Posted on 04/09/2015 1:18:46 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
FULL TITLE: Rev. Cruz: If Gay Marriage is ‘Civil Right,’ Gov’t Will Force Pastors to Obey ‘Unjust’ Law or ‘Obey God and Face Prison’
If gay marriage is legally viewed as a “civil rights issue,” as may happen with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the subject in June, then it becomes a broader religious liberty concern, not just a marriage issue, said Reverend Rafael Cruz, adding that then pastors will have to choose between obeying an “unjust” law and obeying God and potentially going to prison.
Pastor Cruz, who is the father of Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), made his remarks during an interview with conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly on her radio program “Eagle Forum Live.”
“We need to realize that the attack on marriage is more than just an attack on marriage, it actually goes to the heart of religious freedom,” said Pastor Cruz.
“Because, you see, what is going to come next -- and this is part of the danger of what may happen out of the Supreme Court in June -- is that if marriage of anybody-with-anybody becomes a civil rights issue,” he said, “then they are going to come to churches and force pastors to violate their religious convictions.”
“And so it is going to come to America to where a pastor is going to be faced with a decision: Do you obey a law that is not only unjust but violates your core principles, or do you obey God and face prison?” said Pastor Cruz.
“This is the dilemma that America’s pastors are going to be facing, if this issue is labeled a civil rights issue,” he said. “It goes way beyond marriage to actually violate the religious freedom of people of faith.”
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether state bans on homosexual marriage are constitutional. Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in 37 states and illegal in 13 states.
Rev. Rafael Cruz fought against the Communists in Cuba, was arrested there and tortured. He fled the island in 1957 at age 18. He eventually settled in Texas and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2005. His Dallas-based church also operates Christian ministries in Mexico and Central America. His wife, Eleanor Wilson Cruz, was born in Wilmington, Del.
if marriage of anybody-with-anybody “
that JUST about the size of it
God Bless this man!
FULL TITLE: Rev. Cruz: If Gay Marriage is ‘Civil Right,’ Gov’t Will Force Pastors to Obey ‘Unjust’ Law or ‘Obey God and Face Prison’
_____________________________________
Absolutely. No doubt about it. We need only to look at how the military is threatening chaplains in the same way to see what the future will hold for Christian clergy.
If they start sending clergy to prison for refusing to perform gay marriages, there will be trouble.
No way Ted, anymore than Dem appointed judges will force individual states to marry same-sex couples in defiance of state law.
Stop trying to incite paranoia. This is still America. People are not forced to do anything they don’t want here in this great country. We are ‘Pro-choice’.
We’ll see.
If the homosexual activists leave churches alone, then churches will not be forced to perform homosexual marriages.
Based on the liberal meltdown over the Indiana religious freedom bill, I expect liberals will want to take on churches over homosexual marriage. Once the Supreme Court imposes homosexual marriage on all 50 states, that will pave the way for lawsuits against churches.
Of course, none of this would be an issue, if the homosexual s were content with having won the battle over civil secular marriage in our society. It will only happen if they start suing churches over homosexual marriage.
Eventually, we may see churches decline to perform any marriages. They might perform a “matrimonial” ceremony in keeping with religious faith, however, the participants may then have to go to a justice of the peace for their marriage to be legally recognized. We’ll see about that also.
I agree. I hope the Supreme Court recognizes that the 14th Amendment was never meant to cover this issue.
We need to really pray for them to exercise God’s Wisdom.
sheeple
Not Ted.
But some Animals are more equal than others.
RE: Gov’t Will Force Pastors to Obey Law or Face Prison
I can see that happening Alinsky style.
Saul Alinsky did not propose change in one big bang. He proposed to do it slowly but surely and do it subtly, one institution at a time, starting with the weaker one.
So, I can see Military Chaplains (who are employees of the federal government ) being coerced first.
Then, after this is done, they can say, hey if it’s OK for the military chaplains, why can’t it be OK for churches (unless of course you want to have your tax exempt status revoked )...
etc. etc. etc.
Some people will laugh at this. But there used to be a time when killing a near born baby ( the one near full term ) was unthinkable.
Now, even Obama does not think it should be illegal to ban aborting the near born baby,
When Obama says he is “evolving” don’t believe it. His definition of “evolution” is exactly in Alinsky’s playbook.
[“And so it is going to come to America to where a pastor is going to be faced with a decision: Do you obey a law that is not only unjust but violates your core principles, or do you obey God and face prison?” said Pastor Cruz.]
American pastors piously declare they’d go to prison before performing a gay wedding, but do nothing to prevent it from becoming reality. Words bear fruit.
Freedom of religion coming to an end in the US, and freedom of speech also has gone by the wayside. Right to assembly went away after you had to apply for a permit that could be turned down. Right to bear arms is under attack by the fascists. The erosion of the Bill of Rights by the Left Wing is almost complete.
I disagree. Here's one example why: It would clearly be unconstitutional for a state to prohibit interfaith marriages. No court would uphold such a law. But, at the same time, no court would force a pastor to perform an interfaith marriage.
I think the same thing is likely to happen here. Even if the Supreme Court rules that it is unconstitutional for a state to prohibit same-sex marriage, I don't think that any court would force a pastor to perform a same-sex marriage.
He’s skirting around the nub of it, but close enough to get to the point.
The whole gay “marriage” thing is about the left pushing Christians to the limits of their tolerance to a point of resistance, then criminalizing that resistance.
The whole point and goal all along is the criminalization of Christian belief.
Has the government forced a church to conduct interfaith of interracial marriages?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.