Same-Sex Marriage – Page 4

U.S. Supreme Court Upends Arkansas Supreme Court’s Good Birth Certificate Ruling

Jun 26, 2017Jerry CoxFamily, MarriageFamily, LGBTQ, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 26, 2017

LITTLE ROCK, AR – On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the State of Arkansas must list two “mothers” on a child’s birth certificate if the child’s birth mother is legally married to another woman. The ruling overturned a good decision the Arkansas Supreme Court handed down last December.

Family Council President Jerry Cox issued a statement saying, “The U.S. Supreme Court is asking Arkansas to ignore basic facts about biology. Birth certificates exist to record that a child was born and who the child’s biological parents are presumed to be. As the Arkansas Supreme Court correctly noted last year, no child can have two biological mothers, but the Arkansas Department of Health will now be forced to operate as if that is possible because of this court ruling.”

Cox said the ruling sets a dangerous precedent. “The U.S. Supreme Court is treating the names that appear on birth certificates like some sort of marriage benefit. Birth certificates are issued for the sake of children—not for the sake of adults. They are not simply pieces of paper. They are vital records that need to be accurate and deserve respect. We should not let them become mere political ploys in the ongoing debates about marriage.”

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Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

What Do Blueberries and Gay Weddings Have in Common?

Jun 8, 2017Jerry CoxMarriageMarriage, Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty, Same-Sex Marriage

Recently we wrote about a family farm in Michigan barred from the local farmer’s market because the farmers declined to host a same-sex wedding on their property.

John Stonestreet with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview has authored a very brief commentary on this situation. He writes,

Folks, way back in 2010 Chuck Colson said that so-called “gay marriage” would, “spell the doom of religious freedom in America.” That’s being played out before our eyes in [Michigan] and elsewhere.

You can listen to Stonestreet’s full commentary below or read it here.

[audio:http://breakpoint.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/TPT506072017.mp3|titles=What Do Blueberries and Gay Weddings Have in Common? Nothing.]

Farmers Punished For Holding Biblical View of Marriage

Jun 2, 2017Jerry CoxReligious FreedomLGBTQ, Marriage, Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty, Same-Sex Marriage

A family farm in Michigan is being blocked from their community’s city-run farmer’s market, because the Tennes family who owns the farm happens to hold a biblical view of marriage.

Family Research Council writes,

When two women asked to be married on [Country Mill farm] in 2014, the Tennes turned them down, explaining that because of their faith, they referred same-sex couples to neighboring farms. Two years later, the couple decided to launch a social media smear campaign, urging people to stay away from Country Mill. When their post was brought to East Lansing’s attention, local leaders raced to pass an ordinance directly targeting small business owners like the Tenneses.

Country Mill Farms has participated in the city’s farmer’s market without incident for at least six years. As a result of this new ordinance, the farm was blocked from selling produce at the market this year.

It’s worth noting this is not the first time a family farm has been punished for holding a biblical view of marriage. In 2014 a New York farm was fined $13,000 for declining to host a same-sex wedding ceremony on its property.

No one should be targeted by the government for their religious convictions, but that’s what we are seeing here. Country Mill Farms has teamed up with attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom to take East Lansing to court over its new policy. Hopefully, this new policy will be reversed and religious liberty will be respected.