Pope: Conscientious Objection to Same-Sex Marriage “a Human Right”

Religious Freedom, , ,

Before concluding his first visit to the United States, Pope Francis voiced support on Monday for people who decline to solemnize or otherwise facilitate same-sex marriages.

According to NBC News, Pope Francis was asked, “Do you … support those individuals, including government officials, who say they cannot in good conscience, their own personal conscience, abide by some laws or discharge their duties as government officials, for example when issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples?”

According to NBC, the pontiff responded, saying:

“I can say that conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right. It is a right. . . . Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right, a human right. Otherwise we would end up in a situation where we select what is a right, saying, ‘this right that has merit, this one does not.’ . . . It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right. It is a human right.”

Given the Catholic Church’s longstanding history fighting for rights of conscience on issues ranging from military service to abortion, Pope Francis’ remarks really come as no surprise. Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock summed it up very well a few years ago, when he told a crowd gathered outside the Capitol Building, “Government must not require what conscience forbids or forbid what conscience requires.”

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Bruno from New York City, United States [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

READ MORE

Teach Your Kids About Homosexuality and Gender Confusion

Homosexuality, Transgender, ,

We are continuing our series highlighting special material our friends at Focus on the Family have provided for your family and your church.

Today we want to share two guides Focus on the Family has released on teaching your kids about homosexuality and gender confusion.

The guides outline:

  • Age-appropriate conversations you can have with your children as they grow up;
  • Answers to common questions children may ask;
  • Information on responding to messages your children hear at school.

These guides are designed to equip you as a parent. You can download these resources below or from our “Resources For Your Church and Family” page.

14_FOTF_0736_SPC3_Resource_Kit_1.indd

How to Talk to Your Kids About Homosexuality, by Jeff Johnston.

Gender-confusing-messages-cover

Equipping Parents to Respond to Gender-Confusing Messages in Schools, by TrueTolerance.org.

READ MORE

Arkansas A.G. to Petition U.S. Supreme Court on Pro-Life Law

2 CommentsAbortion, , ,

AG_LR_croppedArkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced yesterday that her office will ask the U.S. Cupreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling against the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act, a pro-life law the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2013.

You may recall the Human Heartbeat Protection Act by Sen. Jason Rapert prohibits most abortions after the twelfth week of pregnancy if a fetal heartbeat is detected. The law also contains provisions for informed-consent prior to an abortion.

Attorney General Rutledge released a statement, saying,

“As Attorney General, I have a duty to fully defend the State’s law, which prohibits abortions after 12 weeks of gestation when a heartbeat is detected. But beyond my duty, I firmly believe that the State has a profound interest in protecting the lives of the unborn, which is exactly what this law does.”

Earlier this year a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that struck part of the Heartbeat Protection Act as unconstitutional. The court left portions of the law dealing with informed-consent for abortion in place.

Attorney General Rutledge’s office is expected to file their petition with the U.S. Supreme Court sometime in the coming weeks.

READ MORE