Meet the Christian Leaders Who Are Suing for Gay Marriage as a Religious Right

By Solvej Schou

(Takepart) Rev. Nancy Ellett Allison has joyfully officiated same-sex marriages in her corner of the conservative South since 2006.

“It is just a delight to be able to help these couples celebrate their lives together and work with them to craft their vows,” said Allison, her bright voice laced with a twang.

What Allison, the senior pastor at Holy Covenant United Church of Christ in Charlotte, N.C., has been doing is considered a misdemeanor crime under state law, punishable by up to 120 days in jail. Not only are gay marriages and domestic unions illegal in the state, but it’s considered criminal for clergy to officiate religious vows between couples who have not yet obtained a valid marriage license.

This week, though, the progressive United Church of Christ fought back, filing the first federal lawsuit to say gay marriage bans are a violation of religious rights. It’s an unprecedented move—experts say it’s the first such lawsuit ever in the United States.

The church joined with plaintiffs that include Allison, other UCC ministers, and six same-sex couples to file a lawsuit Monday against North Carolina state and county officials challenging the constitutionality of the state’s anti-gay marriage laws as violating the church’s free exercise of religion. In 2012, voters approved a ballot measure to ban gay marriage, imposing a legal definition of marriage as an act that can occur only between a man and a woman, and making it part of the state’s constitution.

The UCC’s lawsuit seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction against all laws that would make it a crime to perform religious rites that sanctify the union of same-sex couples.

“Not until we entered this lawsuit was I aware that it was illegal to perform a same-gender marriage ceremony without a marriage license. That was one of the shocking things I learned,” said Allison, who noted that Charlotte, like other major North Carolina cities, is more open-minded than rural areas, and that the state voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 (though Republican Mitt Romney won it in 2012).... (continued)

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• Meet the Christian Leaders Who Are Suing for Gay Marriage as a Religious Right 

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Churches Backing Obamacare Contraception/Abortifacient Mandate?

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, along with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, which includes the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA) and United Church of Christ, have stunningly endorsed Obamacare's mandate that all religious hospitals and charities must provide insurance coverage for contraceptives, abortifacients, and sterilization, despite religious objections.

In contrast, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, National Association of Evangelicals, Southern Baptist and Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod leaders and others have condemned the mandate as an assault on religious liberty. Megachurch pastor Rick Warren has declared: "I'd go to jail rather than cave in to a government mandate that violates what God commands us to do."

IRD President Mark Tooley commented:

"How bizarre that these religious institutions are openly applauding a federal government imposed mandate that would override the liberty of religious institutions to uphold their own beliefs. For left-wing Mainline Protestant elites and others, are coercive government control and subsidized sexual freedom more important than religious freedom? What other government impositions on faith would these church groups support? "Although Christians and other people of faith sometimes disagree on the ethics of contraception, most mainstream Christian groups, with others, rightly resist any government mandate compelling religious groups to abandon their core convictions. "Shame on the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, which does not speak for most Methodists, and shame on other church groups that retain membership in the radical Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. And kudos to church groups and others that, regardless of their teaching on contraception, affirm religious freedom for all."

The Institute on Religion & Democracy works to reaffirm the church's biblical and historical teachings, strengthen and reform its role in public life, protect religious freedom, and renew democracy at home and abroad.

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