have...

New York clerk resigns over gay ‘marriage’: Gov. Cuomo responds, ‘The law is the law’

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Reacting to the news that the first New York State town clerk has resigned rather than sign her name on a same-sex “marriage” license, Gov. Andrew Cuomo insisted Tuesday that “the law is the law.” “When you enforce the laws of the state, you don’t get to pick and choose which laws,” he said, according to the NY Daily News .  “You don’t get to say, ‘I like this law and I’ll enforce this law, or I don’t like this law and I won’t enforce this law’ - you can’t do that.” “So if you can’t enforce the law, then you shouldn’t be in that position,” he added. Laura Fotusky, a clerk in the town of Barker, announced her resignation Monday on the website of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms.  “I cannot put my signature on something that is against God ,” she wrote in her resignation letter.  “The Bible clearly teaches that God created marriage between male and female as a divine gift that preserves families and cultures.” “I would be compromising my moral conscience if I ...