Arizona Judges Told They Must Perform Same-Sex Marriages If They Do Any Weddings, Regardless of Deeply Held Religious Beliefs

Photo Credit: Charisma News

Photo Credit: Charisma News

By Deborah Hamilton. A recent ruling in Arizona may have set a frightening precedent, as judges there were ordered to perform same-sex weddings if they do any weddings at all—regardless of whether doing so violates their faith.

According to a report last week by the Associated Press, a recently issued opinion by a state judiciary ethics advisory committee in Arizona says “turning away same-sex couples would violate a state judicial-conduct rule against bias or prejudice based on sexual orientation.”

Therefore, judges must perform same-sex weddings, even if their morals and beliefs contradict the practice. The opinion also said that “a judge’s religious or other personal beliefs don’t make a difference nor does it matter if the judge performs weddings at non-court locations.”(Read more from “Arizona Judges Told They Must Perform Same-Sex Marriages If They Do Any Weddings” HERE)


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Myths About Redefining Marriage

By Peter Sprigg. Advocates of redefining “marriage” to include same-sex couples use a number of arguments that can best be described as “myths.” The reality is often quite different. For example:

MYTH: A “one man and one woman” definition imposes a religious definition of marriage on civil society.

REALITY: The definition of marriage is rooted in nature itself. The sexual union of a man and a woman is what reproduces the human race. The durable commitment of that man and woman to one another is what provides children with a mother and father. This is important for people of any religion or of no religion.

MYTH: Children don’t actually need both a mother and a father.

REALITY: An overwhelming body of social science evidence demonstrates that children raised by their own mother and father, who are committed to one another in a lifelong marriage, are happier, healthier and more prosperous than children raised in any other household setting. (Read more from this story HERE)

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