A recent local front page article trumpets the efforts of
local state representatives in Tallahassee. Primarily their accomplishments are,
as expected, the passage of laws and bills necessary to the fiscal operation of
the State and its entities....with one glaring exception.
That exception is the
lauding of local Rep. Maureen O'Toole
for supporting and co-sponsoring a bill which is simply an egregious waste of
time and effort. That bill is House Bill 443, which protects ministers,
pastors, priests, whatever from being "forced" to solemnize marriages
if doing so would violate their deeply held religious beliefs. This is simply
another "Bondi-esque" backhand
swipe at a portion of our population who,
having finally been offered the same Constitutional rights as the rest of us, still
have to endure the mean spirited sniping of others who would deny them those
rights.
All that aside,
the legal issue here is that this Bill is simply gratuitous political posturing by the legislature. In
point of fact, no religious group is a
public commercial organization, even if some act like it, and therefore simply cannot
be "forced" to perform any sacrament, ritual, or service which they
don't wish to. Period. Not debatable. This is precisely analogous to the Roman
Catholic Church's refusal to solemnize certain marriages based on conflicts with Church dogma. It's been that
way for many years, but with no law has ever been considered necessary to "protect" priests.
Regardless of the mindless natterings of the
Pat Robertsons and others, this is simply not a problem, therefore requires no
solution such as the so called "Pastor protection Act." One comment on this law lauds it as a
refutation of the "gay agenda."
The only gay agenda is equal treatment under the law, long denied, long
a national shame. Equal treatment is not, by definition, a special concession.
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