No, not just same-sex couples. That's part of what made Amendment 1 so horrible for NC; it did away with benefits, etc. for any couple (even common law marriages) except those who are married. Same-sex marriage was already illegal in NC.
Churches should have the right to deny to marry someone, just as they should have the right to marry them. The government should not be able to tell a church who they can or cannot marry, just as the church should not be able to tell the government who they can or cannot recognize as legal partners.
Just splitting hairs here because I do understand your point and it's a good one but what happened in NC yesterday was this: "North Carolinians voted in favor of an amendment that bans same-sex marriage and civil unions. North Carolinians voted in large numbers in favor of Amendment 1, which formally defines marriage as being between a man and a woman." The people of the state voted, not a church.
The United States has way too many laws and this is another example. For a country that was founded on religious and personal FREEDOMS, we once again have way too many laws that get into other people's business. I could list so many laws that tear at the very fabric of our constitution like this anti-gay law, affirmative action, parts of the welfare state, and on and on. Most all laws that give preferential treatment to one group over another based on race, religion, sexual orientation, etc, should on their face be unconstituational under equal protection laws, meaning they should all be stricken from our law books immediately.
Please what? That is what happened. I know and work with hundreds of folks from NC many of whom don't attend church. I'm sure I can guess how a lot of them voted.
I can marry or refuse to marry anyone based on the counseling sessions I have with them. I have refused to marry many couples. I send them to the JP if all they want is a "legal marriage."
Thats only because it's so much work for homosexuals to get married in the first place. By the time it actually happens there is no doubt they want to be married.
Right for whom? It may not be right to you but it appears it was right for the ones that live there and showed up to vote. Apparently that's how that whole voting thing works. We should chuck that out with the bible too.
So when the majority votes to outlaw guns and hunting, your just going to lay down and say "Whelp! The majority knows what is best for me! Here y'all go! I don't need these stinkin' freedoms"
The law is ignorant and so are the people who support it. It's deemed a civil union and therefore has no connection to "marriage" or the church. I think it's pretty dumb to say that the religion has nothing to do with the poll outcome. A lot of the population has some kind of religious background, and that religious background tells them that same-sex "marriage" is wrong. It's ridiculous that a majority can effect the liberties of US citizens in a situation like this. Civil unions have no effect on any of us, and shouldn't even be something that we should be able to vote on.
Exactly! Churches may help people establish their moral compasses but each person votes his or her own conscience. Now, there are many people who attend church assemblies every week whose lives seem very unaffected by their so called "worship" experiences. These are the people that I hear people complain of so vehemently. I think they are called hypocrits? The ones I hear people claim were in the bars on Saturday night and at "church" on Sunday. I am going out on a limb here that most of us don't like those guys very much but as often as not the very people who say they hate the hypocrits or won't go to church because of the hypocrits are the same ones who are saying that we need to keep church in the church and not bring it out into the public stage which seems even more hypocritical to me.
