[Guardian Sebastian]

When they start forcing the church to perform gay marriages, I guess they will be forced to close the church too.

Let’s face it, they want the Catholic Church OUT OF BUSINESS period.

[Domestic Church]

The Church will never close, it will go underground as it has done in the past if necessary.

[stanne]

The NYT atttacked Cruz today.

OB attacks the Church.

Neither attacks Graham nor McCain.

WE are known by our enemies and if they aren’t attacking, we aren’t doing it correctly.

[SuziQ]

The Church can simply decide they will not act as a party to civil marriage. They are not REQUIRED to act for the state in that regard. If they simply refuse to do civil marriages, and ONLY conduct the Sacrament of Matrimony, it will mean they are acting within their Faith, and it is protected by the First Amendment.

If the Church simply provides a Sacrament of Matrimony, the couple will be married in the Church, according to Church teachings, and it's not the Church's business whether or not the couple is married according to the laws of the State. So the Church can limit those who are receiving the Sacrament to those she deems are actually practicing Catholics, which would NOT include practicing homosexuals.

What's interesting about this situation is that an older couple could marry in the Church, but still be considered unmarried, legally, so they could keep their pensions, Social Security, etc, all separate, and wouldn't have to file tax returns jointly. ;o)