Prop. 8 case: Calif. high court refuses stay
SAN FRANCISCO (BP) -- A California Supreme Court case regarding Proposition 8 will continue into August after the court refused to grant a stay Monday (July 15) as it considers whether the state's county clerks are legally issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Churches’ marriage policies being tightened
ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP) -- Churches are beginning to add a stipulation in their bylaws that their ministers perform only traditional marriages on their premises, in response to the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage decisions in late June.
Calif. high court asked to enforce Prop. 8
SAN FRANCISCO (BP) -- Proponents of Proposition 8 asked the California Supreme Court Friday (July 12) to order the state's county clerks to enforce the state's marriage amendment by ceasing the issuing of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Post-DOMA, gay marriage backers target states
NASHVILLE (BP) -- At least five states are facing legal battles over marriage definitions that could determine whether the tone set by the Defense of Marriage Act's demise will resonate in individual states.
[QUOTE@right@180="Marriage, after gay marriage, is an under-defined commitment to love and caretaking, whose public character and status is newly uncertain."
-- Maggie Gallagher] An Arkansas lesbian couple filed a lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court that alleges the unconstitutionality of an Arkansas amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, the Arkansas Baptist News said.
Gay marriage: Does it harm anyone?
NASHVILLE (BP) -- In a discussion that moderator J.D. Greear said needs to happen in local churches, ethicist Russell D. Moore and pastor Voddie Baucham addressed how homosexuality can be wrong if it "doesn't harm anyone."
FIRST-PERSON: Explaining the marriage debate to children
Southern Baptist ethicist Russell D. Moore suggests ways parents can talk to their small children about the same-sex marriage debate that has grabbed the nation's attention.
Can the church flourish in a culture that embraces sexual immorality?
NASHVILLE (BP) -- In recent days Christians have rightly decried the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in favor of gay marriage, calling them unjust, unwise and ungodly. The decisions will have adverse effects on society, and followers of Jesus should work tirelessly to see them overturned. At the same time, however, the Bible reminds us not to be discouraged or imagine that a culture awash in sexual immorality will rob the church of its power.
Request to halt Calif. gay marriages denied
WASHINGTON (BP) -- Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Sunday (June 30) denied an emergency request by Proposition 8 supporters to halt the issuing of same-sex marriage licenses in California.
ERLC fact sheet addresses gay marriage rulings
NASHVILLE (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's ethics entity has produced a fact sheet in both English and Spanish to assist churches in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's same-sex marriage decisions. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission posted the fact sheet on its website June 26 ...
Gay marriage rulings: ‘new ministry situations on horizon,’ seminary scholars project
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Though the Supreme Court's ruling against traditional marriage was a "dark day in American history," it's time to accept the reality and move on to discussing how to minister in a new context, Jeff Iorg and other seminary leaders are saying. "Challenging new ministry situations are on the horizon," Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary near the epicenter of the gay marriage movement, wrote in a blog post June 27.
